MLB: Finding the best catcher in the divisional era

Does the data agree that Johnny Bench was the best MLB catcher of the past half century?

It is an article of faith within the baseball community that Johnny Bench was the best MLB catcher of at least the last half century…maybe forever.

In the second installment of its ‘Top 10 Right Now’ exercise in selecting the 10 best players at each position from the divisional era – that is since 1969 — show host Brian Kenny and guest expert Bob Costas ratified that viewpoint Tuesday night. Both put Bench solidly at the top of their top 10s, with differing views of who might rank behind him.

But does the data support that consensus judgment? A deep dive into the career records of 30 of the best catchers since 1969 may call Bench’s status into question.

For the record, here are the respective top 10 catchers of the divisional era as judged by Kenny and Costas:

                Kenny                   Costas

1              J Bench                 J Bench

2              M Piazza              I Rodriguez

3              G Carter               M Piazza

4              C Fisk                     J Mauer

5              T Munson            G Carter

6              I Rodriguez         C Fisk

7              B Posey               Y Molina

8              T Simmons          B Posey

9              Y Molina               T Simmons

10           J Mauer                 T Munson

The interesting aspect of the Kenny and Costas lists is that they settled on the identical 10 players, albeit in a different order. Without revealing the eventual results, it can be said that three of the players on the Kenny and Costas lists will not wind up in this analysis’s top 10.

To actually assess who deserves to be on this list, in what order, and how good a job either Kenny or Costas did, we need some criteria. Probably due to time constraints, neither Kenny nor Costas specified their criteria, although in the case of Kenny and probably Costas as well you can assume they had some.

We’re going to apply five criteria designed to reflect the broad spectrum of demands placed on catchers. We’ve assessed 30 well-known MLB catchers who starred since 1969 according to the five criteria and given them an ordinal score equal to their rank in each of the criteria.

Alphabetically, the 30 nominees are: Sandy Alomar Jr., Brad Ausmus, Johnny Bench, Bob Boone, Gary Carter, Darren Daulton, Carlton Fisk, Charles Johnson, Jason Kendall, Terry Kennedy, Javy Lopez, Russell Martin, Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, Yadier Molina, Thurman Munson, Lance Parrish, Tony Pena, Salvador Perez, Mike Piazza, Darrell Porter, Jorge Posada, Buster Posey, Ivan Rodriguez, Manny Sanguillen, Benito Santiago, Mike Scioscia, Ted Simmons, Terry Steinbach, and Jim Sundberg.

When all five categories are assessed, the player with the average ordinal score closest to a perfect rating of 1.0 is the winner.

The criteria are: 1. five-year peak performance with OPS+ as the yardstick; 2. Career OPS+; 3. All Star game appearances and Gold Glove awards; 4. Caught Stealing Percentage; Career Defensive Wins Above Average.

Five-season peak performance

This criteria is simply the catcher’s best average OPS+ over five consecutive MLB seasons at which his predominant position was catcher.

Here are the 10 best peak averages among the 30 candidates.

Rank      Catcher                Seasons               Avg OPS+

1              Mike Piazza       1995-1999            168.4

2              Joe Mauer          2006-2010            141.4

3              Buster Posey    2010-2014            139.6

4              Ted Simmons    1975-1979            137.2

5              Carlton Fisk        1972-1976            136.8

6              Johnny Bench    1972-1976            135.4

7              Ivan Rodriguez  1999-2003            133.4

8              Jorge Posada     2003-2007            131.8

9              Gary Carter         1982-1986            131.6

10           Javy Lopez          1992-1996            129.2

Right away Bench’s status as the consensus top pick is called into question. Much of his reputation is built on his offensive numbers, yet five catchers since 1969 emerge with stronger peak values than Bench in this decidedly offensive category.

This is not really a knock on Bench. Between 1968 and 1980 he failed to record at least a 120 OPS+ only four times, and two of those were a 117 in 1968 and a 119 in 1973. It’s more a statement about the quality of the competition, much of it perhaps under-appreciated.

The leader, Piazza, does not wear the ‘under-appreciated’ label. A Hall of Famer who got in on his bat, he never fell below a 150 OPS+ between 1995 and 1999.

Mauer was also known as a hitter, but in all-time discussions may not have gotten the credit he deserves. His 141.4 peak average was built on a 171 OPS+ in 2009 when he won the AL batting title (.365), the slash line triple crown (.365/444/.587), was the Most Valuable Player, and took home the Gold Glove.

Fisk, who caught for more than two decades, is often thought of as an accumulator. Yet he three times topped 150 in OPS+, including back-to-back 1974 and 1975 seasons.

Posey is the only catcher on this list who can claim to have backstopped three World Series champions. His strength was offense, including a 2012 batting title when he produced a 171 OPS+ that powers his five-season peak average.

Cumulative career OPS+

This category, which is simply the sum of each catcher’s seasonal OPS+ values over the course of his career, is designed to reward longevity. It is essentially a counter-balance to the first, peak-performance oriented, category. It is not the same as career OPS+

Durability is a rare trait among catchers, but the importance of the position – especially with respect to leadership – makes it a highly valuable commodity. The top of this list is dominated by two players who performed the demanding and debilitating catcher’s role for more than two decades each.

In reviewing this list, note that only seasons in which the catcher’s predominant position was catcher are used. This is important since many catchers at some point in their career move out from behind the plate.

Here is the top 10:

Rank      Catcher               Career OPS+

1              Carlton Fisk           2,549

2              Ivan Rodriguez     2,178

3              Mike Piazza          2,135

4              Gary Carter           2,132

5              Ted Simmons       2,124

6              Lance Parrish       1,835

7              Jorge Posada        1,777

8              Benito Santiago   1,743

9              Darrell Porter       1,709

10           Johnny Bench       1,705

It should be no surprise that this list closely mirrors the list of all-time games played behind the plate. Rodriguez (2,427) and Fisk (2,226) lead that list with Carter (2,056) fourth behind Bob Boone (2,225).

This category, too, hurts Bench’s status as the presumed overall front-runner. The problem is that as great as the Reds catcher was, he had a relatively short stint behind the plate by the standards of all-time excellence. Bench played 1,742 games at catcher, about 700 fewer than Rodriguez. He spent most of his final three seasons in various other infield roles, fundamentally leaving the plate for good at age 32.

Rodriguez was predominantly a catcher for seven seasons beyond age 32, Fisk for 13 more, and the difference shows in their career totals.

Probably the surprise on this list is Lance Parrish. The catcher for some very good Tigers teams in the 1980s, Parrish continued behind the plate into the mid 1990s, averaging 100 games behind the plate over his career. Although not a great slugger, his lifetime 106 OPS+ demonstrates that he was a quality bat.

Awards

Peer and contemporary recognition is one important tool for measuring a player’s skill. This category is designed to factor that into the overall evaluation. The components are a combination of All Star game selections and Gold Glove awards.

Here’s the ranking of the most frequent honorees.

Rank      Catcher                            Awards

1              Ivan Rodriguez                  27

2              Johnny Bench                    23

3              Yadier Molina                    18

4              Gary Carter                        14

5              Carlton Fisk                       12

5              Mike Piazza                       12

7              Lance Parrish                    11

7              Bob Boone                         11

7              Salvador Perez                  11

10           Thurman Munson             10

With all due respect to Yadier Molina, this is a battle between the two most honored catchers of the half-century, Bench and Rodriguez. In the end the decision goes to Rodriguez for sheer durability.

Bench was an annual All-Star game pick from 1968 to 1980…that’s 13 selections. (He was also chosen in 1983, but Bench primarily played infield that year, making only five appearances at catcher.) Gold Gloves were virtually as automatic. He won all of them between 1968 and 1977, a 10-year block, and only the emergence of Bob Boone as a premier defensive catcher stopped the streak in 1978.

But Rodriguez essentially replicated Bench’s dominance, and did it longer. As a 20-year-old in 1992,  Rodriguez won his first Gold glove and made the American League All Star team. He repeated both honors annually through 2001, then between 2004 and 2007 made four more All Star teams and added a final three Gold Gloves.

That’s 14 All Star Games, 13 Gold Gloves and a category lead that has stood up since then. Nor is it likely to be caught any time soon. Molina is closest with nine of each, but he hasn’t added to that total since 2018 and entering his age 38 season the odds against doing so now are high.

Defensive War

Many of the important things a pitcher does behind the plate are considered immeasurable. In recent years we have begun to hone such statistics as pitch-framing, but that data does not exist retroactively. Catcher’s ERA is another potentially attractive defensive category. But it is era-sensitive, putting catchers who played in a high-scoring era at a competitive disadvantage.

In the end, the most logical defensive metric to study is the simplest, career Defensive War. The number reflects the number of run a player is projected to have saved his team due to his defensive play.

Here is the top 10.

Rank      Player                   DWar

1              Ivan Rodriguez  29.6

2              Gary Carter         26.1

3              Bob Boone          25.8

4              Yadier Molina     25.4

5              Jim Sundberg      25.3

6              Johnny Bench     19.7

7              Brad Ausmus     18.7

8              Tony Pena           17.7

9              Carlton Fisk        17.0

10           Russell Martin   16.4

Rodriguez continues his domination of the non-offensive categories. His advantage here reflects both his skill advantage and – again – his durability.

But it would be unfair to Rodriguez to think of his performance in Defensive War as a lifetime achievement medal. Granted, 21 seasons behind the plate gives him a lot of time to pile up points. It also gives him a lot of time to surrender them back. Rodriguez did not do that. Never in his career did he produce a negative Defensive War total, his worst being 0.2 with Detroit in 2004. At age 39 with Washington in 2010, he was still good for a 0.9 Defensive War.

This category greatly elevates Boone and Sundberg, neither of whom made either the Kenny or Costas top 10s. Their candidacies were probably hurt by somewhat ordinary offensive accomplishments. But both saved more than 25 runs across the span of their careers, putting each comfortably ahead of Bench in this category.

The final tabulation

The tabulation below is based on the average ordinal placement of each of the 30 catchers in all four categories. A score of 1.0, indicating a first place rank in all four categories, would be perfect. The list also shows the catcher’s standing on the Kenny and Costas lists.

Rank     Catcher                   Ordinal Avg         Kenny   Costas

1              Ivan Rodriguez        2.40                        6             2

2              Johnny Bench          5.40                        1             1

3              Gary Carter               6.60                        3             5

4              Carlton Fisk              7.80                        4             6

5              Yadier Molina           9.20                        9             7

6              Lance Parrish           9.60                      NR          NR

7              Bob Boone              12.80                     NR          NR

8              Jim Sundberg          13.00                     NR          NR

9              Thurman Munson 14.20                       5             10

9              Ted Simmons         14.20                       8                9

The placement of Rodriguez ahead of Bench goes against all the accumulated wisdom of a half century, including that of both Kenny and Costas. Kenny, who placed Rodriguez only sixth on his list, would probably especially disagree. Whether his placement of Rodriguez was based on lingering suspicions about the catcher’s use, if any, of banned substances only Kenny knows.

As noted previously, this ranking uses only objective data, and does not factor in such unquantifiables as suspicious behavior.

Here’s what we know. Of the five categories, Rodriguez beat Bench in four and beat everybody in three.

Longevity turns out to be a big deal in this rating. Rodriguez played seven more seasons and nearly 700 more games than Bench behind the plate. In an all-time rating, showing up counts.

This system identified three MLB catchers among the top 10 who did not make either the Kenny or Costas lists. Those three were Parrish (sixth), Boone (seventh) and Sundberg (eighth). Boone and Sundberg were ordinarily offensively but exceptional receivers for long periods. Parrish combined capable offense and defense with durability.

It did not look as kindly on three others chosen by both Kenny and Costas. Those three were Piazza, Mauer, and Posey.

Piazza ranked high in three of the categories: first in peak OPS+, third in career OPS+, and fifth in awards. But his sub-par defensive WAR and caught stealing numbers sank him to 12th place in the final accounting.

Mauer ranked second in peak OPS+. But he was mid-pack in most of the other categories, winding up 14th overall.

Posey, too, did superbly in peak WAR. He ranked second, behind only Piazza. But he ranked bottom half in all four of the other categories, consigning him to 16th place among the top 30.