The Pittsburgh Pirates may need to consider modifying their catchers’ workloads this season.
When you think of a word that describes the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, you think about depth. From the depth in the outfield at the major league level to the amount of talented pitching prospects being groomed in the minor leagues, the Pirates are deep at many positions around the diamond.
The catching position is one of them. Francisco Cervelli, Chris Stewart, and Elias Diaz are three of the Pirates top catchers within the entire organization, and two of them will be likely in uniform on April 3rd for Opening Day at PNC Park. With Cervelli the undisputed starter coming out of spring training, the real question becomes one of usage. How will the team divide the workload for their backstops in 2016?
Last season, Cervelli emerged as the clear starting catcher for the Pirates, posting big offensive numbers that included a .296/.370/.402 slash line with seven home runs and 44 RBIs. However, the 29-year-old has been known to be injury prone throughout his major league career, which began in 2008. Even last season, when Cervelli started in a career-high 124 games, he endured plenty of punishment behind the plate.
One simple solution to keep Cervelli healthy for a full run in 2016 would be to increase the amount of playing time for Chris Stewart. There is no doubt that Cervelli wants to be out on the field more than he was last season. He is the solidified starting catcher, but there may be no harm in letting him rest more often than he did last year.
Stewart is no fluke. In fact, Pirates pitchers seemed to have success with Stewart behind the plate, compiling a 2.46 team ERA in 52 games with him behind the dish. Of course, this does have a bit to do with Stewart serving as Gerrit Cole‘s primary catcher, but it also says a lot about his skills behind the plate. He contributed offensively as well, hitting .289 with 15 RBIs on the season, including a clutch RBI single that tied the game in the 10th inning of a memorable 6-5 victory over the St Louis Cardinals on July 11th of last season.
It is clear that Stewart can contribute even in the absence of Cervelli. Giving Stewart more playing time not only positively impacts him by allowing him to play in more than the 36 games he started last season, but it gives Cervelli, the better offensive weapon, an opportunity to avoid being banged up behind the plate.
The Pirates have choices they can make in regards to playing time among their top two catchers, but they’re not the only team around the league who has these types of choices to make. Teams such as the Chicago Cubs and the Kansas City Royals treat their catching situations in totally different ways.
In Chicago’s case, they have three solid catchers on their roster including Kyle Schwarber, Miguel Montero, and David Ross. Schwarber is obviously the young star of the trio, but Montero and Ross have plenty of experience to go around. Ross is primarily there to catch for Jon Lester, his former teammate in Boston. Schwarber, a Cubs first round draft pick in 2014, is likely to get an abundance of playing time in the outfield, as he played 88 games in the outfield last season compared to just 21 games behind the plate. This leaves a capable duo of Montero and Ross to primarily man the catching position for the Cubs in 2016, with Schwarber occasionally getting a start here and there. The point is that the Cubs have a situation that many clubs would be envious of, as they have three catchers that are capable of being starters at the major league level.
In the Kansas City Royals situation, only one name comes to mind when thinking of the starting backstop: Salvador Perez. A headline written in the Kansas Star on March 7th that read, “After contract extension, Royals have no plans to give catcher Salvador Perez more rest” explains it all by itself.
In the last two seasons, Perez has started a combined 280 regular season games and 31 postseason games behind the plate. According to the Kansas Star piece, Perez set a major league record for starting 158 total games for the Royals in 2014.
Due to Perez recently signing a five-year extension with the Royals, the team is bound to use him in the same way that they have in the past two seasons. This could spell danger for the 25-year-old’s future in the major leagues due to the physicality of the catching position, but unlike the Pirates and the Cubs, the Royals are dedicated to having one catcher start a heavy majority of their games, a philosophy that will apparently not change in 2016.
The fact of the matter is that the Pirates have a very good situation behind the plate. It compares to situations that other teams are facing around the league, but doesn’t quite compare to the situation in Kansas City. They are not dedicating all of the time behind the plate to one player and have two good options at the major league level. The Pirates also have depth within the system with prospects such as Elias Diaz and former first round draft pick Reese McGuire, so the future of the catching position remains bright.
Whether they decide to switch around the workload behind the plate or not, expect the battery of Cervelli and Stewart to be a successful one for the Pirates in 2016.
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