This interesting HBT article does a great job quantifying the value of catcher "pitch framing."  

A catcher might be worth +10, even +20, runs per season due to persistent strike calls that follow him around the league.  So saith the first cut of data, anyway.

And, the comments thread is infested with celebrities such as Tango, Lichtmann, and pro catchers, so the discussion is as good as the research.  This light bulb, offered to us by a catcher, is worth the price of admission all by itself:

As a former college and professional catcher, I though I’d toss in this thought on the effect of framing (indeed there’s talk of little else around the catchers’ water cooler): the benefit of framing has little to do with the pitch that was just thrown (though spasmatic lunging probably does have a negative effect). You rarely, if ever, try to steal strikes since most, though not all, umpires have decided what the pitch is before you catch it (plus, they generally feel you’re showing them up with conspicuous strike-stealing). Framing isn’t about stealing strikes, it’s about not losing them.

That an umpire has decided, however, does not mean he’s certain; a candid ump would say he is making his best guess on 10-15% of pitches (especially on pitches away from where he’s set-up).  Thus, from my experience, you frame pitches not to get the instant pitch, but, by gently showing the umpire that he blew a call (or was right), you later on get the same pitch called (or a make-up call), or prevent the hitter from getting the same.

It's bemusing to watch non-athlete 'net rats, like myself, argue vigorously that this, or that, or the other, is occurring on the field to cause these measurable "pitch framing" results.  ... Then along comes a real catcher to cut through the noise and explain what is actually occurring.

I buy ChrisJohn's explanation 100.00%.

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=== No More Mr. Nice Guy ===

Miguel Olivo shows up poorly in their little sample ... taken over the course of one year, their data indicates that Olivo lost -10 runs due to his pitchers getting ripped off.

Now, hold on little doggie:  UZR might show a player -10 in one year and +10 in the next.  Who knows what Olivo's "pitch framing" stat might show, the year before or the year after?  You can't take those -10 runs as gospel.

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Still:  I personally have observed that Miguel Olivo does NOT even ATTEMPT to frame pitches in the way that ChrisJohn describes.  Miguel Olivo is wayyyyyy too nice a guy to annoy an umpire.  

There was a TV shot of Olivo doubling, or tripling, and standing on base, and the base ump came by and gave him a friendly little forearm shiver to congratulate him... Olivo chuckled.  He's obviously real good friends with the umpires.

This is a big disadvantage for the Mariners, because the hard data linked in this column clearly indicates that when an ump has a "soft" catcher "friend" behind the plate, that the ump will unconsciously use that comfort zone to give close calls to the hitters.

That's what I see.  You've heard me complain several times that I didn't like the strike zones that Mariner starters were given.

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In the big picture, it's not killing the M's, exactly.  Olivo's CERA is 2.86 this year, and has been good in the past.  Maybe in some way, Olivo is choosing to lose the mini battles in order to win the larger wars?

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=== Josh Bard ===

Shows up as "neutral" in HBT's data ... for Bard this involves only a tiny amount of data.  It's like saying that Dustin Ackley's UZR is +36 runs per year after two weeks.  You're smart enough to know that not only is this number theoretically unreliable, it is in fact misleading.

Josh Bard's pitch framing, in these five games, has been a joy to behold.  Just in Pineda's game, I saw at least five late strike calls due to the frame.  

Bard is not going to let umps get away with squeezing his pitchers.  Bard holds their feet to the fire:  if they blow a call, the blown call is going to be hanging out there in the mitt for painful microseconds.

I don't say that Josh Bard is Johnny Bench, but ... compared to having a third baseman behind the plate, during a pennant race?  You tootin' right, I'm glad to have him.

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Cheerio,

Dr D