Tampa Bay Rays All Time 25 Man Roster
By David Hill
Catcher: Toby Hall (2000-2006)
The catching position has been a black hole for the Tampa Bay Rays throughout franchise history. It has been a revolving door, and one that has not exactly seen the best come through.
That is not to say that there have not been decent performances from any Rays backstop. Toby Hall, the longest tenured catcher in Rays history, had some solid years. He hit twelve home runs in 2003, and had three consecutive years with 20 or more doubles.
Overall in a Rays uniform, Hall produced a .262/.298/.382 batting line with 44 home runs and 122 doubles. A solid contact hitter, Hall rarely struck out, going down by strikes in only 8.6% of his career plate appearances. However, he also barely walked, with only 4.1% of his plate appearances ending in a free pass. His high contact, low power bat resulted in a below average hitter, but he was still easily the best that the Rays had seen.
Defensively, Hall was a solid catcher. Even though he led the league in errors twice, he was still worth ten runs saved in Tampa Bay. In 2005, despite leading the league with nine errors, Hall still led the American League with a 2.9 defensive WAR. He was in the top five in caught stealing percentage on three occasions, and was an above average catcher for most of his career.
The Tampa Bay Rays may not have a proud history behind the plate, but Toby Hall was a solid player. He was certainly head and shoulder above everything else that has been there in franchise history.