Injuries have forced the Orioles to use a team record-tying six backstops this season, of whom Alex Jackson seems kind of interesting.
It seems to be contagious, this injury bug that is striking Orioles catchers. This season, the Orioles have used a franchise record-tying six catchers behind the plate, which is not the kind of record you want to be smashing. Adley Rutschman has a strained oblique. Gary Sánchez sprained his knee. Maverick Handley went down with a concussion/sore wrist. Chadwick Tromp had back tightness. That leaves Jacob Stallings and Alex Jackson, two names I am positive you didn’t know before this summer.
On the bright side, it’s been an opportunity for four backup backstops to get some playing time. Who’s made the most of their time in the spotlight? Do any of them threaten to take the regulars’ jobs, when they’re back healthy? Let’s assess based on their play this season.
On offense, I’m going to look at batting average, OPS (the sum of a player’s slugging and on-base percentage, and OPS+ (OPS adjusted so that 100 is exactly average, 101 is 1% better than average, and so forth).
On defense, we’ll take a look at Caught Stealing as a percentage and a “Run Value” (0 means no added value). We’ll also look at Pitch Framing Value and Blocking Value (an important skill with so many sinkerballers on the staff), and Pop-up Time (both in seconds and in ranking).
The Usual Guys
Adley Rutschman: 1.5 bWAR (68 G)
Offense: .227 BA/.691 OPS/96 OPS+
Defense: Caught Stealing (6/33, 18% -2 RV)/Pitch Framing (+1 RV)/Blocking (+1 RV)/Pop Time (1.94 sec, Good)
Alas, oblique injuries are no fun. Overall it hasn’t been a great season for Rutschman, but the switch-hitting catcher was just starting to find momentum at the dish when he strained his oblique muscle on June 21 and was put on the 10-day IL.
Rutschman’s value, even in a down year, is undeniable. He is usually an above-average hitter, and this season he’s just below that mark, but still providing better-than-average value. His throwing has not been great this year (or last), but he is blocking well and also framing pitches, considered his specialty. Rutch made a Triple-A rehab start on July 22 and went 1-for-3 with a double. He should be back sometime this month.
Gary Sánchez: -0.4 bWAR (29 G)
Offense: .231 BA/.715 OPS/101 OPS+
Defense: Caught Stealing (1/13, 8%, -1 RV)/Pitch Framing (-2 RV)/Blocking (-7 RV)/Pop Time (1.91 sec, Excellent)
The former Yankee has lived up to his slugging reputation, and since he exited a July 5 game in Atlanta with a sprained UCL, the O’s have missed his power. He’s the only catcher on this list putting up above-average offensive numbers as a hitter, not just as a catcher.
At the same time, his defense has been really rough. He’s thrown out only 1 in 13 runners, he’s adding negative value to his staff as a pitch framer, and his blocking is dreadful. I am surprised to see he’s got an excellent pop time, but that’s about it for him as a catcher right now.
The Replacements
Maverick Handley: -0.8 bWAR (16 G)
Offense: .073 BA/.207 OPS/-39 OPS+
Defense: Caught Stealing (0/12, 0%, -2 RV)/Pitch Framing (+0 RV)/Blocking (+2 RV)/Pop Time (1.92 sec, Very Good)
The former sixth-round pick for the Orioles in 2019 reported being “on Cloud 9” after finally making his MLB debut in April of this year. He’s had pretty brutal injury luck, having been involved in a scary collision at home plate and also hurt his wrist. He’s on the 10-day IL, although his return date is uncertain.
At any rate, his numbers in 16 games were pretty unfavorable. He’s the worst-hitting catcher on this list (to get into actual negative-OPS+ territory, you have to be really futile with a bat). If Handley were crushing it defensively, fine, but he’s been poor at throwing out base stealers and an unremarkable pitch-framer. He blocks well, which is not nothing.
Jacob Stallings: -0.4 bWAR (12 G)
Offense: .100 BA/.262 OPS/-25 OPS+
Defense: Caught Stealing (3/10, 30%, +1 RV)/Pitch Framing (-1 RV)/Blocking (-3 RV)/Pop Time (2.00 sec, Average)
The 35-year-old veteran is the only one of the replacements with much MLB experience, 562 games over ten seasons with PIT, MIA and COL. He’s a .232 career hitter but has been much worse here. Yet he’s thrown well. Statcast considers him a bad pitch framer and blocker, but I will say some of the O’s starting pitchers seem to favor him.
Stallings seem to be the embodiment of “backup catcher,” steady and knowledgeable, although so far his defense isn’t fully outweighing the poor numbers at the plate.
Alex Jackson: -0.1 WAR (10 G)
Offense: .211 BA/.737 OPS/107 OPS+
Defense: Caught Stealing (1/5, 20%, +0 RV)/Pitch Framing (+0 RV)/Blocking (-1 RV)/Pop Time (1.93 sec, Good)
This former first-round pick for Seattle (No. 6 overall, 2014) lost his prospect status long ago and though he debuted in 2019, he’s never gotten sustained playing time except over 52 games for Atlanta/Milwaukee in 2021, when he hit a dreadful .137. The Orioles traded for him on July 6 from New York for a PTBNL after Gary Sánchez was declared likely out for weeks.
Overall, Alex Jackson has been a good pickup. The 29-year-old is still in the territory where his sample size is so small that everything means potentially nothing, and it’s unlikely that this career .137 hitter in 321 AB’s is going to turn into Joe Mauer, but still, Jackson has shown good things. He’s thrown out a base runner in five tries and actually shown a bit of power, with an impressive .737 OPS to date.
On July 10, against the Mets, Jackson hit two doubles and scored two runs in a 7-3 Orioles win. Yesterday, against Cleveland, Jackson had his second-best game as an Oriole, throwing out a base stealer and starting a run-scoring rally with a double off a left-hander. It’s been a brief enough debut for the righty but he’s kept it interesting.
Chadwick Tromp: 0.1 bWAR (6 G)
Offense: .188 BA/.625 OPS/71 OPS+
Defense: Caught Stealing (0/0, 0%, +0 RF)/Pitch Framing (+0)/Blocking (+0)/Pop Time (1.91 sec, Excellent)
A name you don’t hear everyday, Chadwick Tromp is a native of Aruba, the same place that brought you players like Sidney Ponson, Radhames Dykhoff, Calvin Maduro and Xander Bogaerts, all but one former Orioles. The onetime Cincinnati farmhand spent two seasons with San Francisco and three with Atlanta, but all in all, he’s made just 67 career appearances, batting .221 with a .620 OPS.
So far he’s hitting a little worse than that, and on defense, he appears to be the Catcher Without Qualities, neither good nor bad at throwing out runners, pitch framing, or blocking. It’s only been six games though, and he’s expected to return from the IL some time in late July or early August.
Conclusions
A couple of things stand out. Jacob Stallings is probably the guy to give the game to if you want steadiness for your starter, but you should expect nothing remarkable. Chadwick Tromp remains an unknown quantity, but neither he nor Handley seem to have much upside. Alex Jackson I find interesting and want to see more of.
As for the “Regulars,” my conclusion from this and other years of defensive metrics on Gary Sánchez is that it seems clear he should not be catching. You want good hands from your No. 2 catcher, even if you sacrifice some offense. Sánchez was not a good replacement for last season’s James McCann, at least not as a backstop. As a DH, sure, but then he probably shouldn’t be taking at-bats away from youngsters like Coby Mayo.
Finally, even if he hasn’t assumed superstar status, nobody is replacing Adley Rutschman out of this bunch. There really are not that many good-hitting catchers who can play the position out there. Rutschman remains a unicorn. A good thing to remember.