Red Sox Rankings: American League East Catchers

The American League East is a strong division for catchers. How does Blake Swihart fare in this ranking?

It isn’t surprising exactly that Swihart isn’t at the top of the list here. While he had a tremendous second half of the seasons, there are three other guys in the division who are in the upper echelon of major league catchers.  Those receivers will all earn at least $15 million in the upcoming season from their extensive past success, on both sides of the ball. Swihart has less than a full season of major league time under his belt.

While one of the top three is still feeling the effects of an injury, the other two were quite healthy and productive in 2015 and will likely be the same in 2016. As it would be difficult to squeeze Swihart into a top five catcher ranking for the entire American League, a look at the catchers within the American League East will allow his inclusion, with a hope that next year he can be closer to the top of both the A.L. and the major league rankings as a catcher.

Let’s take a look at the American League East rankings for catchers

Next: 1. Brian McCann

1.  Brian McCann

Though he doesn’t hit for average like he used to McCann has been the kind of run producer that the Yankees were looking for when they signed him to a five year, 85 million dollar contract before the 2014 season.  McCann’s average has fallen to .232 each of the last two seasons, compared to a .268 lifetime average. The Georgia native  is on a streak of eight straight seasons of 20 or more homers.  His 94 RBI last season, equaled a career high.  With a 120 games played in 10 of his 11 career seasons, McCann is the picture of durability, something you want in your first string catcher.

It seems as if the wear and tear of catching 1280 games has caught up to McCann offensively.  McCann had an OPS of .823 while in Atlanta, but has only had a .724 OPS as a Yankee.  One reason is that McCann’s ability to hit doubles has gone out the window.  This actually started while he was in Atlanta, but he has not had more than 20 doubles in a season since 2010.  This is the reason for his declining OPS over his career.  McCann improved from 2014 to 2015 in homers, RBI, OBP and SLG percentages.  Getting used to the crucible of New York sports certainly helped him.

Any team would be thrilled to have McCann’s production year after year from the catcher position.  That said, it is the only position where someone with 101 OPS+ can be considered one of the top hitters at that position.  On defense, McCann had a career low of one passed ball in 2015, though he chased a career high 55 wild pitches.  A combination of solid defense and home run power puts McCann at the top of the AL East catchers.

Next: 2. Russell Martin

2.  Russell Martin

Since there is no team in his adopted home of Montreal where he grew up, Martin considered it something of a homecoming to sign with Toronto (East York) where he was born.  Yankee fans are probably wondering where was the Martin who had  4.2  and 5.5 WAR in his Pittsburgh seasons (2013-14) when he was with the Yankees posting a combined 4.4 WAR in his two years there (2011-12). Though Pittsburgh let him build his value for his latest deal, there was no way they were going to be able to provide the big contract that Toronto did.  It isn’t any coincidence that Toronto won the division last year with Martin behind the plate.  He had the same effect in Pittsburgh where he twice led them to the playoffs.

Last season, Martin posted a 3.3 WAR (33.3 for his career).  2015 was a career year in the home run department with 23 for Martin.  His 77 RBI were the highest since he drove in 87 back in 2007 (arguably his career year when he also won his only Gold Glove and his only Silver Slugger).  While  a .787 OPS is impressive at his position, it was down from .832 the prior year, though still above his career .756 average.

Martin had 19 passed balls in 2015, in large part undoubtedly because he caught 20 starts by knuckleballer R. A. Dickey. Josh Thole is not Dickey’s personal catcher though he came over with him from the Mets it seemed.  His dWAR (defense) fell from two to 0.7 last season perhaps due to catching Dickey.

It could go either way between Martin and McCann, who got the nod on experience, but it could be flipped based on the Martin’s having a slightly better 2015 than McCann.

Next: 3. Matt Wieters

3.  Matt Wieters

The 2007 fifth overall pick by the Baltimore Orioles is a good case study to look at in the case of Christian Vazquez.  Wieters had the same injury to his elbow that required him to have the Tommy John ligament replacement surgery that Vazquez had a year and a month ago.  If Wieters case is any indication, Vazquez still has a tough road ahead of him.  Wieters had his surgery in June of 2014 and is still making his way back to the catcher he was before the surgery.  Last season as Wieters was returning to the field he actually offered advice to Vazquez through Manager John Farrell. We forget sometimes that aside from their desire to win, these guys also have a personal side of helping an opponent in a similar tough situation.

In 2014, Wieters was having his best season ever, smashing a .308/.339/.500 batting line through 114 plate appearances when he went down.  The previous three seasons he cracked over 20 homers.  He is the total package when healthy.  The Georgia Tech alum also has two Gold Gloves and three All-Star selections to his credit (though the last one is a bit suspect since he had only played 26 games and was voted in anyway). In 2015, Wieters came back midseason to hit eight homers and post a .742 OPS which are in line with his career norms.

In this new year and with more time to heal from his surgery, Wieters is sure to make the rankings tougher next year if he can put up his usual season-long numbers.

Next: 4. Blake Swihart

4. Blake Swihart

This was the spot that people figured that Christian Vazquez, due to his superior defense, was going to be holding down for the next ten years or so. That plan was derailed by Vazquez elbow injury in Spring Training. The other plan was for Swihart to spend 2015 in AAA getting used to the higher levels of minor league ball before making the transition to the major leagues. When Vazquez went down with his injury, the Red Sox picked up journeyman Sandy Leon to back up new starter Ryan Hanigan at catcher. On May 1 that all changed when Hanigan was clipped by a foul tip breaking a bone in his hand. Blake Swihart, with 38 games at the time played above AA, welcome to the big leagues.

There has never been a question on Swihart’s offensive skills. In his five minor league seasons, he slashed a .286/.340/.427 batting line. Though he started slow at the major league level with a .602 OPS in the first half, Swihart rode a torrid August (.373/.439/.492) to post a second half OPS of .805. If you could combine Swihart on offense and Vazquez on defense you would have one of the top catchers in the majors. Unfortunately, you can’t do that and the Red Sox have to live with Swihart’s defensive deficiencies. While Russell Martin posted a defensive runs saved (DRS) of five in 2015, Swihart’s was -28. That is 28 runs below the league average for catchers.

Even though Swihart has never played a professional position other than catcher, fans would love to see him elsewhere on the field where his bat could stay in the lineup and he wouldn’t be such a liability at such an important position as catcher. Not that other positions are not important but defense is a higher priority behind the plate than other positions. First base seems like a next logical step for Swihart to try as many catchers transition there (McCann among them), but for now he is a catcher.

Swihart is obviously a talented offensive player, if he can improve his defense going forward, he could move up into the top tier of major league catchers and certainly higher on next year’s list.

Next: 5. Curt Casali