MLB rankings: Top Catchers Rankings for 2019
With pitchers and catchers for every team less than two weeks away, we look at MLB rankings of various positions for the 2019 season, starting behind the dish.
With Spring Training just a few weeks away it’s time to start looking ahead to the 2019 season and what we expect from certain players at their respective positions and do MLB rankings of the best at each position. Let’s start with the position that handles the baseball the most: the catchers.
Catcher value is hard to determine because they transcend basic metrics and do so much more than just hit and throw runners out. Catchers can accrue value through pitch framing, blocking, and even how they call a game or handle a pitching staff. So without further ado, let’s get into it. Credit for all statistics and numbers used to Fangraphs and Baseball Reference.
10. Francisco Mejia, San Diego Padres
While it’s true that Francisco Mejia isn’t technically in the majors yet, it’s expected that he will debut with the Padres at some point in 2019.
Mejia is currently ranked as the 26th overall prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline and the second-ranked catcher on that list behind only Joey Bart of the Giants.
Between the Cleveland Indians and the Padres AAA affiliates in 2018 Mejia slashed .293/.338/.471, and he profiles as that type of impact bat at the highest level too.
Mejia won’t be a big bopper and profiles more as a doubles hitter but he will still be a high-level bat and his defensive game should translate well enough for him to stick behind the plate.
9. Mike Zunino, Tampa Bay Rays
Mike Zunino has some of the best raw power in the game, and in Tropicana Field he can probably even improve upon the 20 homers he hit last year or the 25 the year before, both with Seattle.
Zunino is also just entering his prime, as he’ll play the entirety of 2019 at the age of just 28. While Zunino’s walk rate of 5.9% and his strikeout rate of 37% aren’t the most appealing numbers there are positives on the periphery.
For starters, his batting average on balls in play was just .268 when the league average was .296 in 2018. His isolated power clocked in at a .209 when the league average was .161. Zunino has immense raw power, and the Rays won’t be counting on him to carry the team on offense anyway.
As a supporting player to the whole team, Zunino could absolutely improve the Rays team that won 90 games last season.
8. Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees
Yes, Gary Sanchez did hit under .200 last year, yes he had issues with his effort level. But he still slugged .406 despite hitting .186 and in just 2017 hit 30 home runs.
Sanchez dealt with injuries in 2018 and is still just 26-years-old. With other players like Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge protecting him in the lineup, Sanchez has all the tools to return to his All-Star form.
If he can put together a healthy season and fully commit himself to be in shape for 2019, Sanchez could be a big part of the Yankees attempt to catch the Red Sox.
7. Willson Contreras, Chicago Cubs
Willson Contreras could easily be in the top-3 of this list a year from now. He rates as FanGraphs best defensive catcher and has the tools to be well above average at the plate.
In 2017 Contreras slashed .276/.356/.499 with an .855 OPS. He looked like a budding superstar.
And prior to the All-Star break, Contreras looked exactly like the star we expected, he slashed .279/.369/.449. But after the break and dealing with some injuries Contreras’ performance took a turn and he slashed .200/.291/.294, hitting just three home runs.
But the 26-year-old Contreras was once seen as the future of the Cubs catching for a reason. He has youth on his side and has already had some success in the big leagues, insinuating that with a clean bill of health Contreras could return to an All-Star track.
6. Francisco Cervelli, Pittsburgh Pirates
Francisco Cervelli has quietly been one of the best catchers in the game for a handful of years now. In 2018 the Pirates catcher ranked third out of all catchers in baseball with a 3.3 WAR.
With the bat Cervelli was impressive, slashing .259/.378/.431 with a .809 OPS and 12 home runs. Cervelli’s slugging, OPS and homers were all career highs (minimum of 100 games) while his strikeout rate dropped and walk rate went up.
What we’re seeing with the 32-year-old is that as he ages he’s becoming more well rounded with the bat. He’s maintaining a high OBP while also adding more power.
Cervelli also ranked in the top-10 by FanGraph’s defensive metrics, and also guided the entire Pirates pitching staff to a top-14 finish in ERA.
The knock against Cervelli is that he played just 104 games in 2018, but there is no reason to think that over a full season he can’t be even better.
5. Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
On the surface, Yadier Molina‘s offensive numbers look fairly pedestrian: .264 batting average, 20 doubles, 20 home runs, and a .750 OPS.
However, it’s important to remember that Molina suffered a serious testicular injury in May that required emergency surgery and kept him out most of that month and much of June. Obviously, coming back from an injury and surgery like that would have an effect on a player’s performance.
It takes a toll and it showed. As the season wore on Molina’s performance declined. After the All-Star break, the Cardinals catcher slashed just .249/.313/.397 with just seven home runs.
Even with the pedestrian offensive numbers, Molina is ranked in the top five because of his work with handling the Cardinals pitching staff. In 2018 the Cardinals were 5th in MLB with a 3.52 starter’s ERA. This despite 11 different pitchers making at least one start.
Of those eleven pitchers, three were rookies, one was Miles Mikolas (who had just come from Japan) and one was John Gant, who had 7 career starts prior to 2018.
Molina’s ability to guide a pitching staff (even one as tumultuous as the 2018 Cardinals) and his likely return to full health and better hitting in 2019 is why he clocks in at #5.
4. Wilson Ramos, New York Mets
Wilson Ramos has been one of the best offensive catchers in baseball for years. In 2018 he earned his second All-Star nod, hitting .306 with an OPS of .845 and an OPS+ of 131. The only problem has been that he can’t stay healthy. Since entering the league full time and playing 113 games in 2011, Ramos has played more games than that just twice in his career. He played 111 in 2018.
Ramos is capable of hitting 15 home runs and driving in 70 runs in just 111 games, so if he could stay healthy for a full season he could arguably hit 20-25 and drive in 90 or even 100 runs. Of course, that’s a big “if”.
But even with his durability issues, Ramos is still a better hitter than most other catchers in the league, which is why the Mets decided to hand him $19 million dollars over the next two years. The 31-year old still grades as a positive defender according to FanGraphs, too, so after getting sub-par production from their catchers last year (.698 OPS) the Mets will gladly take Ramos and his .845 as they try to re-enter the contenders’ pool.
3. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
On the surface placing Buster Posey at third on this list may be head-scratching. After all, he only played 105 games while slugging just .382 with an OPS of .741, both career lows.
The reason Posey comes in so high on this list is two-fold. On one hand, he was hurt for much of last year, dealing with a hip injury that eventually required surgery. Despite the injury, Posey still hit .284 and came in six percent above league average with an OPS+ of 106.
The 31-year-old also kept his peripherals up near his career norms. His walk rate checked in at 10 percent for the third straight year, as did his strikeout rate of 11 percent.
On the second hand, Posey is still just one year removed from playing 140 games, hitting .320 and hitting 34 doubles while posting an OPS of .861 with a 127 OPS+.
At the end of the day, Buster Posey is still one of the best catchers in the game, a player that has been an All-Star in seven of the past eight years. Not to mention the MVP of 2012 and someone who placed top-15 in MVP voting just two years ago.
With a fully healthy season, there is no reason that Posey can’t return to his place among the best catchers in baseball.
2. Yasmani Grandal, Milwaukee Brewers
Outside of his postseason woes the 30-year-old Yasmani Grandal actually had what may have been his best season in 2018. He was busier than in any previous season, playing 140 games and posted the second-highest on-base percentage of his career.
Grandal also hit the second most homers in his career with 24 and logged his second-lowest strikeout rate at 24%. Further working in Grandal’s favor is just a .278 batting average on balls in play indicating some bad luck and potential for his batting average to raise a few more points in 2019.
With his one-year, $18.25 million contract the Brewers could have one of the best offensive catchers in baseball on a reasonable deal. After getting a .245 batting average and .675 OPS from their catchers in 2018 the Brewers will happily take Grandal’s .815 OPS.
1. JT Realmuto, Marlins (for now)
This is indisputable. In 2018 J.T. Realmuto became an All-Star for the first time, earning a Silver Slugger and racking up 4.8 fWAR. Realmuto hits well, runs well and is a plus defensively. He’s also just 27-years-old and just entering the prime of his career.
Of course, WAR isn’t the be-all-end-all so also consider this: among catchers, Realmuto was third in batting average, third in homers, and one of just two catchers in all of baseball to rate positively on the base paths.
If you want to really look at how elite Realmuto is with the bat consider that almost 15% of his fly balls became home runs and his hard hit percentage was almost 40% when the average is about 30%.
Defensively Realmuto was also a positive, while his framing skills were just about average he threw out 38% of would-be base stealers (League average was 28%).
Given the state of the franchise in Miami and their rebuild, if Realmuto is still a Marlin come Opening Day is still yet to be seen, but regardless of what uniform he is wearing, we can expect another strong season from the catcher.
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So what do you think? Do you agree with our MLB rankings of the top catchers? Comment below!