Do the Pittsburgh Pirates need to add a catcher this offseason?

Do the Pittsburgh Pirates need to add a catcher to their 25-man roster this offseason?

When he is healthy, Francisco Cervelli is one of the best two-way catchers in baseball. However, as fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates know, health is far from a given with Cervelli.

Cervelli’s first season in Pittsburgh (2015) is the only season of his ten year Major League career he played in more than 101 games. In 2015 Cervelli caught 130 games and posted a 3.7 fWAR as a result.

This 3.7 fWAR was the second highest among Major League catchers behind just Buster Posey. Since 2015, however, Cervelli has found himself battling injuries. The past two seasons Cervelli has battled a broken hamate bone, concussions, and hamstring issues. As a result, he has caught a combined 173 games.

The injury issues of Francisco Cervelli makes backup catcher a very important position for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The past three seasons Cervelli’s backup catchers have been Chris Stewart and Elias Diaz, but a big argument can be made that neither of these catchers can be relied upon to be Cervelli’s backup. This raises the question: do the Pittsburgh Pirates need to add a catcher this offseason?

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When it comes to Chris Stewart, there is no guarantee that he will be on the Pirates’ roster in 2018. In fact, it would be a surprise if Stewart is back. He has a club option on his contract for 2018 and, odds are, it will not be picked up.

The past two seasons Stewart has had plenty of injuries himself and he is not getting any younger at 35-years-old. Even when healthy, Stewart has been far from a reliable player. After posting a .300 wOBA, 91 wRC+, and a 1.5 fWAR in his first two seasons as a Pirate, 2016 and 2017 were total disasters. The past two seasons Stewart owns a .236 wOBA, a 41 wRC+, and a fWAR of -0.6. Simply put – Chris Stewart has stunk the past two seasons while also having at least one disabled list stint each of those seasons.

The struggles of Stewart, and injuries of Cervelli too, led to a lot of Pirate fans clamoring for catcher Elias Diaz to be given a chance the past two seasons. In the ultimate backup quarterback syndrome, when given a chance to play every day this past season Diaz struggled immensely.

In 64 games and 200 plate appearances last season, Elias Diaz owned a .265 on-base percentage, .253 wOBA, and a 52 wRC+. Diaz also struggled with handling the pitching staff, pitch framing, and blocking the plate. All of this led to Diaz posting a -0.3 fWAR in 2017.

It was also made abundantly clear that the Pirate brass does not view Diaz as an everyday catcher. Despite Francisco Cervelli being out with injury, Elias Diaz did not become the team’s everyday catcher until late August. Earlier in the season when Cervelli was out, the Chris Stewart found himself getting more starts than Diaz.

If the Clint Hurdle, Neal Huntington, and the Pirate brass viewed Diaz as an everyday catcher he would have been playing every day as soon as Diaz got hurt. Look at players such as Adam Frazier, Jordan Luplow, or Max Moroff who were given the chance to play daily when injuries and suspensions opened the door.

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Do the Pittsburgh Pirates need to add a catcher this offseason? Yes.

As was said above, when healthy, Francisco Cervelli is one of the best two-way catchers in baseball. However, Cervelli’s health can not be counted upon. This makes it vital that the Pirates have a reliable backup catcher who is capable of playing every day if need be. Neither Chris Stewart nor Elias Diaz is a catcher capable of doing that. Due to this, Neal Huntington and the Pirates need to add a catcher this offseason.

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