MLB Names to Know: Elite Pitch Framing Catchers

With the increased focus on pitch framing that has gone on over the past few years in the MLB, it is time that we look at the truly elite catchers when it comes to potentially stealing a strike for their teams.

As major league teams have become more familiar with the value of pitch framing, catchers who are elite at the skill have had a job nearly guaranteed at the major league level. Baseball Prospectus does a number of great statistics on catcher defense, and one of them is Framing Runs Saved. The current leader board is here (subscription required).

In this list, I’m going to explore just the top guys in the major leagues in FRS. Some of these names you’ll obviously know, but you may not know how skilled they are at framing. I’m aware that the leader board link may have different major league guys at the top as the top 5 names have changed multiple times as I’ve plotted this article out!

So, with that being the case, let’s get to it before any further names change!!

Next: Astros Framing Guru