Top Five at Every Position Right Now: Catcher

Photo Courtesy of USA Today

By: Chris Larson 

Starting today, we will be running a new series that will strive to identify the "Top Five at Every Position." The series will go position-by-position around the field and will strive to identify the top five players currently at each position based on different metrics and valuations that all thirty front offices use in their decision making processes.

Today's focus will be on the catching position which is easily the most important position on the field. Without a catcher, the pitching staff cannot do their job, the defense doesn't know what is going to be thrown at any given time during the game, and there would be no one occupying home plate to prevent the opposing team from scoring a run. Furthermore, without a catcher, pitchers wouldn't get in work outside of the game and there would be no one to help them with the location of all of their pitches. Therefore, it's very easy to develop the argument that the catcher is the most vital person on all thirty Major League Baseball teams.

Over the past decade, there have been some notable catchers that have been great at the position including: Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants, Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals, along with Russell Martin, Jonathan Lucroy, and Brian McCann. When you think back over the last decade, all six of those catchers played a pivotal role in the success of their respective teams at the time and it would have been hard for any of their teams to have the success that they did without them.

For example, the San Francisco Giants would not have won three World Series Championships in the span of six years if it weren't for the stellar work of Buster Posey behind the dish. The same can be said for the St. Louis Cardinals success with Yadier Molina behind the dish over the last decade and the fact that the Kansas City Royals wouldn't have won a World Series Championship with Salvador Perez. Perez played a key role in 2014 and 2015 for the Royals.

Shifting the focus to the present, here are the top five catchers in the game right now based on the criteria mentioned above.

* Statistics present under each player's name are for the 2019 regular season. *

Photo Courtesy of The Athletic

1. J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia Phillies) 

• Defensive Runs Saved: 11 (5th Among Catchers with 700 Innings Caught)  
• Pitch Framing: 8.0 (7th) 
• Defensive Rating: 27.8 (1st) 
• Offensive Rating: 11.7 (3rd Among Catchers with 400 PA) 
• Wins Above Replacement: 5.7 (1st) 

Right now, there is no better catcher in the game of baseball than J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies. Realmuto does a terrific job behind home plate with pitch calling and recognition and there is a reason why the Phillies want to do everything in their power to reach an extension with him before the end of Spring Training. Besides the impressive offense as illustrated by his 25 home runs and .825 OPS from this past season, Realmuto recorded an MLB-best in the runners attempting to steal category at 47 percent. Furthermore, Realmuto is in the midst of his peak years right now at age 28 so there's the potential that he could become even more skilled at his craft and put up even greater numbers starting this season.

When you look at the Philadelphia Phillies on paper, J.T. Realmuto is an important veteran leader for the team as well. Realmuto has a lot of knowledge about the game of baseball that he can pass onto the young pitchers that the team possesses and has a strong ability to bring a clubhouse together following a tough loss or series of losses. It's going to be interesting to see if Realmuto's role with the team grows in any way this coming season since the team has new skipper, Joe Girardi in place at the helm. Girardi was a catcher during his big league career so it will be fascinating to see if he relies more heavily on Realmuto for leadership than Gabe Kapler did or what new knowledge he might bring into the equation for Realmuto to use in his game calling abilities.

Photo Courtesy of Forbes.com

2. Yasmani Grandal (Chicago White Sox) 

• Defensive Runs Saved: 1 (15th Among Catchers with 700 Innings Caught) 
• Pitch Framing: 17.0 (2nd) 
• Defensive Rating: 23.4 (3rd) 
• Offensive Rating: 12.6 (2nd Among Catchers with 400 PA)  
• Wins Above Replacement: 5.2 (2nd) 

The Chicago White Sox made a very good signing when they decided to bring in Yasmani Grandal this offseason. The team came to an agreement on a four-year, $72 million dollar deal with the 31-year old catcher and it could pay off huge dividends over each of those four seasons for a team whose championship window is just getting ready to open up. Grandal ended up betting on himself last offseason when he signed the one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers and it ended up paying off. One of the biggest things to like about Yasmani Grandal is his pitch framing ability and the idea that he knows how to call a game. Although he is starting to reach those dreadful decline years, he's going to play a vital role in his ability to formulate game plans and get pitchers to throw their pitches in the right location with the Chicago White Sox. 

Furthermore, Grandal is equally as valuable at the plate as indicated by his offensive rating from above. Last season, Grandal slugged: .246/.380/.468 over the span of 632 plate appearances with a Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) value of 121 and an Isolated Power (ISO) value of .222 - the third highest value in that category among catchers with at least 400 plate appearances. Easily the best selling point about Grandal's offensive game is his plate discipline as indicated by his 17.2% walk rate last season. That was easily the highest valuation among catchers, using the criteria from above, for the 2019 regular season. Grandal should be able to help the White Sox significantly in their pursuit of adding more offense to their everyday lineup. 

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

3. Willson Contrearas (Chicago Cubs) 

• Defensive Runs Saved: -1 (16th Among Catchers with 700 Innings Caught) 
• Pitch Framing: -8.9 (20th) 
• Defensive Rating: -0.9 (20th) 
• Offensive Rating: 14.9 (1st Among Catchers with 400 PA) 
• Wins Above Replacement: 2.7 (5th) 

Overall, last season was more of a down year for Willson Contreas compared to the past few seasons. That's likely a reason why the Chicago Cubs struggled down the stretch last season and ended up missing out on the playoffs altogether. As you look at Contreras overall game, his offense ranks much further ahead of his defense, but during a regular season both of those categories are likely closer together than they are based on the metrics listed out above. Heading into this offseason, it appeared as though Contreras could be the guy that the Cubs traded among their core group of position players, but a trade has yet to happen and probably won't happen before Opening Day. That is an indication of the type of value that the Cubs still have for him and given the demand that there was early on this offseason, it shows how well regarded Contreras is among catchers in the game right now. Many contending teams see that value and would love to have him as part of their team, but it's going to cost quite a premium headlined by a package of young pitching heading back to Chicago. 

Although Willson Contrearas is strong at the plate overall, one aspect of his game that will need to improve is his plate discipline and strikeout percentage. Last season, Grandal finished the season with a 24.9% strikeout percentage which ranked sixth among catchers with at least 400 plate appearances. During his big league career, the strikeouts have always been an issue for Contreras and that is something that the Cubs will want to see come down hopefully as early as this coming season. The good news is that Contreras is heading into his age 28 season so there could definitely be some more growth and development that he undergoes. Chicago is taking a gamble that will happen, but there's a very good chance that it will and if it does, that will be a significant boost for the Cubs this coming season and further proof of why Contreras belongs where he does on this list.

Photo Courtesy of USA Today

4. Gary Sanchez (New York Yankees) 

• Defensive Runs Saved: -2 (17th Among Catchers with 700 Innings Caught) 
• Pitch Framing: -6.8 (16th) 
• Defensive Rating: 1.5 (18th) 
• Offensive Rating: 8.1 (5th Among Catchers with 400 PA) 
• Wins Above Replacement: 2.3 (T-6th) 

As is the case with Willson Contreras, the 2019 regular season was a step back of the impressive seasons that Sanchez had in 2016 and 2017, but was certainly a promising step forward of the numbers that Sanchez put up during the 2018 regular season. Heading into this coming season, Sanchez very well could be a nice value pick especially among those that play fantasy baseball and he is going to be a very significant member of the New York Yankees. If Sanchez finds a way to stay healthy, his overall defense should vastly improve as should his offensive numbers. In fact, Sanchez has the ability to return to having an on-base percentage between .350 and .400 as well as the type of bat that could put up 35-40 home runs over a single season. Anytime Sanchez is up to bat, the opposing team knows that he has a very good chance of going yard at any moment. 

Last season, Sanchez matched his Swinging Strike Percentage of 13.0% from the 2016 regular season, but he wasn't able to play in every single game last season either. Therefore, more plate discipline could come into the picture this coming year for Sanchez and there is a very good chance that Sanchez will provide plenty of value to the Yankees offense in the fifth hole behind shortstop Gleyber Torres and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton. If the Yankees receive that type of offense from Sanchez, it will be more of a bonus for them because they certainly aren't struggling in the offensive department. However, if their 1-5 hitters are continually hitting at the same rate and stay healthy, then that could cause trouble for the rest of baseball. 

Photo Courtesy of Getty Images 

5. Roberto Perez (Cleveland Indians) 

• Defensive Runs Saved: 29 (1st Among Catchers with 700 Innings Caught) 
• Pitch Framing: 9.6 (T-4th) 
• Defensive Rating: 20.1 (5th) 
• Offensive Rating: -5.2 (10th Among Catchers with 400 PA) 
• Wins Above Replacement: 3.0 (4th) 

Of the picks on this list and the potential names that could go here, this one is likely to cause the most controversy. However, Roberto Perez is highly underrated on a national scale and has been a valuable piece of the Cleveland Indians team over the past couple of seasons. Perez has play a pivotal role in the type of numbers that the Indians pitching staff has been able to put up with his overall defensive numbers and pitch framing abilities. If it weren't for Roberto Perez, who knows if the Indians pitching staff would have had as much success as they have the last few seasons. Inside of the Cleveland Indians organization, Perez is heavily valued and he is one reason why Cleveland believes that they will be able to give the Minnesota Twins a run for their money in the pursuit of the American League Central crown this coming season. 

As illustrated by the metrics above, Perez is much better defensively than offensively. However, despite that, Perez still slugged: .239/.321/.452 over 449 plate appearances last season with a .285 Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) and a .213 ISO value. Furthermore, Perez became much more of an opposite field type of hitter last season as well. Over those 449 plate appearances, Perez had an Opposite Field Hit Percentage of 30.4% which was up from 23.7% for the 2018 regular season. If Perez is able to continue to build upon that and become an offensive force, then he very well could deserve being part of the Top Five Catchers Right Now list for all of baseball. Although, from a defensive perspective alone, he has already done enough to deserve that nod.