The runner takes off from first, and Travis d’Arnaud pops out of the chute unleashing a throw to second base.  The throw isn’t even close as the runner swipes the bag easily.  Mets fans groan as it is yet another time d’Arnaud has failed to throw out the runner.  It happens all too often, and seemingly most of d’Arnaud’s throws to second are either off line or spiked in front of the base not giving Neil Walker or Asdrubal Cabrera a chance to put down the tag in time.  It should come as no surprise that d’Arnaud has only thrown out 22.6% of would be base stealers.  It should also come as no surprise that d’Arnaud has allowed the seventh most stolen bases in the majors despite a stint on the disabled list.

However, what may come as a surprise is that d’Arnaud is not really to blame at all for these woeful statistics.  It’s really the starting pitcher.  Here is a breakdown on how successful base stealers have been when each of the Mets starting pitchers are on the mound:

As you can see, teams run wild when Syndergaard and Matz are on the mound.  However, when Colon and deGrom are on the mound, teams tend to stay put, and when they do run, they are much less successful when attempting a stolen base.

These results are all the more surprising when you consider that Rene Rivera, who is generally regarded as a much better defensive catcher, has effectively become Syndergaard’s personal catcher.  Here is a breakdown of how successful Mets catchers are trying to throw out base stealers when Syndergaard is on the mound:

In reality, it doesn’t really matter who is back there, teams are going to run wild when Syndergaard is on the mound.  The catcher is always going to look bad trying to throw out base stealers when Syndergaard is on the mound.  We saw it again last night as the Diamondbacks were a perfect 4/4 in stolen base attempts.   It’s a big reason why Rivera is only throwing out 25.6% of base stealers this season.

It should also be noted that with veteran pitchers who actually hold on baserunners, d’Arnaud throws out more baserunners.  With Colon pitching, d’Arnaud throws out 37.5% of base stealers, and with deGrom on the mound, he has thrown out one of the three players who have attempted a stolen base with him behind the plate.

This isn’t to say d’Arnaud doesn’t have room to improve.  He can certainly work on winding up less on his throws, and he can work on making better throws to second.  However, at the end of the day, the base runners are running on the pitcher and not d’Arnaud’s arm.