Changes in hard-hit percentage, fly ball rate and pull percentage have helped Atlanta Braves Kurt Suzuki become the best hitting catcher in baseball.
When the Atlanta Braves signed Kurt Suzuki prior to the 2017 season, baseball fans thought they knew everything they needed to know about Kurt Suzuki. He’d been around for a decade playing for three different teams and had more than 1200 major league games under his belt. He was who he was, a good-fielding catcher with a below-average bat.
Don’t take my word for it, though; take a look at the numbers. In his first 4622 plate appearances, Kurt Suzuki had a career batting line of .256/.311/.372. That gave him an 86 wRC+, meaning he was 14 percent below average as a hitter when league and ballpark effects were taken into account.
There were 36 catchers with 2000 or more plate appearances during Suzuki’s first 10 years in the big leagues, and Kurt Suzuki ranked 28th in wRC+. His offense was similar to Ryan Hanigan and Bengie Molina.
Kurt Suzuki’s glove kept him in the lineup. With the weak bat that he had, good defense was a must. Among those same 36 catchers, Kurt Suzuki ranked sixth defensively, based on the Fangraphs defensive metric. That put him in the company of Matt Wieters and Salvador Perez.
When the Atlanta Braves signed Kurt Suzuki, they had expectations, like we all do when we acquire something. The Atlanta Braves didn’t get what they expected to get. They got so much more. It’s like they ordered vanilla ice cream and were surprised with pecan praline. Their plain, glazed doughnut turned out to have a delicious creamy filling.
Since joining the Atlanta Braves, Kurt Suzuki has been the best-hitting catcher in baseball. No really, it’s true. His 132 wRC+ since the beginning of the 2017 season is the best in baseball for catchers with 350 or more plate appearances.
He’s hit better than Buster Posey (126 wRC+) and Gary Sanchez (124 wRC+) and another surprising name sandwiched between Posey and Sanchez—Mike Zunino (125 wRC+). Zunino has a good story of his own, but this is Suzuki’s time to shine so let’s stay focused on him. But, hey, good job Mike Zunino.