Atlanta Braves new catcher Travis d’Arnaud in depth
By Fred Owens
On Sunday, the Atlanta Braves filled a major void on their roster, signing Travis d’Arnaud as the primary catcher for the next two years. Most fans know d’Arnaud from his days with the Mets, but what should they expect from him now that he’s wearing the Tomahawk?
Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos continues to move without regard to the market, identifying the player he wants and signing him early. The choice of Travis d’Arnaud caught me off-guard; in retrospect, I should have expected it.
The Phillies selected d’Arnaud with their second pick of the 2007 draft, #37 overall. He moved quickly through the Phillies system, carried by his hit tool and sound defense, and finished 2009 in A-ball with a .255/.319/.419/.738 line, 13 homers, and only 75 strikeouts in 540 PA.
In December of 2009, the Phillies acquired Roy Halladay from Toronto, sending newly-minted Jays GM – Alex Anthopoulos – Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and d’Arnaud in payment for Halladay.
d’Arnaud continued to hit as he moved through the minors. He played the 2010 season in High A ball, without any drop-off in his offense, batting .259/.315/.411/.726.
He followed that with a .311/.371/.542/.914, 21 homer AA season in 2011, and an even better looking .333/.380/.539/.975, 16 homer AAA season the following year at 23-years old.
The Mets era
The Mets acquired d’Arnaud three years to the day from his trade to Toronto, along with Noah Syndergaard, John Buck, and Wuilmer Becerra, in exchange for R.A. Dickey. They called him up the next August, and he never returned to the minors.
light. Related Story. Alex got his checkbook out and signed a catcher
The 2014 season saw d’Arnaud become the Mets number one catcher. In 108 games, he batted .242/.302/.416/.718, hit 13 home runs and posted career high’s of 2.8 fWAR, 102 wRC+, when catching at least half a season – 81 games.
Although he spent 14 days on the concussion list, he avoided serious injury. As a result, 2014 is also the only one where he’s made more than 400 plate appearances. Over the next four seasons, he played 176 games for the Mets, including the high-water mark in games played,112 in 2017. The Mets released him on May 3, 2019.