Tampa Bay Rays struggle to find solution at catcher

What will it take for the Tampa Bay Rays to find a long-term answer at catcher?

Not much has gone right for the Tampa Bay Rays this season. They own a dismal 34-54 record at the All-Star break, the second-worst mark in the American League ahead of the Minnesota Twins. You could point to a host of reasons for the team’s poor performance, but an inability to effectively fill the catcher position is a major one.

Yesterday, the Rays sent catcher Hank Conger down to Triple-A. The 28-year-old Conger has struggled to distinguish himself with both the bat and glove throughout his six seasons in the big leagues. In 49 games this year, he has slashed a pitiful .194/.265/.306 with three home runs and 10 RBI. Defensively, he’s perhaps been even more impotent, throwing out only eight of 43 attempted base stealers for an 18.6 percent success rate.

And believe it or not, he’s actually improved in that regard since last year. In 2015, Conger gunned down just 2.4 percent of would-be base thieves, nabbing only one base runner in 43 attempts.

Conger was acquired for cash in an offseason trade from the Houston Astros, and his unceremonious stint in a Rays uniform the past three and a half months highlights Tampa Bay’s persistent difficultly with putting capable backstops behind the plate. 27-year-old Curt Casali, with whom Conger has been sharing catching duties, has also been hard to watch. He’s slashing .169/.250/.319 with six homers and 18 RBI in 61 games. He has done a much better job controlling the running game, however, throwing out 13 of 35 potential base stealers (37.1 percent).

Rays catchers as a whole sport a .588 OPS; only the Pirates (.580) and Indians (.516) are worse. Many clubs value defense over offense when it comes to catchers, but there’s a fine line between a light-hitting backstop and a black hole.

As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times explains, it’s an issue that has troubled the franchise since its 1998 inception. The biggest blunder in this regard is undoubtedly the 2008 draft, when the Rays selected shortstop Tim Beckham with the first overall pick. Four selections later, the Giants took Buster Posey and the rest is history. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but that’s one Tampa Bay would surely love to have back.

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Only one Rays catcher has earned an All-Star nod in the team’s history, Dioner Navarro in 2008. Tampa Bay received Navarro in a trade two years earlier. In terms of developing catchers through their minor league system, the Rays have been shockingly inept. The last player drafted by the Rays to play a majority of the team’s games at catcher in a season was John Jaso in 2010.

Tampa Bay has primarily relied on journeymen and low-cost veterans to address the position, which isn’t that unexpected for a team on such a tight budget. Jose Molina held down the fort from 2012 to 2014, but in the meantime the Rays watched some other missed opportunities go by. Stephen Vogt, drafted by the Rays in 2007, was dealt to the A’s at the beginning of the 2013 campaign. He has since blossomed in Oakland during the past two seasons.

The franchise’s payroll constraints limit much of what they could do in free agency, so the minor leagues seem like the best bet for finding a long-term catching solution. Unfortunately, they aren’t looking particularly prosperous at the moment either.

25-year-old Luke Maile is reportedly one of the backstops who could be called upon to replace Conger. He has a modest .242/.310/.340 slash line with two homers and 12 RBI in 58 games this year at Triple-A Durham. The team’s highest-ranked catcher prospect on MLB Pipeline is Justin O’Conner, currently placed at #14 in the Rays system. While he’s drawn rave reviews for his arm strength (80 scouting grade), observers are far less convinced about his bat. He also hasn’t played yet this season due to a back injury.

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On a club that has traditionally depended on its young starting pitching, having a reliable, steadying hand behind the plate is paramount. Whether through good fortune in the minor leagues, or a willingness to spend more in free agency or on the trade market, the Rays are going to have to do a lot better at the catcher position in the future if they want to compete again.