Hedges an F, maybe the worst catcher I've seen on the Pirates. Couldn't throw, couldn't hit, not sure he really contributed in helping the pitching staff. Delay gets a C, I watched him slowly advance throught the system and never thought he would make the big team. But he has and both his hitting and catching deserve a C. Endy gets a D - I expect his hitting will improve, but he needs to clean up his defense. Too many passed balls. He seems nonchalant and I think it costs him. He does have a very good arm. Given his history he may well be a B this year and an A eventually.
This sounds like a contradiction, but hear me out. Endy put so much time in catching and working with the pitchers, his bat suffered. By the Pirates not allowing Henry to catch at all, he felt extra pressure to hit, especially as bad as he was in right field. I think they would both hit better, if Endy caught a little less and Henry caught a little more.
I'll give them a boring C based off my expectation not off of what playoff caliber catchers would deliver. As terrible as Hedges hit, he basically met my expectation at the plate as they were that of an automatic out. While I would not expect Delay to repeat I find it hard not to give him a high score at the plate given very little was expected. While not sustainable, overall he hit well. Based off his 2022, Endy did not meet my expectations, but given how he hit in AAA he did about as I expected in his major league debut. Defensively I am like others and didn't see the Hedges magic, but he is now on a playoff roster and still alive so more than the Pirates must like something. For 2023 Hank did not catch so I did not include him in the grade.
Looking to 2024, if they are serious about catching Hank then Delay needs to go to AAA and be in the pre 'breakout' Stallings role of shuffling to the Majors when needed and commit to Endy 4 or 5 days a week and Hank the others. Delay in many ways deserves to be in the Majors but non-emotionally he fits well in that AAA/MLB role for now and when he is out of options we roll the dice and risk him being claimed. Clearly Hank and Endy need to be in the lineup some when not catching. With Cutch back (in some ways reducing flexibility but I want him back), there will be only about 40-50 games at DH which if they are hitting should go to Hank/Endy. I'm not a fan of either at first base with any regularity (Endy could do it but I don't think he ultimately he has the 1B level bat), so that likely leaves Hank in RF when not at DH or C and Endy for now getting 10-15 games at 1B in the 'extra' 1B role (Joe's role before Santana trade).
Had to give them a D. Hedges was an overpay and delivered even less than he has historically and was held onto too long. Delay was a pleasant surprise and perhaps could be a competent backup or a worst a good 3rd C. Endy was a little disappointing. Expected a little more, even as a rookie. Overall, they had negative WAR, so it could be an F. But I'm going with "relative to realistic expectations" and giving them a D.
Interesting — Kim Ng, who got the woebegone Marlins into the playoffs, decided to leave over philosophical differences with the owner. Derek Jeter did the same. My guess is that Sherman made clear the “time to spend money” was never going to arrive. Seems familiar somehow.
I was thinking the same thing when I ready the article on mlbtr (never going to spend the money).
It does seem very familiar, if Bob would allow the payroll to get to $110 million with a max of $135 million for the next 6 to 7 years the team is in position to be very competitive. With the addition of 2 starting pitchers a legitimate 1st basemen and an elite defensive centerfielder. As long as a some of the young position players and pitchers progress the team doesn't need a lot to look good on paper.
According to sources for ESPN, she declined her part of the mutual option in her contract because Sherman wanted to hire a president of operations over her and leave her as the number 2. I am not sure if this was to put a bean-counter in charge of her or represents a lack of confidence in some of her moves. It could be either. I am not under the impression that she is any great shakes as a GM.
I don't know... a minus 54 run differential and most of their top prospects are in A-ball. She didn't have much of a budget to work with and at least tried to field a competitive team unlike some GMs we know. He offered to pick up her option and supposedly even offered her an extension, though apparently as a sort of second. Sherman seems kind of mettlesom, and the whole thing seems a little scatter-brained. Either he liked the job she was doing or he didn't; it doesn't seem clear.
It might be that he picked up her option and then put her into a position that that he knew would make her decline the offer so as to make her out to be a disgruntled employee, save face for himself, and improve his chance of getting whomever it is that wants. Who knows with these multimillionaires.
Would anyone here care that much about a mediocre run differential if the Bucs made the playoffs?
I think the drafting has been mediocre and the system isn’t in great shape. But good lord, she was only given three full seasons and more than held her own in a tough division without much of a payroll. And with all that, cobbled together a playoff spot with some astute moves. This whole thing felt like a mediocre offer that wasn’t really an offer at all.
Went with a "B" but it's more like a "B-" than anything else. The group as a whole was just a tad better then mediocre and is definitely trending in the right direction. If Hedges could have hit his body weight, then it would have been a solid "B" grade. I have a feeling that Endy will only get better going forward, and Delay is a solid back up catcher. As for Davis, I would prefer that he spends next year down in Indy catching everyday. I think that his real value is behind the plate, he just needs some more time and reps.
Let's just pencil in Endy & Delay for 2024 and move on.
That point being Tank needs to catch. I believe he does too and would be a fine back-up catcher to spell Endy. I think he needs to catch all off-season and he needs a secondary position to keep his bat in the lineup. RF is better bc of his arm, but first might be a better spot if you think he is not the second coming of Hands of Stone.
You keep all three and all three serve a good purpose. Endy is good in the field. Delay is a qualified catcher. Tank needs to work hard right now to get into either outfield or 1b shape, whatever the discussion has been between he and the Pirates' staff.
If Tank does this, someone like Connor Joe becomes surplus to requirements. But you are gonna need Jason Delay. Catchers get injured. Having three qualified catchers would put the Bucs in a very good position if Endy and Tank can each play a second position.
I hear you, but he’s a defensive liability and I don’t think he will have enough bat to overcome that. E. G. Kyle Schwarber hit 47 home runs, OPS of .817 OPS + of 122.......WAR per Baseball Reference a whopping 0.7. Same WAR as Connor Joe.
KS-Drafted 4th overall in 2014 as a bat first Catcher then moved to the OF
in his second year
Almost 800G later he is the worst LF in MLB
*Led MLB-2023
*215 K
*-21 DRS only 100 G
Henry has only 700 Prof AB's since he left Louisville 2 1/2 yrs ago
Maybe you can give BC advice on how to deliver your idea of moving the 6.5M bonus after 225 big league AB's.
All the kids need the benefit of the doubt, especially playing for an unfit, over managing in over his head skipfruit.
Iv'e watched these kids since the beginning. Knowing the Pirates were tanking 2021, 2022 seasons, I bought the MILB package and watched real structured baseball, meaning for the first half of season kids played everyday, same position, same batting order never came out of the line up
Does sheltless even know Endy is a bat first swith hitting catcher with some of the finest hit tools grades and equal splits.
Call up was July 17th, 68G remained, why only 45 SCATTERED starts,
186 AB's for the 2021 MVP of class A and 2022 POY
I'm concerned this idiot or (RAKE BUSTER) sheltless is going to continue sitting hot players E. G.
July 17-19
Endy after rough first 2 games, gets a PH in his third game
Head to west coast-July 20
July 21-23
7-21 1-4 2B
7-22 1-3 HR BB (3 game hit streak)
7-23 BENCHED WHY?
7-24 1-3 2BB
7-25 BENCHED WHY?
7-26 0-4
7-27 OFF
7-28 1-4
7-29 2-4 2B, 3B 4RBI
7-30 BENCHED WHY?
7-31 OFF
8-1 1-3 3B, BB, RBI
8-2 BENCHED WHY?
8-3 0-4
8-4 0-3 BB
8-5 BENCHED
8-6 3-4 HR
8-7 1-3 2B, BB, RBI
8-8 BENCHED WHY?
8-9 1-3 B
8-10 BENCHED WHY?
8-11 0-4
8-12 RAIN OUT
8-13 BENCHED
8-13 2-4 BB
8-14 0-4
8-15 BENCHED
8-16 1-4
8-17 OFF
8-18 3-4 2B, BB
8-19 BENCHED
8-20 0-3
8-21 3-4 2B, BB RBI
8-22 0-4
8-23 BENCHED
8-24 0-3 BB
8-25 BENCHED
8-26 0-4
8-27 BENCHED
8-28 1-4
8-29 2-4 2B
8-30 0-4
9-1 0-4 R
9-2 1-3 BB
9-3 BENCHED
9-4 1-4 2B
9-5 1-4
9-6 BENCHED
9-7 OFF
9-8 0-4
9-9 1-5 BB
9-10 BENCHED
9-11 1-4
9-12 2-4 2B, BB, RBI
9-13 0-5
9-14 BENCHED
Utterly rediculous, its like he didn't want to leave him out of the cage for too long, WHY?
Almost every team carries a no bat catcher on their bench as a backup. It seems like the team is not high enough on tank to consider him catching much at all
I confess I usually disagree with BMac (smile), but agree with him here. See my longer post above but net: Delay shuffles between AAA/MLB if there are injuries but if they are serious about Hank catching and growing Endy then they need to be doing the catching not watching Delay three times over 2 weeks. It reminds me a little bit of the Keith Osik days. Between Kendall and Craig Wilson they could cover 160 starts at catcher(159 were Kendall) but they carried Osik. I know this is counter to what a lot of teams do (hence Hedges on a playoff roster), but I still feel we are in development mode with a hopes of contending... well let's develop so that we CAN contend.
The Bucs are in a good position going forward. None of the catchers tore the cover off the ball, but defensive competence was very good. Endy and Delay are keepers who stand to improve and have shown they are starting to get comfortable. Happy with Delay. If Endy's bat comes around as it was late on, we're in a good situation.
Hedges may have been very good at pitch framing, blocking and working with the staff but he could not throw out anybody and was on a record pace for catchers' interference. He also make Mario Mendoza look like an on base machine. Good riddance.
The real question is what are they going to do with Henry Davis? The fact that they let him catch 2 innings while letting him flail around in RF is mindboggling. If he is still a catcher, he needs to catch.
In terms of value, Delay was finished with 1.1fWAR, while Hedges and Endy tied with 0.7. Collectively not a bad unit and I do think Hedges was excellent working with the staff. His bat was so bad that it tainted his overall value with the majority of the sheep. At the end of the day, he might get a ring. He'll be coaching in some capacity in the future.
Call me Harold the Clever Sheep, then. I appreciated Hedges' glove, but man was that tough to watch him with a bat in his hands. They don't need a DH, they need a DC where he is concerned. I wish him well and hope for all the guys that come through the Burgh. But you should not let Hedges near a bat rack.
Endy hopefully stakes his claim next year with an improvement on the offensive side and continual growth behind the plate. Delay has been better than adequate as a backup. I hope I'm wrong but Davis seems to have hard hands and may be limited to an outfield corner if he can learn to judge the ball off the bat. The pirates have a few good defensive catchers in the upper minors with a couple that have shown a small ability to hit. They have several guys in the lower minors that need time but show glimpses.
I hope the pirates draft a catcher sometime after the 1st round, it's a position that requires a lot of depth. Ethan Anderson is a potential good bat option that has some positional flexibility.
I'm hesitant with Delay being a good backup moving forward. I believe he generated most of his WAR during the first 1/4 of the season and was right around replacement the rest of the way. He does work well with Keller, so there's that.
Depends on how the backup is used... is Endy going to be Kendall (backup warms up pitchers and collects per diem) or is Endy/Hank really going to catch most of the games, then Delay is a fine third option either in AAA or on the bench. If he is a 60 start backup then I share your concerns.
I think Delay is the happy medium of a above average defense catcher who isn't Hedges with the bat. Keller is happy throwing to him so I'm down with that. Keller ADORED Hedges because he helped Keller lead league in "called strikes" but I think he's ok with mostly Delay and a little bit of Endy.
Strictly speaking, nobody is Hedges with the bat. He’s literally the worst hitter in MLB over the last 8 or so years. Only Ben could blow $5M on a guy like that.
But, yeah, there’s a meaningful difference between a guy who’s just not much good and a supermassive lineup black hole that sucks in every rally within a million light years.
Heineman, btw, managed 0.4 fWAR in 19 games with Tor. Like Delay, there was some fluky hitting involved, but at least they were both CAPABLE of a bit of fluky hitting. Hedges, if you check his monthly splits, wasn’t.
Hedges an F, maybe the worst catcher I've seen on the Pirates. Couldn't throw, couldn't hit, not sure he really contributed in helping the pitching staff. Delay gets a C, I watched him slowly advance throught the system and never thought he would make the big team. But he has and both his hitting and catching deserve a C. Endy gets a D - I expect his hitting will improve, but he needs to clean up his defense. Too many passed balls. He seems nonchalant and I think it costs him. He does have a very good arm. Given his history he may well be a B this year and an A eventually.
This sounds like a contradiction, but hear me out. Endy put so much time in catching and working with the pitchers, his bat suffered. By the Pirates not allowing Henry to catch at all, he felt extra pressure to hit, especially as bad as he was in right field. I think they would both hit better, if Endy caught a little less and Henry caught a little more.
I'll give them a boring C based off my expectation not off of what playoff caliber catchers would deliver. As terrible as Hedges hit, he basically met my expectation at the plate as they were that of an automatic out. While I would not expect Delay to repeat I find it hard not to give him a high score at the plate given very little was expected. While not sustainable, overall he hit well. Based off his 2022, Endy did not meet my expectations, but given how he hit in AAA he did about as I expected in his major league debut. Defensively I am like others and didn't see the Hedges magic, but he is now on a playoff roster and still alive so more than the Pirates must like something. For 2023 Hank did not catch so I did not include him in the grade.
Looking to 2024, if they are serious about catching Hank then Delay needs to go to AAA and be in the pre 'breakout' Stallings role of shuffling to the Majors when needed and commit to Endy 4 or 5 days a week and Hank the others. Delay in many ways deserves to be in the Majors but non-emotionally he fits well in that AAA/MLB role for now and when he is out of options we roll the dice and risk him being claimed. Clearly Hank and Endy need to be in the lineup some when not catching. With Cutch back (in some ways reducing flexibility but I want him back), there will be only about 40-50 games at DH which if they are hitting should go to Hank/Endy. I'm not a fan of either at first base with any regularity (Endy could do it but I don't think he ultimately he has the 1B level bat), so that likely leaves Hank in RF when not at DH or C and Endy for now getting 10-15 games at 1B in the 'extra' 1B role (Joe's role before Santana trade).
Had to give them a D. Hedges was an overpay and delivered even less than he has historically and was held onto too long. Delay was a pleasant surprise and perhaps could be a competent backup or a worst a good 3rd C. Endy was a little disappointing. Expected a little more, even as a rookie. Overall, they had negative WAR, so it could be an F. But I'm going with "relative to realistic expectations" and giving them a D.
Interesting — Kim Ng, who got the woebegone Marlins into the playoffs, decided to leave over philosophical differences with the owner. Derek Jeter did the same. My guess is that Sherman made clear the “time to spend money” was never going to arrive. Seems familiar somehow.
Apparently she will be a strong candidate for the Red Sox job. KInd of a no brainer if that’s the alternative.
I was thinking the same thing when I ready the article on mlbtr (never going to spend the money).
It does seem very familiar, if Bob would allow the payroll to get to $110 million with a max of $135 million for the next 6 to 7 years the team is in position to be very competitive. With the addition of 2 starting pitchers a legitimate 1st basemen and an elite defensive centerfielder. As long as a some of the young position players and pitchers progress the team doesn't need a lot to look good on paper.
According to sources for ESPN, she declined her part of the mutual option in her contract because Sherman wanted to hire a president of operations over her and leave her as the number 2. I am not sure if this was to put a bean-counter in charge of her or represents a lack of confidence in some of her moves. It could be either. I am not under the impression that she is any great shakes as a GM.
I think she deserved a little more respect considering this was their first postseason appearance in a full season in...20 years?
I don't know... a minus 54 run differential and most of their top prospects are in A-ball. She didn't have much of a budget to work with and at least tried to field a competitive team unlike some GMs we know. He offered to pick up her option and supposedly even offered her an extension, though apparently as a sort of second. Sherman seems kind of mettlesom, and the whole thing seems a little scatter-brained. Either he liked the job she was doing or he didn't; it doesn't seem clear.
It might be that he picked up her option and then put her into a position that that he knew would make her decline the offer so as to make her out to be a disgruntled employee, save face for himself, and improve his chance of getting whomever it is that wants. Who knows with these multimillionaires.
Would anyone here care that much about a mediocre run differential if the Bucs made the playoffs?
I think the drafting has been mediocre and the system isn’t in great shape. But good lord, she was only given three full seasons and more than held her own in a tough division without much of a payroll. And with all that, cobbled together a playoff spot with some astute moves. This whole thing felt like a mediocre offer that wasn’t really an offer at all.
Went with a "B" but it's more like a "B-" than anything else. The group as a whole was just a tad better then mediocre and is definitely trending in the right direction. If Hedges could have hit his body weight, then it would have been a solid "B" grade. I have a feeling that Endy will only get better going forward, and Delay is a solid back up catcher. As for Davis, I would prefer that he spends next year down in Indy catching everyday. I think that his real value is behind the plate, he just needs some more time and reps.
Let's just pencil in Endy & Delay for 2024 and move on.
there is ZERO point in carrying Delay on the roster
sure he was fun to talk abou twhen his ops was over 800 but it dipped into reality
tank needs to catch!
Disagree, bmcferren, to a point.
That point being Tank needs to catch. I believe he does too and would be a fine back-up catcher to spell Endy. I think he needs to catch all off-season and he needs a secondary position to keep his bat in the lineup. RF is better bc of his arm, but first might be a better spot if you think he is not the second coming of Hands of Stone.
You keep all three and all three serve a good purpose. Endy is good in the field. Delay is a qualified catcher. Tank needs to work hard right now to get into either outfield or 1b shape, whatever the discussion has been between he and the Pirates' staff.
If Tank does this, someone like Connor Joe becomes surplus to requirements. But you are gonna need Jason Delay. Catchers get injured. Having three qualified catchers would put the Bucs in a very good position if Endy and Tank can each play a second position.
Tank needs to be traded before he loses all of his value.
Way too early to give up on the bat. He crushed AAA and we need bats.
I hear you, but he’s a defensive liability and I don’t think he will have enough bat to overcome that. E. G. Kyle Schwarber hit 47 home runs, OPS of .817 OPS + of 122.......WAR per Baseball Reference a whopping 0.7. Same WAR as Connor Joe.
KS-Drafted 4th overall in 2014 as a bat first Catcher then moved to the OF
in his second year
Almost 800G later he is the worst LF in MLB
*Led MLB-2023
*215 K
*-21 DRS only 100 G
Henry has only 700 Prof AB's since he left Louisville 2 1/2 yrs ago
Maybe you can give BC advice on how to deliver your idea of moving the 6.5M bonus after 225 big league AB's.
All the kids need the benefit of the doubt, especially playing for an unfit, over managing in over his head skipfruit.
Iv'e watched these kids since the beginning. Knowing the Pirates were tanking 2021, 2022 seasons, I bought the MILB package and watched real structured baseball, meaning for the first half of season kids played everyday, same position, same batting order never came out of the line up
Does sheltless even know Endy is a bat first swith hitting catcher with some of the finest hit tools grades and equal splits.
Call up was July 17th, 68G remained, why only 45 SCATTERED starts,
186 AB's for the 2021 MVP of class A and 2022 POY
I'm concerned this idiot or (RAKE BUSTER) sheltless is going to continue sitting hot players E. G.
July 17-19
Endy after rough first 2 games, gets a PH in his third game
Head to west coast-July 20
July 21-23
7-21 1-4 2B
7-22 1-3 HR BB (3 game hit streak)
7-23 BENCHED WHY?
7-24 1-3 2BB
7-25 BENCHED WHY?
7-26 0-4
7-27 OFF
7-28 1-4
7-29 2-4 2B, 3B 4RBI
7-30 BENCHED WHY?
7-31 OFF
8-1 1-3 3B, BB, RBI
8-2 BENCHED WHY?
8-3 0-4
8-4 0-3 BB
8-5 BENCHED
8-6 3-4 HR
8-7 1-3 2B, BB, RBI
8-8 BENCHED WHY?
8-9 1-3 B
8-10 BENCHED WHY?
8-11 0-4
8-12 RAIN OUT
8-13 BENCHED
8-13 2-4 BB
8-14 0-4
8-15 BENCHED
8-16 1-4
8-17 OFF
8-18 3-4 2B, BB
8-19 BENCHED
8-20 0-3
8-21 3-4 2B, BB RBI
8-22 0-4
8-23 BENCHED
8-24 0-3 BB
8-25 BENCHED
8-26 0-4
8-27 BENCHED
8-28 1-4
8-29 2-4 2B
8-30 0-4
9-1 0-4 R
9-2 1-3 BB
9-3 BENCHED
9-4 1-4 2B
9-5 1-4
9-6 BENCHED
9-7 OFF
9-8 0-4
9-9 1-5 BB
9-10 BENCHED
9-11 1-4
9-12 2-4 2B, BB, RBI
9-13 0-5
9-14 BENCHED
Utterly rediculous, its like he didn't want to leave him out of the cage for too long, WHY?
Knucklehead used him as a DH one time in 68 G
Reasons for the madness
Day after night game- Benched
Keller pitches -Benched
Nasty lefty -Benched
Double dip -benched
Day before off day -benched
Pray that Andy Haines never gets a hold of him
I can't wait until their all gone
I love this.
Delay is a perfectly fine backup C, even moreso if endy starts taking some time at 1B
why cant Tank catch on days Endy is playing first base?
why do we need a no bat guy on the bench?
Almost every team carries a no bat catcher on their bench as a backup. It seems like the team is not high enough on tank to consider him catching much at all
Nichols Law of Catcher Defense is a thing for a reason.
as usual, I disagree with the team
I confess I usually disagree with BMac (smile), but agree with him here. See my longer post above but net: Delay shuffles between AAA/MLB if there are injuries but if they are serious about Hank catching and growing Endy then they need to be doing the catching not watching Delay three times over 2 weeks. It reminds me a little bit of the Keith Osik days. Between Kendall and Craig Wilson they could cover 160 starts at catcher(159 were Kendall) but they carried Osik. I know this is counter to what a lot of teams do (hence Hedges on a playoff roster), but I still feel we are in development mode with a hopes of contending... well let's develop so that we CAN contend.
we can disagree to agree
osik played third base that year
Bowen and Brannigan both made BA’s AFL hot sheet for last week.
C
The Bucs are in a good position going forward. None of the catchers tore the cover off the ball, but defensive competence was very good. Endy and Delay are keepers who stand to improve and have shown they are starting to get comfortable. Happy with Delay. If Endy's bat comes around as it was late on, we're in a good situation.
-Wabbit
Hedges may have been very good at pitch framing, blocking and working with the staff but he could not throw out anybody and was on a record pace for catchers' interference. He also make Mario Mendoza look like an on base machine. Good riddance.
The real question is what are they going to do with Henry Davis? The fact that they let him catch 2 innings while letting him flail around in RF is mindboggling. If he is still a catcher, he needs to catch.
I’m not seeing the evidence that he was good at working with the staff. The pitching got steadily worse during his time.
when were they any good to start with?
Jared Jones is the guy who got steadyly worse when tank stopped being his catcher
C
In terms of value, Delay was finished with 1.1fWAR, while Hedges and Endy tied with 0.7. Collectively not a bad unit and I do think Hedges was excellent working with the staff. His bat was so bad that it tainted his overall value with the majority of the sheep. At the end of the day, he might get a ring. He'll be coaching in some capacity in the future.
Call me Harold the Clever Sheep, then. I appreciated Hedges' glove, but man was that tough to watch him with a bat in his hands. They don't need a DH, they need a DC where he is concerned. I wish him well and hope for all the guys that come through the Burgh. But you should not let Hedges near a bat rack.
They wasted all that money on Hedges when Delay and Heinemann could have bridged the gap to Endy. They could have found better use for that money.
all that money...it was 5 mil and after the trade they probably paid less than 4M for his services.
Pocket change to Nutting then!
C
Endy hopefully stakes his claim next year with an improvement on the offensive side and continual growth behind the plate. Delay has been better than adequate as a backup. I hope I'm wrong but Davis seems to have hard hands and may be limited to an outfield corner if he can learn to judge the ball off the bat. The pirates have a few good defensive catchers in the upper minors with a couple that have shown a small ability to hit. They have several guys in the lower minors that need time but show glimpses.
I hope the pirates draft a catcher sometime after the 1st round, it's a position that requires a lot of depth. Ethan Anderson is a potential good bat option that has some positional flexibility.
I'm hesitant with Delay being a good backup moving forward. I believe he generated most of his WAR during the first 1/4 of the season and was right around replacement the rest of the way. He does work well with Keller, so there's that.
Depends on how the backup is used... is Endy going to be Kendall (backup warms up pitchers and collects per diem) or is Endy/Hank really going to catch most of the games, then Delay is a fine third option either in AAA or on the bench. If he is a 60 start backup then I share your concerns.
Connor Joe needs to go back to catching
or trade Andujar for Daulton Varsho
Is this the Connor Joe who’s never caught a single pitch as a pro?
if Wakefield can throw a knuckleball....
I think Delay is the happy medium of a above average defense catcher who isn't Hedges with the bat. Keller is happy throwing to him so I'm down with that. Keller ADORED Hedges because he helped Keller lead league in "called strikes" but I think he's ok with mostly Delay and a little bit of Endy.
....you have to take care of your stud pitcher.
Strictly speaking, nobody is Hedges with the bat. He’s literally the worst hitter in MLB over the last 8 or so years. Only Ben could blow $5M on a guy like that.
But, yeah, there’s a meaningful difference between a guy who’s just not much good and a supermassive lineup black hole that sucks in every rally within a million light years.
Heineman, btw, managed 0.4 fWAR in 19 games with Tor. Like Delay, there was some fluky hitting involved, but at least they were both CAPABLE of a bit of fluky hitting. Hedges, if you check his monthly splits, wasn’t.
phenomenal comment.
Look at the catchers on the good teams WAR: Phillies 11.7, Rangers 11.7, Dodgers 14.2, Blue Jays 14.2 ... Pirates 4.2.
The Bucs can't compete with the big boys.
Potential also means you haven't done anything yet.
I'm not sure where you got these numbers...
Out of the 4 teams remaining, only Tex has a higher rating on Fangraphs.
11.7 WAR from the catcher group is absurd.
According to FG, Bucs ranked 12th in MLB at catcher, one of the very few positions where they graded above midpoint. I'll grade them a C+.