Catching On

Last season, six catchers had over 500 plate appearances, while 50 catchers had 200 or more plate appearances.

Baseball has a dwindling number of ironmen behind the dish and with the intense physical demands from the position, it may be time to start looking at the backup catcher as more than second fiddle.

More specifically, is a two-catcher system better than dealing with the difficult search for the elusive franchise catcher that seems so hard to find?

I looked at data from 2016-2018 for clues as well as guidance on which team had the best catcher fWAR by year. Let me first put into context the comparison of plate appearances by position.

We may have begun to see a trend last year when 24 catchers produced 1 fWAR or greater. There has only been a total of only 40 catchers in the past three years who have contributed 1 fWAR or greater during that span. 

While multiple factors contribute to catchers appearing less than position players (injuries, durability, injuries again), during the past three seasons we have begun seeing top duos give teams the most value at the position.

Last year, the combination of Francisco Cervelli and Elias Diaz in Pittsburgh led the league in fWAR by a large margin.

Cervelli, who often deals with injuries (8 trips to the DL in the past three years) and has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career, put together a terrific year in only 404 PAs. Twice he went on the disabled list, missing a month which opened the door for Diaz, who at 27 finally took a step forward for the Pirates and contributed at the plate.

Before skeptics claim the Pirates “lucked out” with Diaz being able to step in so nicely, consider the year prior.

The top tandem and fWAR catching combination in 2017 was Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes, both accounting for 2.5 fWAR.  The Dodgers tied with the Braves for a 4.9 fWAR mark in 2017. The Braves duo also did well for themselves.

In 2016, it was a three-way tie, as shown below.
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Best team fWAR at Catcher Position from 2016-2018

2016

Brewers: 4.3 fWAR

Yankees:

Nationals:

2017: 4.9 fWAR

Braves:

Dodgers:

Pirates:

Now compare that to the two seasons prior.

2015: 5.5 fWAR

Giants

2014: 7 fWAR

Brewers:

It’s difficult to imagine in both 2014 and 2015 the top two catchers played in 150+ games and had over 630 plate appearances. 

Additionally, when the 2016 season concluded, the Yankees traded away Brian McCann because they had a newly minted star in Gary Sanchez, only to see his 2017 derailed with injuries and the organization left without a viable backup to fill the void.

The consistent growth in velocity and pitcher skill has made catching as hard as it’s ever been, all demonstrated by the number of passed balls balls, the decline in fWAR production, and decrease in playing time. Catchers aren’t getting worse, but they are becoming less durable and unable to play as many innings as in years past.

It seems logical for teams without a Posey, Molina, or franchise catcher, to deploy a catching tandem – not only to keep their unit fresh, but for superior production.

As for what may be a happy medium between the two? That may be impossible to determine so early in this trend toward catching tandems, but finding two veterans who can man the position together – if not 500 for plate appearances individually, then collectively – would be my starting point.  

Every team wants a franchise player behind the dish: someone who can manage the staff and be the heartbeat of the team. I’m not convinced that’s realistic for most organizations, as these players are incredibly rare. Of the top catching prospects from the past five years, none have (yet) stepped in and provided star level value except for Gary Sanchez.

Catchers ranked in the Top 100 Prospects since 2014 (Baseball America, BP, Fangraphs)

Chance Sisco Carson Kelly . Sean Murphy Keibert Ruiz

Will Smith Francisco Mejia Joey Bart MJ Melendez

Danny Jensen Jorge Alfaro Zack Collins Jacob Nottingham

Gary Sanchez Reese McGuire Blake Swihart Andrew Susac

Kevin Plawecki Austin Hedges Christian Betancourt

Josmil Pinto Travis D’Arnaud Justin O’Conner Max Pentecost

I would watch for the Washington Nationals to improve behind the plate in 2019, as they deploy the two-catcher approach. Pairing Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes should be an intriguing duo to follow if we compare them to the recent success of a two catcher system from recent years past.

Yan Gomes (2.2 fWAR) and Kurt Suzuki (2 fWAR) were acquired in the 2018 offseason for RHP Jefry Rodriguez, OF Daniel Johnson, a PTBNL, (Gomes Trade) and 2/10mil (Suzuki signing). This may default as a position after a disastrous signing of Matt Wieters for the previous two years failed.  He was a -0.3 fWAR player in 2017 and 0.9 WAR player in 2018, respectively. Both Gomes and Suzuki played in over 100 games last season, making them a low risk, veteran tandem that will help the Nationals resolve their catching woes of the past two seasons.

Another tandem is the Braves duo of Tyler Flowers & Brian McCann. The predictability of these two veterans will help a young staff with their experience and framing ability. McCann is signed for $2mil and Flowers for $4mil. Both players have a history in the organization, above average framing statistics, and league average hitting for the position. There is a comfort in their consistency.