Atlanta Braves 2017 positional reviews: the catchers

In most places around the field, the Braves could justify investing in an upgrade, based on 2017. At this position, however, it is difficult to argue making any changes.

The Atlanta Braves have been playing the ‘veteran backup catcher’ game for a while now. That’s been true ever since Brian McCann‘s departure. Players like Gerald Laird and A.J. Pierzynski have come and gone.

So now we have Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki. And both have found their bats.

Ed. note: in case you can’t figure out that photo we used for the ‘cover shot’ to this post, it dates back to 2014 – with this caption:

"MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JUNE 22: Kurt Suzuki #8 of the Minnesota Twins tagged out by Tyler Flowers #21 of the Chicago White Sox at home as umpire D.J. Reyburn #70 looks on during the second inning of the game on June 22, 2014 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)"

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Let’s dig in.

Offensive Side

Right away, I look at the Braves since 2013 (McCann’s last season behind the tomahawk), and I see this:

2013 McCann: 2.9 fWAR
2017 Suzuki: 2.7
2017 Flowers: 2.5
2014 Gattis: 2.2
2015 Pierzynski: 2.0
2016 Flowers: 1.1
2013 Gattis: 1.0
2016 Recker: 0.8
2013 Laird: 0.8
2015 Lavarnway: 0.3

So not only is out current catcher tandem keeping up with Brian McCann’s work, the pair (in 2017) exceeded the output of McCann and Gattis in combination (5.2 to 3.9).

So yes – sign them back up (and that’s been done).

But let’s see how that stacks up against the rest of baseball.

For the catching position, by team:

Best offensive WAR component: Braves 1st overall with 18.0. Second place went to the Giants with 10.2.
Best fWAR: Braves 1st overall (5.1). Giants 4.8.

A quick aside: due to the flaws in the way fangraphs reports these numbers, Buster Posey is getting perhaps a bit too much credit here: he had a 4.3 fWAR by himself in 2017, but almost 24% of his innings were at 1st base. Their other catchers – Nick Hundley and Tim Federowicz – combined for a total of 0.5 fWAR.

Meanwhile, Braves catchers either caught or pinch hit… and that was about it. So their “win” in this category actually has a fairly significant margin: the Giants should be credited with only about 3.7 fWAR as a group.

Best average: Giants (.291). Braves 2nd with .279
Best OBP: Cubs (.361). Braves 2nd (.360)
Best OPS: Braves 1st (.840).
wRC+: Braves 1st (121).
Walk Rate: Twins (12.3%); Braves 20th (6.8%… and I don’t care!)
K Rate: Cardinals (14.7%), Braves 5th (17.9%)
Doubles: Giants (57), Braves 16th (31; tied with Philadelphia)
Triples: who cares for catchers? But Atlanta is in a tie for 22nd… with zero.
Homers: Yankees 35, Braves 4th with 31.
Steals: Cardinals 9. Atlanta? Yeah… none. Tie for 24th.

Working with the tools of ignorance

For catchers, I’ve added a few more pertinent stats.

DRS (Defensive Runs Saved): Reds (15). Braves -5 (23th in tie with the Tigers)
Composite Defensive Rating: Red Sox 18.7; Braves 10.4 (23rd).
Putouts: Not terribly relevant – depends mostly on your pitching staff. Nonetheless, 1606 for the Indians, 1256 for the Braves (22nd).
Assists: Cubs 129; Braves 10th with 91.
Errors: Angels 5; Braves tie for 14th with 9.
Wild Pitches: 38 for the Cardinals (Molina is still just that good); Braves 58 (18th).
Passed Balls: here’s an area for improvement…Giants 6; Braves 29th overall with 20 (Yankees had 21).
Stolen bases against: Indians 50; Braves 99 (24th).
Caught stealing: Angels 43; Braves 30 (tie for 15th). So about a 23% catch rate.

Now a couple of Baseball Prospectus add-ons. Out of 110 catchers…

FRAA (Fielding Runs Above Average): Flowers 22.3 (2nd overall); Suzuki -0.8 (66th)
Blocking Runs (i.e., saving runs via blocking balls in dirt): Flowers -0.8 (93rd); Suzuki 0.9 (18th).
Framing Runs: Flowers 25.1 (1st overall). Suzuki -2.6 (80th)

More from Tomahawk Take

Most of these are not that bad… and when you compare hitting catchers with their defense around the league, you’ll find that most have an inverse relationship between offense and defense… the better with the bat they are, the worse their abilities behind the plate.

Flowers and Suzuki are at least holding their own on both sides of the mask… and excelling with the bat.

Atlanta fans have been used to seeing some great-hitting catchers in recent years: Javy Lopez, McCann, and perhaps even Gattis. There’s a new generation coming, too.

Next: Micah treated like gold by Reds

But until they arrive, this position needs no upgrade – Flowers and Suzuki are the upgrade.

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