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Chicago Cubs: Looking at potential backup catchers on the market
In his first full big league season, Victor Caratini fell flat. Many wonder whether the Chicago Cubs will stick with him as a backup catcher moving forward.
Despite that belief, can you really call 2018 a full season if you’re evaluating Victor Caratini. It seemed as if the Chicago Cubs didn’t tap into their bench in terms of catching like they had in years past. Caratini saw just 200 plate appearances, compared to Willson Contreras‘ 544.
Caratini began the season with the Cubs but was demoted in favor of Chris Gimenez in late May. The young switch-hitting catcher wasn’t affecting much offensively and the Cubs wanted him to get consistent at-bats in Iowa. In 69 plate appearances, Caratini only posted a .612 OPS in Chicago.
The Gimenez project didn’t work out at all, leading to Caratini’s increased role when he was recalled from Triple-A Iowa in July and Gimenez was designated for assignment. Caratini’s struggles continued as he finished the season hitting .232 in a limited role.
Theo Epstein, Joe Maddon and the rest of the organizational leadership now have a question that needs answering. Do they believe Victor Caratini is a legitimate big league backstop?
In the last few years, Caratini ranked as was one of their highly-regarded prospects. But in limited sample sizes, we haven’t seen much in terms of consistent success.
With the Cubs’ window of playing competitive baseball wide open, the front office isn’t waiting for his development as they did for Javier Baez, for example, especially when Contreras is clearly the starting catcher for the foreseeable future.
The Cubs need a proven backstop that could help give Contreras more rest. He ranks poorly in Runs Above Average (RAA), a StatCorner stat which measures how the number of calls from an umpire a catcher does or does not get that generates runs.
Here are four possibilities.
Chicago Cubs: Two starkly contrasting options
Martin Maldonado is one of the best defensive catchers in the game, known for his pitch framing abilities. He came in at 6.0 RAA this year, a dramatic improvement over Contreras’ -12.4 RAA. Of course, the latter gets away with that because of what he’s capable of at the dish – and by relying on his cannon of a right arm.
Like Caratini, Maldonado struggles offensively. The 32-year-old catcher hit .232 in 2018 but did hit nine home runs and 18 doubles in 404 plate appearances. He also brings playoff experience from his time as a member of the Houston Astros this season.
If Contreras gets back on track with the stick, having a defense-first style backup may not be the worst thing for the Cubs.
A guy who seems to be running close to empty
Brian McCann is now 35 and pretty clearly seems like he’s near the end of his playing career. He’s also coming off a horrendous season where he slashed .212/.301/.339 in 63 games.
His pitch framing is also trending down after posting a -2.4 RAA in 2018. Still, as a backup catcher, he presents a presence off the bench that includes plenty of playoff experience over a long career.
Chicago Cubs: Focusing on experience and leadership
AJ Ellis, a 10-year veteran of the league, doesn’t look like he’s 38 with the numbers he’s put up in recent years. Ellis slashed .272/.378/.344 with the San Diego Padres in 66 games this season.
He lacks power but posts a 14.2 percent walk rate as a hitter. Like Contreras, Ellis’ RAA is -10.3 in 2018. The veteran would be a good offensive bat off the bench but his pitch framing is not much better. This makes it pretty unlikely the team goes with him given Contreras’ defensive liabilities.
A familiar face
The idea of bringing back Rene Rivera after a nice stint with the Cubs in 2017 isn’t out of the picture. His RAA was 0.1 in 2018 and he did post a .419 slugging percentage in just 91 plate appearances.
Next. Could the Cubs target a hard-throwing right-hander?. dark
With the Cubs, Rivera slashed .341/.408/.591 in 20 games for the Cubs two years ago. It’s a small sample size but really good numbers for a backup catcher in a very limited role. Furthermore, he didn’t play at all in June or July and only appeared in three games in September. The Cubs will surely need someone more durable, even as a backup catcher.