History Says New Miami Marlins Catcher Should Start Fast

The Miami Marlins have had a lot of new starting catchers over the years, and most have hit the ground running. Can Jacob Stallings be next?

Not every organization can be like the St. Louis Cardinals and end up with a Yadier Molina…but the Miami Marlins have burned through an awful lot of starting catchers over the years.

For 2022, the new face is Jacob Stallings, acquired way back before the lockout in November during Act I of the MLB offseason. Which means that this Friday, the Marlins will have a new face behind the plate on Opening Day for the eighteenth time in their history. Stallings comes in as a former Gold Glove winner, and arguably as the prize of the offseason- both things that Marlins fans have seen from a new catcher before. For despite the relative revolving door at the position, there has been no shortage of talent. Miami has had two Hall of Famers, multiple All-Stars, and multiple Gold Glove recipients catch a game for them at some point.  Some impressive resumes to be sure.

However, what has often been just as impressive over the years for Miami has been how so many of those catchers came out hot right out of the gates.

Five Miami Marlins catchers homered in their very first game with the team. Jorge Alfaro, John Buck, and Ivan Rodriguez all did so on Opening Day, with Charles Johnson and Paul Lo Duca doing so later in the season. Original catcher Benito Santiago settled for going 2 for 4 with an RBI in Miami’s first ever game, but did hit the first home run in team history a week later(against San Francisco).

And it’s not just the catchers that were supposed to be solid hitters that have had some early success. Even Jarrod Saltalamacchia, perhaps the most maligned catcher in club history, got a hit when he debuted in 2014. Mike Redmond got on base three times against Livan Hernandez to start the 2000 campaign, and knocked in what would prove to be the winning run on Opening Day 2004. Back in 2010, Ronny Paulino…well, we don’t talk about Paulino.

Bottom-line, there’s a pretty solid track record of new Marlins catchers hitting the ground running when the debut with the club. More importantly, it’s a very short list of even remotely successful Marlins teams that didn’t have a star behind the plate. The 2008 and 2009 teams are the only full season exception.

All of which goes to say that Jacob Stallings could be in for a big series this weekend in San Francisco. Personally, I’d expect some fireworks Friday afternoon.