Did Atlanta Braves Catcher A.J. Pierzynski Just Get Put on Notice?
Arrival of Extra AAA Catcher Could Signal a Change Soon
You may have noticed – we did – that the Braves added another catcher to the AAA Gwinnett roster yesterday: Anthony Recker.
That makes 3 catchers for Gwinnett: Blake Lalli, Ryan Lavarnway, and Recker. That allows for the possibility of a change.
It is inevitable that A.J. Pierzynski will simply run out of gas somewhere along the way. It might have happened here in this early part of the 2016 season. He is nearly 39½ years old, after all, and in catcher years, that’s roughly 102.
He’s been a war horse for nearly 16,000 innings over 19 seasons. He’s 11th all-time in games caught (25 behind 10th place Benito Santiago; 35 from 8th place).
He may not get that many more.
Unfortunately, AJP ranks 70th for Catcher WAR (out of 72) with -0.7. 15 runners have swiped bases on his (caught 5 others), and he’s been charged with 2 errors and 3 passed balls… though there have been several missed balls and general poor play along the way.
Pierzynski did finally get his 2000th hit on April 27th – and only has 3 since then en route to a .197 average, which is completely uncharacteristic.
He is frustrated and that frustration is showing. Truly, he is better than this, but it could simply be a matter of being ‘done’ at this point in his lengthy, productive career.
The arrival of Anthony Recker does not force the idea that a change is coming, but it does allow for the possibility at any point. Clearly it would not be a significant boost for the Braves, but right now anything would be helpful. Even Tyler Flowers – at 0.0 WAR and .250 average – is better than AJP… and anecdotally, the pitchers seems to be responding to Flowers better.
Father Time seems to have caught up with A.J. Pierzynski… and with catcher’s speed, outrunning him is no longer an option.