Major league baseball teams all have backup catchers. They are the vice-presidents, lieutenant governors, and second chair clarinetists of their profession.
Some teams use their backup catchers more than others, sometimes even in a platoon arrangement. Teams that really need their backup backstops to be there for them are those who have fragile first string catchers who frequently find their way to the disabled list. This is the case for the New York Mets. The number one catcher is Travis d’Arnaud who is a fine hitter, excellent pitch framer, decent thrower, and someone who has yet to prove himself durable enough to stay on the field for a complete season.
His backup in 2016 is young Kevin Plawecki whose claim to fame should hopefully be something more than “he’s not Anthony Recker.”
Trying to figure out exactly what Mr. Plawecki is can be challenging because his statistical record shows desirable highs and sickening lows. Let’s check his pedigree and see if we can glean something from it.
Plawecki was a supplemental first-round pick in the 2012 draft, with he Mets taking him at number 35. This immediately carries some status.
Personally when I evaluate the minor league records of players I pretty much discount everything that happened below Double-A ball. So looking at his first year at Double-A we see the year 2014 where he started at Binghamton in the Eastern League and ended up at AAA Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League.
His time with Binghamton was particularly encouraging what with moderate power and a very nice .378 on base percentage. His move to the PCL is somewhat disappointing. While many players see their stats fall as they move up the ladder one would have hoped that the move to a hitter’s haven ballpark in a hitter’s league might have broken the fall. Normally a catcher putting up a 766 OPS at Triple-A would have the big club salivating but when it comes with half the games played in Vegas then, not so much.
Had d’Arnaud remained healthy in 2015 then one would have hoped and expected that Plawecki could continue his rise at Vegas perhaps putting up an 850 or better OPS making him ready for a September call up and certainly primed to join the big club in 2016.
As you see Plawecki did practically nothing good offensively at Las Vegas in his limited at bats in 2015. Rather the injury to d’Arnaud forced Plawecki to come up probably sooner than he was ready for the big time.
We all saw the struggles he had offensively as a New York Met in 2015. In 233 at bats he hit just .219 with just a 576 OPS.
Two of the more popular projection systems are not particularly bullish on him for the upcoming season. Steamer projects 242 plate appearance with a slash line of .235/.289/.346 which computes to a 635 OPS. Marcel likes his bat somewhat more projecting 329 PA and this slash line: .242/.305/.364 which adds to a 669 OPS. Neither of these projected OPS would come close to what the team can expect from Travis d’Arnaud.
Looking at his defense versus that of d’Arnaud we see a pretty comparable player. In the important category of throwing out base stealers Plawecki threw out 11 of the 43 stealers he faced which is a 26% rate. League average is 28%. Meanwhile d’Arnaud tossed out 14 of 43 for a 33% caught stealing rate. Advantage d’Arnaud.
The Strat-O-Matic game assigns catchers a range rating of 1 (excellent) to 5 (awful). For the upcoming card set that represents the 2015 season Plawecki is getting a 2, d’Arnaud a 3. The range probably involves all the non-throwing stuff a catcher does like catching foul pops, fielding dribblers, and tagging out runners at home. We can conclude that Plawecki and d’Arnaud have overall similar defensive games.
While the sophomore slump is often alluded to over the years there are numerous examples of highly touted players who struggle the first time they are thrown into the deep end at the major league level. Many of them figure things out in year two and see their stats soar. Keith Hernandez hit an empty .250 (671 OPS) in his first 200 major league at bats. By year two he pushed his OPS over 800 and the rest, at least for him, was history.
It is not out of the question that if d’Arnaud were again to succumb to injury that Plawecki could exceed the projections and maybe put up a solid 750 OPS. Let’s hope he can do it and hope even more that d’Arnaud’s health doesn’t make it necessary for Plawecki to inherit the number one gig.
I do like what I’ve seen of KP defensively. While TDA is a master at pitch framing, I think KP is better overall behind the plate. Throwing out potential base runners is certainly an important part of catching, but I sometimes feel it gets overstated. Both Mike Piazza and late career Gary Carter were underrated catchers due to their throwing struggles. However, both did a fine job calling games, preventing wild pitches, chasing down foul pops (so many highlights of Piazza making great grabs against the dugout railing) and blocking home plate (back when that really mattered).
Our catching success in 2016 depends on one of two things – either TDA stays healthy or KP starts hitting at the major league level. If by some miracle, both things work out, then we find ourselves with a nice trade chip. If neither works out then we may regret letting Recker walk away. I have a lot more faith in him than Monell.
750 OPS? How many Mets did that last year?
I saw KP play for Savannah and his hitting stood out. He was rushed to the Mets because of the TDA injury. Selfishly the Mets should start him at AAA this year so that he can develope his offense more and not obtain any more service time. He should be able to hit his way back to the Mets by mid season. TDA has the makings of an all star catcher and Plawecki has the makings of an above average catcher. There is plenty of time to decide who will be the trade chip.
I don’t think it’s selfish to give him the opportunity to play every day and prove he can hit Triple-A pitching. His promotion last year was strictly need-based and it would be a mistake to gift wrap him a position in the majors this year.
An early season AAA assignment can provide him steady ab’s and some work against upper level pros.
I believe he’s going to be a very nice Major Leaguer with a competitive bat…a Starting Catcher for 8-12 years.
Well ok if both these guys can hit and TDA stats healthy, does Plawecki get a chance for some ABs in the OF?
When people say he’s a good hitter, it’s in the context as being a catcher.
Considering the average OPS at catcher last year was .680, a 700 OPS catcher would be considered above average.
Contrast that to an OF, whose average OPS is about 730, and so a .700 OPS Outfielder would be rather poor.
Under no consideration should Plawecki be playing anywhere else but catcher. And until Plawecki hits (despite overall positive outlook given in the article, he was one of the worst semi-regular hitters in the majors last year), under no consideration should TDA be playing other positions as well to “make room” for Plawecki
(On a somewhat related note, for the same reasons, Mets fans should shudder at the sight of Flores playing 1b)
Flores had a 955 OPS versus lefties in 100 2015 ab’s
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=florewi01&year=2015&t=b
didn’t plawecki have vertigo to start the season. i would imagine that it would be tough trying to hit with vertigo. his average improved greatly once he was healthy. unfortunately for him, it was just before TDA returned.
both catchers are very good at framing pitches. they both need to work on their throwing. ron darling’s comments that both call good games and the pitching staff likes throwing to both of them would suggest that we have two worthy catchers. we have a left-handed first basemen, right and left fielder. in addition to a third baseman who will need some days off. i think it would be worth experimenting with one of them trying other positions so that both can get behind the plate without getting worn out throughout the season. TDA seems to be the more athletic one and would be my choice for this role.
a good solution???
Yeah, this makes the most sense to me.
We all know what TdA can do at the plate and I have a sense Plawecki was getting it together a bit (too lazy to research), so both should probably be at the majors for developmental reasons.
And since we’re banking on both being above average players soon, it only makes sense to get them playing more often. And if the team is so focused on versatility, being able to put Duda, Flores, Plawecki, dArnaud or others at first base would be nice. And having someone trained and experienced at third so we can avoid the Recker Experiment is a plus too.
In mid-June, KP had vertigo-like symptoms caused by a viral infection. He missed about a week. His best stretch of the year was a 14-game span where he had a .766 OPS, thanks to a .350 BABIP. Of course in his next 14 games, he had a .468 OPS. Both of these stretches were after the infection. Combine them together he had a .602 OPS with a .302 BABIP over 28 games.
One day, it might make sense to try to figure out a way to get him in the lineup. But we are so not there right now.
I wonder if Brewers fans scheme for ways to get Martin Maldonado into games…
Wow, that hurt. Poor KP has been dissed! So much for a top prospect.
He hit well in Double-A. There’s no shame in going back to Triple-A and getting a full season’s worth of ABs and proving he can hit at that level. It’s not unusual for catchers to have stops and starts in their offensive development. I’m not ready to give up on him by any stretch. It’s just that I don’t see the benefit to the major league club to carry him – and certainly not to jump through hoops to get him in the lineup.
Let’s say we start the season with KP in Vegas. Who then is TDA’s backup? Monell or do we sign some fat 38 year old to squat behind the dish once a week and cross our fingers that TDA can stay off the DL? Nothing appealing still available on the FA market – http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/catcher/