CS% in the Minors

A catcher has a lot of responsibility during a game. He has to know the scouting report for each opposing hitter, he has to use those reports to call pitches and then frame those pitches if they're on the edge of the plate. A catcher has to be ready to block a pitch in the dirt or jump up and catch a pitch headed for the backstop. He has to hop out of their stance to go after pop ups and bunts close to the plate. He's got to keep his pitcher calm on the mound and avoid the batter's bat only inches from his hand. With all that going on, no wonder teams figure any offense from their catcher is a bonus.

There's one more thing catchers have to be ready for behind the plate. If a runner is on base, a catcher has to be ready to come up throwing to try and foil a steal attempt. Since this is one of the easiest things to quantify when it comes to catcher defense, it gets a lot of attention. Regardless of other defensive skills, if a catcher throws out 40% of would-be basestealers, people sing his praises. But if a catcher dips down below 20%, he turns into a liability behind the plate. Take Jason Kendall, for example. He draws rave reviews from the pitchers he's handled over the years, but after a terrible 2007 (111 SB allowed, 20 CS) a lot of folks thought his arm was too much of a liability on defense. Combined with his anemic offense, who would want him? Now that he threw out 41 of 96 basestealers in 2008, his defense is acceptable again and it's his bat that's, as always, ridiculed.

All in all, it's still kind of fun to check out caught stealing numbers as long as you remember there's other stuff catchers bring to the table. Since there are SB and CS numbers out there for minor league catchers, it's only logical to look at how minor league catchers stack up against one another, right?

Even though there are varying season lengths in the minors, I'm going to use 50 stolen base attempts against as a minimum for everyone. There's a decent mixture of levels atop the leaderboard, so I think it works out fine.

Highest CS% in the Minors, 2008
(minimum 50 SB attempts)

Rank	Name	Team	Level	MLB Team	SB	CS	CS%
1	Mathew Kennelly	Danville Rome	R A	ATL	23	30	56.6
2	Drew Butera	New Britain	AA	MIN	26	26	50.0
3	Michael McKenry	Modesto	A+	COL	45	40	47.1
4	Johnny Monell	AZL Giants Salem-Keizer	R A-	SFG	28	24	46.2
5	Martin Maldonado	Brevard County Huntsville	A+ AA	MIL	34	29	46.0
6	Wilin Rosario	Casper	R	COL	32	27	45.8
7	Jonathan Lucroy	West Virginia Brevard County	A A+	MIL	69	56	44.8
8	Flint Wipke	Rancho Cucamonga Arkansas Salt Lake	A+ AA AAA	LAA	39	31	44.3
9	Justin Knoedler	Sacramento	AAA	OAK	29	23	44.2
	Jordan Wideman	Billings	R	CIN	29	23	44.2

Lowest CS% in the Minors, 2008
(minimum 50 SB attempts)

Rank	Name	Team	Level	MLB Team	SB	CS	CS%
1	Christopher Jones	Hickory Lynchburg	A A+	PIT	50	3	5.7
2	Jameson Smith	Greensboro	A	FLA	59	5	7.8
3	Tyler Belcher	Greensboro	A	FLA	51	7	12.1
4	Ulrich Snijders	AZL Brewers West Virginia	R A	MIL	53	8	13.1
5	Jonathan Still	Lancaster	A+	BOS	76	12	13.6
6	Curtis Thigpen	Syracuse	AAA	TOR	52	10	16.1
7	Shawn Zarraga	AZL Brewers	R	MIL	57	11	16.2
8	Douglas Pickens	Mahoning Valley Lake County Akron	A- A AA	CLE	84	17	16.8
9	Ronald Pena	Hickory	A	PIT	64	13	16.9
10	Devin Mesoraco	Dayton	A	CIN	90	19	17.4

Catching only three of fifty-three runners isn't pretty. With Hickory, Greensboro, and West Virginia in one division, the Sally League must have been fun for speedy ballplayers. For what it's worth, Knoedler in the first list and Thigpen in the second list are the only catchers listed who have appeared in the majors.