Veteran catcher Matt Wieters has called Baltimore, Maryland his home since 2009. As he goes through MLB free agency for the first time, he may be calling someplace else home in 2017.
Matt Wieters has always been one of those guys that just flies under the radar. Never really putting together an amazing year, Wieters has consistently produced in his career and has gone unnoticed. With guys like Buster Posey, Yadier Molina, and Jonathan Lucroy, Wieters can get lost in the fold. However, for most of his career, in a full year Wieters floats around the 20 home run mark. Also, before his injury in 2014 Wieters was statistically one of the best fielding catchers in the game. The four-time all-star, two-time Gold Glover has shown he can be a key player for any team.
However, Wieters hasn’t been the same since his injury. His defensive numbers have dipped, and while they improved last season they are not what they one were. Wieters had the second worst batting average of his career last season. Despite him hitting a good amount of home runs, 17 in 464 plate appearances, he isn’t the star caliber player that he was four, five years ago. Despite this, Wieters was actually elected an all-star last season.
Although it was statistically one of his worst hitting years in his career, the improvement in the defensive numbers are what helped him make his case. Sure, they weren’t to the extent that they were when he won a Gold Glove, but they were good enough to make up the slack from his offensive output. Because of this, Wieters posted a 1.7 Wins Above Replacement, his highest since 2013. This made Wieters the 14th most valuable catcher in the big leagues.
So, despite the down trend in numbers Wieters can still produce at the big league level and help a team win. If put in the right situations, Wieters could excel in 2017.