Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training in about three weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. MLBTR already took a look at the center fielders still available and will now take a look at some notable catchers.
- Gary Sánchez: Sánchez has always had big power in his bat, having launched 173 home runs already in his career. But he’s often paired that with low batting average/on-base numbers, strikeouts and questionable defense. He wasn’t able to secure a major league deal last offseason, signing a minor league pact with the Giants and then opting out and signing another with the Mets. The latter club added him to their roster but quickly put him on waivers, with the Padres putting in a claim. From there, he went on to have a terrific season. He hit 19 home runs in just 75 games, keeping his strikeouts to a palatable 25.1% clip before a wrist fracture ended his season in September. His glovework has also improved lately, relative to earlier in his career. His joining the Padres coincided with Blake Snell completely turning his season around and eventually winning a second Cy Young. Snell spoke positively of his relationship with Sánchez during the year, as relayed by Dennis Lin of The Athletic, perhaps suggesting his game-calling could be viewed as a plus. There are warts on his profile but he’s clearly a strong player and should be able to find a better deal than he did a year ago. He’s going into his age-31 season.
- Yasmani Grandal: Grandal has long been a strong backstop on both sides of the ball, but he has tapered off lately. He hit .240/.355/.451 from 2012 to 2021, combining power with a keen eye at the plate, but that batting line has dropped to .219/.305/.306 over the past two seasons. He’s still a strong framer and was good against lefty pitchers as recently as 2022. The switch-hitter slashed .257/.409/.365 against southpaws that year but just .186/.265/.241 against righties, though that split evened out last year. Now 35 years old, he may not be able to get a job as a club’s primary catcher, but his defense, framing and switch-hitting ability should make him a fit somewhere.
- Curt Casali: Casali has never been more than a part-time player, but he’s been a solid one. He’s appeared in each of the past 10 MLB seasons, though never in more than 84 games in any individual campaign. He has popped 47 home runs in 1,454 plate appearances while walking at a 10.7% rate, leading to a .220/.314/.380 batting line. His 89 wRC+ is below average overall but pretty close to par for a catcher. He’s generally considered a capable defender as well. He’s coming off a disappointing season wherein he hit poorly in 40 games for the Reds before landing on the injured list in July due to a foot contusion and not returning. He’s now going into his age-35 season.
- Manny Piña: Similar to Casali, Piña has long been a serviceable part-time catcher. He has appeared in 10 MLB seasons, only twice playing more than 76 games. He’s hit 43 home runs in his 1,255 plate appearances and slashed .243/.312/.410 for a wRC+ of 91. He’s only played nine big league games over the past two years, primarily due to wrist issues. He underwent surgery in May of 2022 while with Atlanta, then was flipped to the A’s going into 2023 as part of the Sean Murphy deal. The wrist issues lingered into last year and he was released in August. He’s now going into his age-37 season.
- Mike Zunino: As recently as 2021, Zunino showed off his huge power at the plate, launching 33 home runs for the Rays. But the year after, he required thoracic outlet surgery and wasn’t able to bounce back. The Guardians gave him a one-year, $6MM deal for 2023 but he was nowhere near his previous self. Strikeouts have always been a problem for him even when he was at his best, as evidenced by his career rate of 35.1%. However, that rate was all the way up to 43.6% last year as he hit just .177/.271/.306. Zunino was released in June and didn’t sign with anyone else after that. His defense is considered strong, so he could be a useful player if his offense improved with a bit more remove from his surgery. He’ll be 33 in March.
Crazy how much people forget that Bryce Harper began as a catcher. And how much its swept under the rug by those who dont forget and by the powers that be.
It’s more impressive that Willson Contreras was signed as a third baseman and transitioned to catcher while in the minors because a pitcher wanted to put in work and one of the catching prospects was not there.
Carlos Ruiz was once a shortstop in the Phillies minor league system. Crazy.
Harper also moved off from behind the dish very quickly- the nats knew the bat was going to be MLB ready almost immediately; but to get a catcher developed is a long process. A HS catcher is going to take 3-5 years in the minors to get the receiving, game calling and the other stuff they do up to snuff.
So with the two skillsets basically being 2-3 levels apart, they made a call in his development. Teams make the same call with 2 way players all the time. The bat belongs in AA but the arm should be in A ball- so even if they could do both in the bigs someday- most guys give up the lagging skill
A little add on clarity
Aug 16, 2010 ESPN.com signing article: “ The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Harper is a 17-year-old power-hitting junior college catcher the Nationals plan to convert to an outfielder. He’s the first juco player taken with the first overall selection.”
Bryce then went to the Nats complex and played in outfield during the 2010 AZ Fall league.
… I got a chuckle at the make grandma happy nugget in the deal : “The Nationals also agreed to pay for eight semesters of college” on top of the 9.9m bonus and another 1m in MLB roster incentives. Kinda wonder what the college payout details if he ever claimed that.
Or that Kyle Schwarber was a catcher
Or Jason Werth. Or Dale Murphy.
Or Joe Mauer
Or Craig Biggio.
Josh Donaldson was a catcher
And IKF
Todd Zeile, Craig Biggio, Kenley Jansen, Carlos Delgado, B.J. Surhoff, Greg Colbrunn, Raul Ibanez, Brian Downing, Joey Votto, Jason Motte, Chris Hatcher, lots of players were drafted/signed as Catchers (or other positions) and moved to a different position and it was never “swept under the rug” like some political conspiracy theory
Dogleg, IKF was drafted as an IF. His natural position is SS. Moved to Catcher on A+ ball because of Athleticism
He hits like a catcher still
Pablo Sandoval
As impressive as all those guys who moved off catcher are, I find it even more amazing that Bengie Molina was a college SS.
That must have been one desperate college…
Or Carlos Santana
Ichiro
Kenley Jansen (pronounced Yahnsen back then) started as a catcher too. youtu.be/y72QulF0_dI?si=r7-NsJCIw4C3GEc9
I was a 3rd string C in high school but finished my career as a backup 2bman because of my bat.
Glory days.
Black Van, it seems you’re trying to turn this into some sort of conspiracy theory. Players move to less challenging defensive positions all the time.
Manfred and the Lerners (and now Middeton), etc have been sweeping it for years
You may have stepped out of the Mylar bubble for too long and your mind got swept.
Does it really matter that he was a catcher years ago? I’m sure a number of people played catcher at some point.
Or that Johnny Bench was more than just the host of The Baseball Bunch.
So was Kyle Schwarber. His ACL tear completely changed the Cubs plans.
Even crazier that Schwarber’s first ML hit was a triple against the Indians at Jacob’s Field.
He’s always smashed in the state of Ohio.
Are you saying there’s a conspiracy to hide his past?
I don’t understand the “swept under the rug” comment. I think most baseball fans know Harper started out as a catcher and was hitting bombs as a teenager.
Not sure where you are going with this comment.
Would you please clarify the conspiracy theory you are pitching?
Trying to make him seem like a lifetime right fielder.
Van,
Why would they be “Trying to make him seem like a lifetime right fielder?”. What’s the end game, the payoff, the reason behind this Grand Conspiracy???
Soooo there is a coordinated and deliberate attempt to hide the fact that Bryce Harper played catcher as an amateur?.. even though that is a minor footnote in his career.. it is widely available knowledge.. and hiding it benefits nobody.
Suppress and discourage might be better description
I have it on good authority that all players were once catchers! We’re through the looking glass here people…
Kenley started his baseball career as a Catcher
Bryce was also a pitcher, what is your point?
My favorite is cacciatore
Yeah, there’s a reason they’re the so-called top catcher that are unsigned.
Pass.
Just goes to show how bad the A’s haul for Murphy was. Great all round catchers are near impossible to come by. Going by what’s available to teams these days the Braves got away with robbery. Good work
I’d say the Brewers did quite well too
seriously, would you want any of these retreads on your team?
Maybe Zunino if a team has a LH hitting catcher who gets wrecked by LHP. Hard maybe.
Zunino’s career OPS+ is 87, and that’s deceptive because it is skewed by his two (2) decent years at the plate (for a catcher), the last in 2021. He has typically been one of the worst batters in the league, with 5X more K’s than BB’s. Now with the age and injury, its really tough to see anything more than something along the lines of “Here’s an invite to spring training, and have you thought about becoming a coach?”
Career 116 in OPS+ versus LHP. Like I said, hard maybe. With a LH hitting catcher on the squad who can’t hit LHP.
When your team’s backup is Carson Kelly… Hells yeah.
Or, when he is no longer your backup catcher, even better!
He’s being examined by top men. Who? Top men.
Fools!
Somewhere in that vast warehouse lies Bryce Harper’s catchers mitt.
I mean I totally get why, but it’s still amazing to me how few good offensive catchers there are — and how few have made it to the hall of fame. And even some of the best catchers on offense are either mediocre on defense, or were never quite good enough to be all-time great.
If you totally get why then how is it amazing to you?
Do you not understand how thoughts, feelings, and logic work? Just because something isn’t mysterious and confusing doesn’t mean it’s not amazing.
If they were a good hitter, perhaps the rigors of catching would keep them out of the line up? Just a guess..
Only five catchers had a 60+ WAR. Johnny Bench (75..2), Josh Gibson (72.8),, Gary Carter (70.1), Ivan Rodriguez (68.7) and Carlton Fisk (68.4).
It really is amazing, when you think about it. I know catchers face a more rigorous defensive position, and all the work that goes into catching usually takes away from their ability to hone their offensive skills — but you’d think there would be more great catchers who hit at a high level even if just by chance, a natural ability, etc.
A catcher with a + bat and + defense is close to a unicorn. That has to be the position that flops the most in top 100 prospects.
Buster Posey says hello.
Do you not understand the term unicorn, oldboy? Sounds like you’re just dense.
What ?
In your world a unicorn can’t say hello?
Those quick to call others names when not having to face them shows a lot about your personality, and I am not your “Oldboy”
Rays waiting the floor to fall out on this market, or have another trade ie salary dump up their sleeve?
I wouldn’t be surprised or excited to see Zunino signed by Tampa Bay. As far as your salary dump comment, they’re always keeping a low salary while still being competitive. Nothing new…
Pitch framing or catcher framing doesn’t seem to be repeatable as the numbers swing wildly from season to season so I don’t think the stat is all that valuable..
I’d go even further. I believe framing is a total fantasy stat. Nobody can seem describe what this so-called skill actually is, let alone how it can be developed or repeated. With all the important game-changing work catchers actually do, the obsession with a skill that doesn’t seem to exist is pretty silly.
Fifteen years ago the gap between the best and worst pitch framers was almost 90 runs a season. Now it’s more like 25 runs a season, so anyone falling in the average range of framing is statistically little different from the top guys, devaluing the skill significantly.
I still don’t see any evidence that this is an actual skill.
The stat itself is easy enough to understand and is designed as a subordinate to the WAR stat and concept.
x number of Runs = a Wins.
x number of Strikes = a negative run
The stat compares strike calls to actual strikes, though the formulas differ somewhat. Statcast mostly uses the shadow zone (the area at the edges of the strike zone).
The hypothesis is catchers can catch the ball in a manner which makes the pitch look more like a strike than a ball using various techniques like
*not moving their head
*not moving their glove from resting face down to face forward to receive a pitch
*moving the glove only a very slight bit towards the strike zone after receiving the pitch
*moving their glove a specific way/speed while reaching to catch a pitch that doesn’t hit exactly where the spot is
The stat assumes catchers who excel at using those techniques will get balls called as strikes more frequently, and prevent strikes from being called balls, thus creating more outs and preventing runs.
The reality is catchers are all over the map and they don’t seem to be able to repeat the framing values with any regularity, meaning catchers actually don’t seem to have much control over ball and strike calls. It probably has more to do with pitch placement, catcher sitting height (tall catchers get high pitches called as strikes more, whereas short catchers seem to tend to get lower balls called as strikes more), and the pitcher’s reputation.
As you say, this stat is all assumption and hypothesis and almost nothing that can be actually proven, and lots to argue against it. No umpire from Little League on up calls a ball or strike based on where the pitch is caught three feet beyond the strike zone. If it was really possible to “steal a strike” by wiggling a glove or some such voodoo, everyone would do it, and no reason to imagine that everyone wouldn’t be equally good at it.
A much more believable hypothesis for why balls get called strikes and vice-versa is because umpires are fooled by the exact same things that deceive batters. It also makes sense intuitively and from watching the game that pitchers who are in and around the strike zone a lot get more edge calls in their favor. So maybe catchers who are good at giving pitchers targets are getting them more edge calls than those who aren’t so good at it.
Lots of things can’t be proven, but it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Open your mind to new ideas, expand your consciousness and believe in the magic of reality.
Lots of things can be quantified but still not explained. Statistics are useful when they describe reality, not the other way around. Open your mind to the magic of thought.
Consistency is the strongest element of proof. Catcher framing isn’t consistent.
If you’re saying the stat measures more noise than signal then I agree. Defensive metrics have the same issue. They aren’t statistically stable enough to be predictive.
I hope Pina is doing plenty of wrist exercises this off-season.
“Clearly a strong player” put down the hash pipe man.
Sanchez should go back to San Diego is as a DH. Most likely another minor league deal awaits him somewhere when the season starts.
Not knowing how hitters will rebound from TOS, both Zunino and Jared Walsh were horrible last year so it’s no surprise they remain unsigned. Either minor league deals for both or trips to the independent leagues
Sanchez was an upgrade over Nola last year. But now SD has Campy, Higgy, and Sullivan. I liked Sanchez and I hope he lands somewhere he can get a good number of ABs.
This is the right take; fans that want Sanchez back don’t seem to realize we need to sign other positions with a small amount of “Cap reset room” left. Cheers James, always enjoy your insightful takes!
Sanchez will be fortunate to get a minor league contract, given his history of too many strikeouts and too many passed balls.
Sanchez has been solid defensively after he left the Bronx. Lots of K’s but many teams don’t care about K’s if it comes with pop.
The Washington Nationals just signed Joey Gallo for $5MM.
And where have the Nationals been in the standings?
@ChuckyNJ – What does the Nationals win/loss record have to do with your lack of baseball knowledge?
I have no idea where this myth of Grandal being good defensively comes from. Never seen a catcher drop more throws on plays at the plate than this schlub has the last 4 years.
The Kraken should play in Japan or Korea. He’s done for now in MLB
Denny-
Especially in the playoffs. It’s like he became another person. Passed balls, errant throws, and it all came out of nowhere.
Agreed, I have watched a lot of Grandal games and he is a terrible catcher. Didn’t the Dodgers stop letting him catch?
Everybody ever born started as a catcher. Let’s just face facts.
I would take issue with Zunino’s defense being considered “strong”. If that were true, he wouldn’t have been replaced by Cam Gallagher last year, who was an even worse hitter. But Cam was a good defender.
Zunino is one of the worst catchers in baseball at blocking pitches. He’s okay at throwing out would be base stealers. His framing was a positive 2 years ago but has been negatively graded since.
At best that’s a “mixed” profile. What I would say is more accurate is that he’s a bat first catcher whose bat has evaporated.
2022 should have predicted that a bad 2023 was coming and should not have been signed. A waste of 6M
I forgot to add: his pop time is in the 8th percentile now – one of the worst in the majors according to statcast. His blocking is 4th. (In fairness his framing is 61st, average, but fangraphs still has him negative ).
Did Al bundy catch?
Only 4 tds in one game…..oh wrong sport
While not elite this might be one of the better fa catcher classes still on the board in years heading into Groundhog Day.
Gary Sanchez is not a catcher, he’s a bum.
The endless rage of Yankees fans is adorable. The way they utterly hate every player who has ever left their franchise after not performing to All Star standards.