Marlin Maniac
FanSided

Miami Marlins: Who is the Best Catcher in Baseball?

By Hector Lozada

DENVER, CO - JUNE 24: Yadiel Rivera #2 and J.T. Realmuto #11 of the Miami Marlins celebrate after an 8-5 win over the Miami Marlins at Coors Field on June 24, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JUNE 24: Yadiel Rivera #2 and J.T. Realmuto #11 of the Miami Marlins celebrate after an 8-5 win over the Miami Marlins at Coors Field on June 24, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next

Offensively

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 18: J.T. Realmuto #11 of the Miami Marlins hits a double that scored a run in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on June 18, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 18: J.T. Realmuto #11 of the Miami Marlins hits a double that scored a run in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on June 18, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

The biggest separator between Realmuto and the rest of the catchers in baseball is his talent with the bat. Outside of pitchers, catchers are usually least relied upon for their offensive contributions. As a whole, the catching position has an 86 wRC+ which is the worst out of all position groups (excluding pitchers).

Because of this, finding a catcher that can hit and handle the defensive responsibilities of the position is no easy task for any front office.

Either wRC+ or OPS+ are the best catch-all offensive statistics that measure a players performance relative to the league. In this case, we will be using wRC+ to rank our top-five catchers by their offensive abilities.

  1. J.T. Realmuto- 150
  2. Francisco Cervelli- 140
  3. Kurt Suzuki- 124
  4. Buster Posey- 118
  5. Yadier Molina- 113

On this side of the ball, Realmuto is running away from the group which is not very surprising. What is surprising is seeing Buster Posey’s named fourth on this list. While nobody was expecting Posey to repeat his 2012 MVP season as a 31-year-old catcher, seeing his name behind Cervelli and Suzuki is surprising even though they are having career years.

Read: With Caleb Smith out, Who Will Step Up?

The recent improvements in J.T. Realmuto’s offensive game also must not be understated. This year, Realmuto is crushing his previous high in wRC+ (109) which came back in 2016. Without much help in a barren Marlins lineup, Realmuto has turned himself into a true threat.

Home/Marlins News