How Paul Skenes' emergence has saved Yasmani Grandal's roster spot

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed veteran backstop Yasmani Grandal to a one-year deal this offseason. However, he’s been horrific, both at the plate and behind it. As a hitter, Grandal is batting .182/.210/.303 with a .223 wOBA and 39 wRC+. Grandal has a poor .121 isolated slugging percentage and has walked in less than 5% of his plate appearances with a BB% of just 3.6%. Defensively, the only thing he’s done well is framing. He has allowed three passed balls, has dropped multiple third strikes, has the second worst poptime, and the seventh worst average throw speed for a catcher.

To add insult to injury, the Pirates definitely have better options behind the plate. Joey Bart has hit well and has a 112 wRC+ on the year. While Bart has allowed a duo of passed balls, he’s about average when it comes to framing, ranks 14th in catcher arm strength, and has an above-average pop time. Jason Delay, while not a great hitter, still has a significantly better career wRC+ than Grandal has this season, clocking in at 70. Defensively, he’s a lot better. Delay has yet to allow a passed ball in the majors. He has been a plus pitch framer and has +4 defensive runs saved.

At least last year, when the Pirates endured Austin Hedges, he was one of the best defenders in baseball. Hedges had +9 defensive runs saved, +15.1 framing runs for the Bucs, and an above-average poptime. He also only allowed a single passed ball in over 500 innings behind the plate. Hedges has nearly +100 DRS for his entire career and already ranks in the top ten in framing runs, despite having caught just 5,476 innings.

So why have the Pirates stuck with Grandal this long when they have other options? It’s not because of a money issue, and it’s probably not the same reason they stuck with Rowdy Tellez for two months. Fans might not like the answer, but it is probably a Paul Skenes thing. Since arriving in the major leagues, Skenes has pitched 74.2 innings. Joey Bart and Grant Koch have each caught six innings with Skenes on the hill. Grandal has caught the other 62.2 innings. 

Yasmani Grandal becoming Paul Skenes' personal catcher gives Pirates a tough challenge

This has probably extended Grandal’s shelf life much longer than it would have under more normal circumstances. Skenes is showing off the generational-type talent many expected him to have (and he's arguably been even better than expected) with Grandal essentially being his personal catcher. Among Pirates starters with at least five starts this year, Skenes is the only pitcher to have thrown to Grandal more than any other catcher. Mitch Keller has only made nine starts with him behind the plate. Both Quinn Priester and Jared Jones have more IP with Henry Davis catching than anyone else. Bailey Falter has made nearly twice as many starts with Joey Bart catching, and Bart has also caught nearly double the amount of innings for Martín Pérez. Marco Gonzales has yet to even throw to Grandal.

Now that doesn’t mean that he MUST have Grandal in order to perform. Skenes is talented enough he could pitch a quality start with a nine-pocket behind the plate. That means it's time for the Pirates to get Skenes used to someone other than Grandal. With the deadline approaching, this might have been Skenes’ last start with Grandal catching. Grandal deserves appreciation for mentoring Skenes through what has been a wild rookie season, but he can’t be Skenes’ personal catcher for his entire career, and now is the most important time as ever to get him throwing to Bart and Delay.