2024 Pittsburgh Pirates State of the System: Catchers

Lower level options have potential, but not much guarantees in system currently

Photo Credit: WTM

It wasn’t too long ago that the Pittsburgh Pirates had two of the best catching prospects in all of baseball. They drafted Henry Davis first overall, and after acquiring him in a trade, Endy Rodriguez emerged as a top-100 prospect after his breakout 2022 season.

When General Manager Ben Cherington took over, the position was among the weaker groups, which he addressed through trades and the draft.

Now that Davis and Rodriguez have graduated, the position has lost some obvious prospect strength, but there are still some intriguing names to follow.

40-man roster

Even with Yasmani Grandal set to become a free agent, the Pirates are set to carry four catchers on the 40-man roster this off-season, barring any trade. Rodriguez and Davis are joined by Jason Delay and Joey Bart, who should enter 2025 as the starter.

A trade could always happen, but Davis has struggled in the majors, and Rodriguez is coming off Tommy John, so while they have the numbers, the actual strength of the depth is in question.

The dynamic between Rodriguez and Davis is interesting. Endy was the better defensive catcher, but it remains to be seen how he handles the surgery and catching again outside his brief rehab, which was eventually shut down early due to arm fatigue.

Davis has more upside offensively, and while he has mashed in Triple-A, that has yet to translate to the majors.

Bart was acquired after the Giants designated him for assignment. He had a solid offensive season but struggled behind the plate. Delay is a strong defensive catcher but hasn’t hit much in the majors.

Upper-level depth

Most of the upper-level catchers are depth options at this point. Carter Bins and Abrahan Gutierrez were both brought in by Cherington through trades.

Bins had a .676 OPS in 81 games this past season, and Gutierrez missed a massive chunk of the season for the second straight year. Gutierrez had some intrigue due to his defense and contact ability. It was enough they kept him back in Greensboro in 2023 to ensure he got plenty of playing time.

He’s struggled to stay on the field, let alone hit, since moving up to Altoona.

Intrigue in the lower levels

I named Omar Alfonzo as the best-catching prospect in the system during last year’s State of the System, and nothing has changed with that.

The strikeouts started to creep up a bit, but Alfonzo has shown a rare combination of in-zone contact and exit velocity numbers that few in the system have been able to replicate.

He hit the ball hard but struggled to elevate while in Bradenton, something he was able to tap into more after a late-season promotion to Greensboro. The added lift resulted in five home runs in 24 games at High-A and 13 overall on the season.

The platoon splits are rough, but it may be easier to hide at Catcher, where you aren’t playing daily.

Shawn Ross led the entire system in home runs, but he is also 25 and just played his second straight season in Greensboro. The power is there, but he strikes out way too much at the level to be considered a prospect going forward.

Maybe no one capitalized on an opportunity more than Axiel Plaz last year. He was hitting .158/.320/.211 in 25 plate appearances in the FCL before getting promoted to Bradenton due to injuries at the catching position.

He would hit 15 home runs in 76 games with the Marauders at 18. Plaz also threw out a respectable 25% of base stealers through sporadic playing time behind the plate.

The promotion also allowed Richard Ramirez and Luke Scherrer to get more playing time at the Complex. Ramirez, 18, flashed some strong early exit velocity numbers but struggled with strikeouts.

Defense is his calling card, as he threw out 46% of base stealers in the Complex this year and has a career 39.9% caught-stealing rate going back to his time in the DSL.

Signed as an undrafted free agent out of the prep ranks, Scherrer had a solid season, but his power numbers have yet to show through. He’s a solid defender, but not on the same level as Ramirez.

State of the System

Strengths: There is some strengths in numbers in the lower levels, so the Pirates don’t have to rely on one specific player panning out, there are multiple there. They also have some very reliable depth catchers like Dylan Shockley and Wyatt Hendrie, who aren’t major league prospects but work very well with the pitching staffs.

Weaknesses: While there have multiple potential major leaguers in the lower-levels, none of them are a certain and most have legitimate reasons why they wouldn’t move too far up the ladder.

Basically, there’s potential for not much help arriving anytime soon at the position.

Top Prospect: Omar Alfonzo. He was the guy last year, and no one stepped up to challenge him at this point. That’s not to say he didn’t have a good year, as he played well and made some good strides.

Plaz and Ramirez are two players that have the upside to maybe overtake Alfonzo at some point, they just have the same hit tool concerns right now.