Let Us Build You Your Dream Catcher

Dave Paisley

Calling a game, handling the different pitchers on a staff, squatting down a couple of hundred times a game, throwing to second on stolen base attempts and blocking the plate all combine to beat the tar out of the average catcher's body and exhaust him mentally. Dealing with an umpire peering over his shoulder is just one more strain. These demands, over and above hitting, generally result in the catcher position providing less offense than it might otherwise.

However, the ability to catch is a necessity. If you can hit but you can't catch adequately at the major league level, then you'll end up playing somewhere else (see Delgado, Carlos). If you can catch but can’t hit, you’ll end up as a perennial backup (see Valle, Dave) or the front-line catcher on a bad team (see Valle, Dave). So while catching is a very demanding position defensively,  ranking catchers is done primarily by offense.

The rare occasion when a genuine offensive superstar just happens to also be a catcher makes that player even more valuable. But just how much more valuable than average is the superstar catcher? Which teams are getting the most out of the position?

The following table ranks the catchers most likely to get significant playing time in '98 by offensive production, modified slightly by their ability to knock off base runners. I've taken last year's stats (in a couple of cases a three year average if last year was atypical), and estimated what each player would produce if given 500 plate appearances and 150 stolen base attempts to deal with. The end result is Net Runs - the value to the team of that player over major league average catcher. See the Stats Glossary at the end for more details.

Team	Catcher	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	CS	Net Bases	Runs	Net Runs
LA	Piazza	.355	.429	.627	1.056	30%	373	100	34
NYM	Hundley	.275	.396	.555	.951	24%	363	97	31
Col	Reed	.297	.386	.535	.921	36%	343	92	25
Fla	Johnson	.262	.359	.479	.838	46%	334	89	22
Tex	Rodriguez	.314	.359	.492	.851	56%	315	84	17
Atl	Lopez	.295	.361	.534	.895	31%	315	84	17
Sea	Wilkins *	.229	.335	.416	.751	45%	305	80	14
Pit	Kendall	.294	.391	.434	.825	37%	302	79	13
Ana	Greene	.290	.328	.556	.884	29%	299	79	13
NYM	Pratt	.283	.372	.396	.768	48%	291	76	10
Cle	Alomar	.324	.354	.530	.884	32%	286	76	9
Bal	Hoiles	.267	.382	.427	.809	21%	287	75	8
Phi	Lieberthal	.246	.315	.442	.757	35%	273	71	5
ChA	O'Brien	.222	.308	.357	.665	55%	273	71	5
Tor	Fletcher	.280	.321	.528	.849	17%	269	70	4
NYY	Posada	.250	.359	.410	.769	20%	270	70	3
Sea	Wilson	.270	.326	.423	.749	42%	266	69	3
SD	Myers	.259	.321	.420	.741	36%	260	67	1
Cin	Oliver	.271	.319	.446	.765	33%	257	67	0
StL	Marrero	.244	.271	.422	.693	50%	254	66	0
Bos	Hatteberg	.272	.354	.417	.771	23%	256	66	0
KC	Macfarlane	.232	.316	.403	.719	27%	254	65	-1
SF	Johnson	.261	.303	.443	.746	30%	246	64	-3
Det	Oliver	.258	.313	.415	.728	32%	245	63	-3
Min	Steinbach	.257	.310	.409	.719	32%	241	62	-5
Oak	Mayne	.278	.338	.398	.736	30%	239	61	-5
Hou	Ausmus	.266	.317	.353	.670	49%	237	61	-6
KC	Sweeney	.242	.306	.363	.669	39%	236	60	-6
ChA	Kreuter	.222	.304	.325	.629	39%	230	59	-8
Tor	Santiago	.239	.276	.382	.658	37%	222	57	-10
StL	Pagnozzi *	.257	.302	.394	.696	29%	222	57	-10
Bal	Webster	.255	.317	.371	.695	25%	220	56	-10
TB	Flaherty	.268	.318	.383	.701	28%	220	56	-11
Sea	Marzano	.299	.349	.364	.713	32%	218	55	-11
ChN	Servais	.260	.311	.361	.672	33%	217	55	-11
Mon	Widger	.234	.290	.403	.693	13%	210	53	-14
Mil	Matheny	.242	.288	.337	.625	36%	204	51	-15
Az	Fabregas	.255	.281	.354	.635	39%	203	51	-15
NYY	Girardi	.263	.312	.332	.644	34%	203	51	-16
Det	Casanova	.242	.300	.338	.638	28%	202	51	-16
Col	Manwaring	.243	.305	.311	.616	25%	188	46	-20
Ana	Walbeck	.235	.277	.310	.587	31%	180	44	-22
ChN	Houston	.260	.290	.342	.632	18%	169	41	-25
* 3 yr avg	Average	.265	.327	.418	.746	34%	257	67	0

It's really no surprise that Mike Piazza heads the list. The man should have a couple of MVP awards already. His +34 Net Runs translates into 3 or 4 more wins for the team than the average catcher would provide. Piazza has a reputation in some circles as a below average defensive catcher, but he is only marginally below average on throwing out runners, and he handles one of the best pitching staffs in the majors (albeit in pitcher friendly Dodger stadium.)

Losing Todd Hundley for the year (from behind the plate at least)

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