Cubs Rumors: Is Sandy Leon on the team’s radar as a backup catcher?

Cubs Rumors: Leon continues his wizardry behind the dish to this day

Following the theme of turning the tide of pitchers, offsetting their struggles, David Price perhaps benefited the most from throwing to Leon over other catchers on the roster.  When Price’s ERA bloated up to 4.89, Red Sox manager Alex Cora inserted Leon into the lineup to help get the 2012 American League Cy Young winner back on track.

He accomplished just that as Price posted a minuscule 1.50 ERA in his last seven starts.

In fact, the entirety of Boston’s pitching staff benefited the most when Leon was behind the plate.  The team had a 3.38 ERA with Leon calling the pitches, as compared to 3.84 with Vasquez and 5.32 with Swihart.

He ranked 18th in the league in catcher’s ERA and 13th overall in total defensive chances in just 89 games played.  His 8.8 percent on good pitches called balls was 4.7 percent better than the MLB median, 1.02 bonus strikes called per game (1.6 strikes better than the MLB median), and only his allowed stolen bases allowed was the second fewest among catchers with at least 500 innings caught.