We continue our preview of the 2014 Pittsburgh Pirates with the men at the catching position.
Russell Martin: Martin was the Pirates defensive leader in 2013 as the Bucco backstop barely missed winning his second career gold glove award to Cardinal catcher, Yadier Molina. He re-established a run defense that was made into swiss cheese by opposing teams over the last couple years by throwing out 36 baserunners (1st among NL C) and only committing two errors for a .998 fielding percentage (1st among NL C). Martin also saved 18 runs over the average catcher for the year which was aided by his extraordinary pitch-framing skills.
Martin was the man to look towards in the clutch on offense as he produced four walk-off hits in 2013, highlighted by the walk-off error against the Astros on May 17th. His stat-line of .226/.377/.703 may not have been up to par with the average catcher, but Martin was still able to produce 21 doubles, 15 home runs, 55 RBI and 51 runs scored.
Russell Martin finished the 2013 campaign 24th in MVP voting and ranked 7th overall in defensive WAR (2.6).
The defensive skills will be back, but can Martin, in the final year of a 2-year contract, get the offensive numbers up.
Tony Sanchez: Sanchez made his major league debut last season after an injury to Michael McKenry ended his season. In limited time, Sanchez showed signs of why he was the fourth pick in the 2009 draft. He became Francisco Liriano’s battery mate down the stretch and handled the other starters, as well. Sanchez also pulled off one of the best catches of the year when he made a lunging catch into the San Diego dugout at PNC on September 19th.
In 16 appearances as catcher, Sanchez allowed 11 wild pitches, 2 passed-balls and 5-out-of-6 runners to steal on him. These numbers are far from adequate, but Sanchez should adjust with more time.
On offense, Sanchez batted .233/.400/.688 with 4 doubles, 2 home runs and 5 RBI in 66 plate appearances while striking out 14 times. It’s still too early to judge Sanchez on these numbers alone and again, another year under his belt between AAA and the majors will help.
Sanchez will spend time in major league camp, but most-likely wont make the opening day roster as he still has room for improvement behind the plate.
Chris Stewart: Stewart was acquired in a trade with the Yankees for Kyle Haynes in December to be Russell Martin’s backup (He was Martin’s backup in New York in 2012). In 108 games with the Yankees, Stewart batted .211/.272/.566 with 6 doubles, 4 home runs and 25 RBI while striking out 49 times.
On the defensive side, Stewart had problems behind the plate allowing 12 passed-balls (2nd among AL C) and 32 wild pitches. He did, although, post the second-best fielding percentage for AL catchers (.997) while throwing out 31% (17-of-54) of men trying to steal on him.
Stewart is a mere fill-in behind Martin until Tony Sanchez can become major league ready, but will get the nod out of spring training to be the #2 for the time being.
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(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
