Lucroy blames pitchers for bad framing: 'You're only as good as the pitches'

Just five seasons removed from being arguably the best framer in baseball, Jonathan Lucroy has seen his numbers fall precipitously since joining the Texas Rangers, and the veteran catcher believes one of the variables is the pitching staff.

"When you look at my best years look at who I had on the staff ..." Lucroy told Travis Sawchik of FanGraphs. "You're only as good as the pitches."

In 2011, during his peak framing ability, the catcher worked primarily with a rotation of Zack Greinke, Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, and Randy Wolf. During that season, he saved 39.5 runs, according to Baseball Prospectus' framing metrics.

This season, the Rangers have rolled out Yu Darvish and Martin Perez the most, and Lucroy has been worth a paltry minus-14 runs.

"I will guarantee you whoever catches Dallas Keuchel has the best framing numbers," Lucroy added. However, Brian McCann - the Houston Astros' primary catcher - has cost his team 2.6 runs with his framing.

Sawchik hypothesized that Lucroy's rising glove height may be a culprit for the 31-year-old's waning framing, especially since he was considered especially effective at converting pitches below the zone into strikes.

The comments come on the heels of a report that the Rangers are open to trading Lucroy, opting to give Robinson Chirinos more work.

Just last week, Miguel Montero - the former catcher for the Chicago Cubs - complained of Jake Arrieta's time to the plate, and how difficult it made his job to pick off runners. The quotes were tied directly to the veteran catcher's eventual designation and trade to the Toronto Blue Jays.