2017 Atlanta Braves Player Preview: Anthony Recker
Did anybody have a prop bet for this guy making the roster? Where did this decision come from?
The Atlanta Braves have placed Anthony Recker on their newly minted 25-man Opening Day roster. Once Kurt Suzuki was signed, this wasn’t the way the plan was expected to come together. So what do we make of this?
There are a couple of immediate takeaways I have on this news:
- The Braves have been unable – or unwilling – to find a way to locate another bench bat over the past couple of weeks. That could be a financial limitation.
- Recker’s place on this roster is still probably etched into the book in pencil.
That last point echos Jeff’s thoughts from this morning, that his tenure may be dependent on his performance and – possibly – on other moves that the team might still be in play.
Another Cup of Coffee
Recker, who at 33½ will actually be the oldest of the three catchers on the roster by a scant 36 days, has been bouncing around between various AAA and major league organizations since 2011.
In those six seasons, he’s played in exactly 200 games and received roughly a full season of plate appearances (623), earning a slash line of .200/.284/.350/.635.
Admittedly not a line that strikes fear in opposing bullpen hurlers.
But in 2016, Recker suddenly ‘burst out'(?) with a .278 average and .828 OPS… easily his best ML season ever. One would have to think that it was these numbers that granted him a call-back audition on the end of the Braves’ brand new bench.
What changed in 2016? Hard to say, but the changes happened across the board: more walks, fewer strikeouts, more RBI, and more doubles than usual. But clearly something was better for him to go from a career his OPS+ or 92 to 123… and from 27 to 123 in a single year.
Fangraphs’ data suggests that the difference might simply have been ‘better contact’ rates in 2016 vs. 2015. Despite swinging less (36.4% vs 40.3%)…
- Contact rate on balls in the strike zone: 67.7% up to 83.2%
- Contact rate on balls outside the strike zone: 39.1% up to 60.0%
Now to be fair, Recker had a terrible time at the plate in 2015. But that said, his contact rate was a career high last season… and his miss rate dropped to only 9%.
All of that does suggest “better hitting”. Get his vision corrected, perhaps?
2017 Outlook
Atlanta Braves
Recker was tabbed because he’s big and strong (6’1″/245) and has 18 major league homers in his limited action. He can at least drive the ball – and did in 2016 – which is something that the rest of the bench has serious trouble doing.
During the Spring, Recker hit at a .316/.458/.421/.879 pace… though didn’t start many games and thus didn’t necessarily see the ‘best’ pitching.
All that said, while Recker’s presence may give Brian Snitker more bench flexibility for using Flowers and Suzuki in different ways, you’d have to think that this is not the year in which Recker breaks his personal best of 58 games in a single season.
The Braves have a couple of early off days built into the schedule (done to protect home openers), so that gives the entire pitching crew extra rest… and in turn probably accounts for the 12-man staff.
At least early on.
Next: The Other End of the Battery
If Recker manages to impress, then he might extend his invitation, but for the moment, the odds suggest that he’s less than a 50-50 shot to stick all the way until SunTrust Park’s Opening Day on April 14.