Examining Marlins’ battle for playing time behind the plate

This previous offseason marked the second straight winter wherein the Marlins made a sequence of strikes in hopes of upgrading the lineup. By and enormous, their set of transactions over the 2021-22 offseason didn’t pan out as hoped. Amongst those that had a tricky first yr in South Florida was backstop Jacob Stallings.

Stallings was a late-blooming common for a few seasons with the Pirates. He didn’t garner important MLB taking part in time till 2019, his age-29 season. As soon as given the chance, Stallings developed right into a stable main catcher. Over a three-year stretch between 2019-21, he hit .251/.331/.374 in fewer than 800 plate appearances. That was just a little higher than the .233/.308/.399 line compiled by catchers general. Stallings was a bit below-average from an influence perspective however posted stronger on-base numbers than the standard backstop.

He’d paired that respectable offense with elite receiving behind the plate. Public pitch-framing metrics liked Stallings’ work. He wasn’t charged with a single handed ball in 892 innings in 2021. Whereas he wasn’t nice at controlling the working recreation, he regarded like one of many sport’s high pure receivers.

Contemplating these two-way contributions, it was comprehensible the Fish focused Stallings to solidify their catching scenario. The acquisition price was pretty modest; they relinquished depth starter Zach Thompson and mid-level prospects Kyle Nicolas and Connor Scott for 3 arbitration seasons of their hopeful No. 1 catcher. Sadly for the Fish, Stallings’ manufacturing cratered on either side of the ball.

The correct-handed hitter posted a career-worst .223/.292/.292 line by 384 journeys to the plate. His already-modest energy went backward. Stallings managed simply 4 dwelling runs and posted his lowest hard-contact charge (32%) since changing into an everyday. That diminished contact high quality additionally resulted in a .280 batting common on balls in play that was .025 factors under the mark he carried between 2019-21. Stallings’ strike-zone self-discipline remained intact; he made contact and continued to usually lay off pitches outdoors the zone. He simply merely didn’t do sufficient injury on batted balls to make an offensive impression.

That offensive drop-off wouldn’t have been fairly so alarming if it hadn’t been paired with a weird dip in Stallings’ pitch-framing numbers. Statcast graded him as seven runs under common in that regard, his first subpar season after three consecutive years of plus marks. Stallings remarkably posted one other flawless yr with regard to keep away from handed balls however didn’t have his typical degree of success stealing strikes on the perimeters of the zone.

Groups additionally took extra benefit of his middling arm power than that they had in years previous. No catcher was behind the plate for extra profitable stolen bases than Stallings, who noticed opponents swipe 61 luggage in 75 makes an attempt (a wonderful 81.3% success charge). Stolen bases aren’t solely on the catcher — pitchers’ instances to the plate performs a big position — however Statcast rated Stallings’ arm power under par.

That might tackle added significance in 2023. MLB is introducing guidelines such because the limitation on pickoff makes an attempt and bigger bases designed to incentivize base-stealing. Stallings appears unlikely to develop above-average arm power in his age-33 season. Retaining the working recreation in test figures to be a problem but once more, which locations a larger emphasis on Stallings to return to peak kind within the areas of his recreation which have traditionally been his power.

He’ll must extra intently approximate his offensive manufacturing and framing marks from his remaining couple of seasons in Pittsburgh to function the caliber of improve Miami believed they have been getting 12 months in the past. To his credit score, Stallings had a good second half offensively after a horrible begin to the yr, however he’ll must maintain that over a full season this time round.

Normal supervisor Kim Ng and her workers appear bullish on his probabilities of righting the ship. There was little indication Miami critically regarded outdoors the group for catching assist this offseason. They prevented arbitration with Stallings, signing him for $3.35M. He presumably heads into spring coaching atop the depth chart for a second time, however he may face some inside stress if he begins the season slowly.

Nick Fortes, 26, has put himself on the radar after a quietly efficient rookie season. The Ole Miss product made a 14-game cameo on the tail finish of the 2021 marketing campaign. Final season was his first prolonged MLB motion, and Fortes impressed. He hit .230/.304/.392 with 9 dwelling runs and a modest 18.8% strikeout charge over 240 journeys to the plate. Fortes demonstrated each above-average contact expertise and stable batted-ball metrics, exhibiting the potential to be an attention-grabbing offensive choice.

Fortes logged 441 innings behind the plate final season, score pretty nicely within the eyes of public defensive metrics. Statcast pegged him as a roughly common pitch-framer with above-average arm power. Fortes threw out 28.6% of base-stealers, a stable clip. After committing 4 handed balls in simply 44 innings in 2021, he was charged with just one handed ball final season. It was a stable all-around exhibiting that earned the previous fourth-rounder a near-equal cut up in taking part in time with Stallings from the All-Star break onward. Nonetheless, with simply 86 profession video games below his belt, he’ll must show he can proceed performing over a bigger pattern.

The duo will proceed jostling for taking part in time this season. Stallings and Fortes are the one two catchers on the 40-man roster, with Miami dealing Payton Henry to Milwaukee at first of the offseason. Austin Allen is in camp as a non-roster invitee however figures to open the yr in Triple-A Jacksonville barring harm. The right way to allocate taking part in time behind the dish is among the greater questions for first-year supervisor Skip Schumaker. Stallings figures to get the lion’s share of time early in hopes of a rebound, but it surely stays to be seen how lengthy the leash could be if he struggles after Fortes’ stable 2022 marketing campaign.