House That Hank Built
Fansided

Filling Atlanta Braves catching vacancy with a new face

By Fred Owens

ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 02: Travis d'Arnaud #16 of the Atlanta Braves reacts at he conclusion of an MLB game against the New York Mets at Truist Park on August 2, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 02: Travis d'Arnaud #16 of the Atlanta Braves reacts at he conclusion of an MLB game against the New York Mets at Truist Park on August 2, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
atlanta braves
The Atlanta Braves might look to a quality defender like Jason Castro strengthen their roster in 2021. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

While free agents aren’t free, they require relatively small commitment in terms of the two things that fit the Atlanta Braves way of business, money and contract length.

Since 2017, MLB catchers averaged a .236/.309/.392 line, with the NL looking slightly better at .241/.317/.394, which gives us a target if not attainable line goal to shoot for even if we miss by a bit.

When it comes to defense, don’t let a single season dip confuse reality. All of these catchers are defensively near the top of available talent and capable of starting half of a team’s games or more.

From LAA to ATL

Jason Castro has a reputation as one of the game’s best catchers, coming in at 25th overall on the Baseball Prospectus list in 2019 with 3.8 adjusted fielding runs above average (FRAA_ADJ), good for third among the catchers discussed here.

More from Tomahawk Take

Castro was stronger in pitch framing, ranking second in this group with 6.1, but was last in blocking runs and tied for last in throwing runs.

The 34-year old backstop ranked third on my list for offense over the two-year spread batting .224/.322/.389 over those seasons and in second in  2019, when he batted .232/.332/ .435. His 91.8 exit velocity is the highest of the four catchers in 2019.

The Angels gave Castro a contract with a face value of $6.85M in 2020. A similar contract makes him more than a backup catcher, but if the Atlanta Braves want a catcher capable of being a number one, they may have to pay the price.

Overlooked and undervalued

The Tigers liked Austin Romine well enough to award him a $4.1M free-agent contract for 2020 and weren’t disappointed.

In his last two seasons with the Yankees, Romine batted .262/.302/.428/.730, which ranked him eighth among catchers with 200-600 PA in those years, and a close enough second on this that the difference is insignificant. In 2019 he batted .281/.310/.439/.749 to lead the list in traditional stats.

Defensively, Romine doesn’t appear great at framing with –2.2 framing runs and ranked at the bottom of this four-man list, with –1.6 FRAA_ADJ. However, those numbers are misleading. In 2018 Romine finished with 4.2 framing runs and 6.3  FRAA_ADJ, making him 20th in baseball on BP’s list while Castro came at 30th.

Home/Braves Depth Chart