The Cream of the Crop: Top Five Catcher Edition

[Geki Ace]

1. Jason Varitek

.302/.380/.543; 20 HR, 58 RBI, 25 2B; 5 PB, .227 CS%

Varitek runs away with the catcher position, and it’s not even close. He’s the only dominating hitter that plays at catcher, and while he’s average at best defensively, he puts up numbers you’d expect out of your corner infielders from a position that many teams treat as an offensive black hole. Varitek can hit for average, hit for power, has a good eye at the plate, and even adds a little bit of speed from the catcher spot. While at age 33 you might expect him to be on the decline, Varitek has been getting better the last few years, and is going to be a mainstay in the Red Sox offense for at least the next three years after signing a four-year deal last offseason. With offense that no other full-time catchers can hope to match, Varitek takes the cake as the best catcher in the majors right now.

2. Ivan Rodriguez

.290/.299/.463; 11 HR, 43 RBI, 28 2B; 3 PB, .545 CS%

For almost a decade, Pudge Rodriguez has been the best catcher in baseball. He’s probably the second best catcher of all-time behind Johnny Bench, and the argument could even be made that he’s better than Bench himself. Now in his 15th season, it appears that Pudge may be entering the twilight of his career, despite just being 33. Amid swirling steroid allegations, Rodriguez is experiencing his worst offensive year since 1993. While in the past he could be relied upon to hit for a high average and solid power numbers, his average has shrunken down to .290 this season, and while that is still a very respectable number, his .299 OBP is not. Throughout his career you could count on Pudge to hit well over .300 and walk 30 to 40 times per season, but this year he has a grand total of six walks. His power has also hit a bit of a wall, with a slugging percentage of .463. While he still has a cannon behind the plate, his offensive shrinkage cannot be ignored. Of course, despite his weakening offense, he’s still among the best offensive catchers in baseball, which is why he’s number two on this list.

3. Victor Martinez

.277/.353/.439; 15 HR, 58 RBI, 21 2B; 1 PB, .221 CS%

Martinez is the youngest player on this list, and is likely to be on such lists for many years to come. Just 26, Martinez has already seemingly experienced the ups and downs of being a major league player. Last season he burst onto the scene in his first full year and put up great offensive numbers. Coming into this season with high expectations, he disappointed along with the rest of the Indians line-up for the first few months of the season. Yet once the weather heated up, Martinez’s bat did as well, and a good finish will put him close to last season’s numbers. Looking at Martinez, he seems like a younger version of Jason Varitek, featuring the ability to hit for average and power to go along with a great eye, as well as also being a switch-hitter. Martinez features an average arm behind the plate, but if he can throw out 30% of basestealers like he did when he was called up two years ago, then he may be on top of this list in a very short time.

4. Michael Barrett

.286/.352/.500; 13 HR, 51 RBI, 26 2B; 3 PB, .260 CS%

Now in his second season with Chicago, he’s become one of the more consistent hitting catchers and can be counted on for a solid average and good power. One of the more underrated offensive catchers in baseball, Barrett hit .287 last season and is at that mark again this year, with an improved OBP and SLG. Barrett is a streaky hitter, but when he’s hot, he’s a better hitter than most outfielders. Barrett brings to the table a strong but somewhat erratic arm and and average defense behind the plate. He’s not a flashy player, but he’s dependable and still only 28 years of age. Michael Barrett should be one of the best catchers in the league for years to come.

5. Jason LaRue

.270/.370/.459; 10 HR, 47 RBI, 21 2B; 4 PB, .382 CS%

I was just as surprised to see myself putting LaRue on this list as many of you probably are seeing him right now, but he’s earned the spot and there weren’t many other viable candidates for it anyway. In the midst of his best season, both offensively and defensively, LaRue’s improvement may have something to do with the emergence of Javier Valentin as well as his own natural progression. He’s now hit for double-digit homeruns in five consecutive years, and his all-around offensive numbers have been improving as well. His average has improved immensely from two years ago andhe’s walking more and striking out less. Perhaps most importantly, his defense has gone from liability to asset. While he’s always had an excellent arm from behind the plate, throwing out over 40% of base stealers for his career, he’s also had a problem with passed balls, allowing 15 or more in three of the last five years. This year he has just 4 passed balls, and he’s probably the quickest catcher in the league, both on the basepaths and from behind the plate on foul balls or bunts. Valentin’s emergence this season as an excellent offensive catcher has allowed LaRue more rest than he’s gotten in past years, and now that LaRue has been healthy the entire year, he’s putting up what he may have been capable of all along. He is 31, but he’s only been a full-time major league catcher since 2001, so the wear and tear of being a catcher may set in later in his career than it does with most catchers (See: Mike Piazza). With his good and still improving offense, excellent throwing arm, and very solid defensive play, Jason LaRue sums up the Cream of the Crop at the catcher position.

[Geki Ace]

That's my first article in what should be a running series. Feel free to debate about the list and anything said on it. I'd like to thank homerun21 for his opinions on the list, CRF for helping clean up the article a bit, and Mission for making the purdy graphic at the top and giving me the chance to write articles.

[MarinersFan87]

Joe Mauer?

[Geki Ace]

Mauer was number six on my list, actually. I'm sure he'll make plenty of lists in the near future, but right now I felt he was just outside looking in. He's still an inconsistent hitter and a little shaky behind the plate, though he has a great eye and good speed for a catcher, as well as a good arm. If I was listing the top six, he'd be on it, but he just missed it in this instance.

[Lynch]

Well, this may sound a little homerish, but I guess I can bring it up cuz I happen to believe that you missed someone. Joe Mauer:


I'm not saying he's the best in the league (although if he can stay healthy, I think he can be one of the best), but if you are going to say Veritek is the best, then perhaps we should look at some numbers between just Veritek and Mauer.

Offense




And then fielding




Aside from HR's, Slugging % and Runs, Mauer appears to be a little bit better in nearly every offesive category and obviously doesn't strike out anywhere near as often as Veritek. Mauer also doesn't have the luxury of bats behind him that Veritek gets. The Twins as a team are batting .262 (4th worst in the AL) while the Red Sox team batting avg is .284 (best in MLB). As run support goes, Boston has again the best in baseball while the twins are 3rd worst in the AL (nearly 150 runs behind Boston for that matter).

Taking this into consideration, Veritek should probably be a bit better (maybe). But it does explain a couple of his stats.

Defense, there's not much to say there. Veritek is Joe Average at Best while Mauer is one of the better defensive catchers in the AL ( I don't watch hardly any NL so I can't give a fair assessment of most of those guys).

So, I dunno. I'm not ripping your article at all (cuz I think you did a good job). I'm simply commenting on the names and where they fall and asking where you think Mauer would fit in. And also, I'm not saying Veritek sucks or that Mauer is THAT great. I think he's a good kid and he's getting better. I also happen to think Veritek can be a bit overrated at times, especially considering his defense is nothing too special. Currently, Mauer leads the league in SB and BA, while Veritek leads the league in HR and RBI.



Thanks for the good read though.

[Geki Ace]

Like I said, Mauer just missed it. If he wasn't in his first full season, I almost surely would've put him on the list ahead of Barrett or LaRue, but I'm not basing this solely on this year but on past performance and trends. The advantage that Mauer has over Varitek in BA and OBP is negligible, and it's tough to take steals into account because Varitek plays for a team that never runs. Ask me a year from now and Mauer's way up on the list, but not yet.

[Providence A's]

What about Kendall, Lo Duca, Lopez, and Schneider?

Hitting

Fielding

[Geki Ace]

Kendall isn't a very good hitter anymore, isn't a speed threat, has no power, and is useless at throwing out baserunners. Lo Duca's about as good defensively as Martinez, Barrett, and Varitek, but his offense pales in comparison. Lopez is a good power hitter, but he can't walk and he's not good defensively, and he's been dropping off the past few years. Schneider is up on the list and is a pretty good both offensively and defensively, but he's not quite as good as the rest of the people on the list.

[Fishercat]

Varitek's slugging is so much better that it weighs out any of Mauer's offensive advantages quite easily. Simply by getting caught stealing, it takes the value of one PA getting on base out of the way and if you want, add 9 total bases (10 SB - 1 CS) to Mauer's total, still about 25 short of Tek.

Now, let's not go crazy with the defensive part. A major defensive part of a player's game is the ability to call the game. It's nearly impossible to compare, but pretty much every pitcher Varitek has had says he's far better than any catcher they have ever had at calling and preparing for a game. It's extremely difficult to tell how good a pitcher is at it but I know both Schilling and Clement have given major praise to his abilities. From what I remember, when he got injured in that disasterous 2001 season, the pitching staff collapsed as Pedro got injured too.

I should note about the offensive stats, he only plays 4/5 of the time (as Mauer missed time IIRC) since Mirabelli is Wakefield's special catcher as a knuckleballer. Wakefield bombed when Belli was injured due to their unfamiliarity.

At this point, Joe Mauer and Varitek are the same hitter, except 10 of Mauer's singles are Varitek HRs. If you want to use just TB, they are extremely equal (if you take Tek's advantage, add SB and minus CS, Tek is leading (198 to 174), and from there on defense you take their difference in SB-CS and subtract it, which turns into a 28 TB difference, which means 4 TB difference. Of course, it then depends how much you attribute an SB or CS to a pitcher, which is a personal preference. How much do pitchers depend on off-speed pitches? How often do they throw easy to throw strikes and difficult to throw balls, or their control?

At this point, I'd still take Tek over Mauer, but it's extremely close and I think Mauer should be on the list too.

[redsrbetter]

Great article Geki! You did a fine job in your selections and I think I agree with you for the most part. It actually surprises me how well Barrett has done this season. He is definitely underrated as nobody really ever talks about him. He may have a bright future ahead of him for sure.

LaRue is insane all of a sudden this season, so I would be dissapointed if he isn't on most top 5 catcher's lists. I do agree that Mauer is a great catcher as well, but this is a tough decision no matter how you look at it. I think by next season it will be Mauer, Molina, and Martinez in the top three. Well done Geki!

[Geki Ace]

I should note that I completely threw out the game-calling factor. There's not a good way to judge that, so I just ignored it.

[Lynch]

Very hard to judge game-calling since it's purely speculative. But with that being said, I'd be more than happy to speculate that Tek is better at calling a game. He should be. He's been in the majors for 8+ years vs Mauer who has less than a season and a half.


(BTW: Geki, as I said above, thanks for the good read. I certainly wasn't ripping you or your article. Just throwing out (up) my 2 cents worth of someone I thought may have been overlooked at the time)

[Fishercat]

At least this year, they are 1 and 1a in catcher caliber for the tangible things. Next year Tek could fall of the charts and Mauer could be mini-Mike Piazza with an arm.

[Geki Ace]

Honestly, I'm glad you guys brought up Mauer. I'm sure this isn't the first list that people will feel someone's getting snubbed off of, and some healthy debate is always good.

[joek]

Last year Varitek was the best catcher in baseball, doing the most of any catcher to help his team achieve the ultimate goal for playing baseball. Over the past five years and over the past decade, Jorge Posada has consistently and overwhelmingly been the best catcher in baseball, helping his team more playoffs, pennants, and WS championships than any other catcher in baseball.