Pittsburgh Pirates: Previewing the Backup Catcher Battle

The Pittsburgh Pirates are entering spring training with a battle for the backup catcher spot on their major league roster

The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to enter the year with Austin Hedges behind the plate. He’s generally considered one of, if not the best defensive catcher in baseball right now. That does come with the downside, with almost no offensive value. But he’s only here as a veteran to keep the seat warm for Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis.

However, given that Rodriguez has almost no chance to start the year in the major leagues, the Pirates need a second catcher on the roster. Overall, the choices are not very impressive, but as stated earlier, they only want to keep the seat warm until Rodriguez and Davis are ready. The Pirates have made a few minor league signings and have some minor leaguers who could also be in the battle for the secondary catcher role. So who are these players, and who has the best chance?

Tyler Heineman

When the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking for catching help once, Roberto Perez hit the IL for the rest of the season, and the likes of Michael Perez and Andrew Knapp were not delivering on either the offensive or defensive side of the ball. One of the players they claimed off waivers was backstop Tyler Heineman, who the team brought back on a minor league deal.

Heineman made 174 plate appearances with the Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. He batted just .217/.276/.268 with a .248 wOBA, and 43 wRC+. Heineman hit for almost no power. Eight doubles made up all his extra-base hits. He also did not get on base very often. He had just a 4.6% walk rate to go with a batting average just above the Mendoza line. His OBP was well below .300. The only positive was his 9.8% strikeout rate.

But Heineman wasn’t brought in for his hitting. He was claimed for his defense. In less than 500 innings, Heineman had +5 defensive runs saved and +4.8 framing runs. If he caught 800 frames, he would have +9 DRS and +8.8 FRM. Heineman had a caught stealing rate of 31% and was in the 72nd percentile of pop time, showing well above average reactions.

Heineman is likely the best option, defensively. Many of the options the Pirates have are similar when it comes to hitting, so going with the best option defensively should be the route the Pirates go. It could also give a left-handed compliment to Austin Hedges, who is a right-handed batter. Neither will provide any real offensive value, but it does give the Pirates the option to mix the lineup and go with match-ups.

Kevin Plawecki

One of the Pirates’ most recent minor league signees was a backstop, that being veteran Kevin Plawecki. Plawecki spent the 2022 season mostly with the Boston Red Sox, but he also played a few games with the Texas Rangers. Overall, it wasn’t a season to remember as he posted negative WAR, both in terms of FanGraphs’ and Baseball Reference’s measurements.

Plawecki batted just .220/.286/.286. His isolated slugging percentage clocked in well below .100 at just .065 The only positive of his season was his plate discipline. Plawecki had a 7.5% walk rate and a 17.2% strikeout rate. When everything was said and done, Plawecki ended the year with a .259 wOBA and 61 wRC+, only slightly better than Delay and Heineman.

But Plawecki did have some respectable numbers as a batter in 2017-2021. In those five seasons, the backstop slashed .250/.332/.382 with a .312 wOBA and 95 wRC+. He had an above-average 8.5% walk rate and 18.4% strikeout rate, along with a much better .132 isolated slugging percentage. These numbers aren’t going to rival Mike Piazza, but many catchers struggle even to post a 90 wRC+, and Plawecki was at 95.

After looking like a potential future Gold Glover back in 2015, Plawecki has never even come close to matching his +17/+9.5 FRM DRS ‘15 campaign. Last year, he had -10 defensive runs saved with +.2 framing runs. He also only caught 10% of would-be base stealers and was in the bottom 1% of pop time.

Plawecki has the most major league experience among the Pirates’ backup catching options, and while he has been a solid hitter in the past, for a catcher, at least, he’s the worst defensive option of the group. Considering the amount of offensive value he brought last year wasn’t much greater than either Heineman or Delay, I can’t see him having a significant leg-up (if any advantage) over either option.

Carter Bins

One of the catchers the Pirates is bringing into camp as a non-roster invitee is Carter Bins. Bins was acquired at the 2021 trade deadline in exchange for Tyler Anderson. Although he wasn’t the headliner of the deal, Bins has worked his way up to Triple-A. He certainly has some risk but does bring some interesting upside.

Last year, Bins batted just .196/.285/.388 across 330 plate appearances. Bins struggled to keep the strikeouts down, going down on strike three 36.7% of the time. But on the positive side, he had an 8.8% walk rate and a .192 isolated slugging percentage. Bins hit 11 home runs and has displayed plus raw power throughout the minor leagues. But even with the solid walk rate and power, he registered just a 78 wRC+, the 14th lowest mark among all catchers with 300+ plate appearances last year across all levels of the minor leagues.

Bins did end the season on a high note. After the All-Star Break, the catching prospect hit .228/.326/.456 with a 105 wRC+. Bins still struck out over a third of the time (35.6%), but he did up his walk rate to 11.4%. He also upped his power, hitting five home runs in just 132 plate appearances (an average of 23 home runs in 600 plate appearances) and owning a .228 ISO. While these still weren't overly impressive numbers and the reg flags were still massively present, he was slightly above average overall (albeit in a small sample size).

Bins can hold his own as a defensive catcher, but he isn’t outstanding either. He has a powerful arm, but he struggles with passed balls. He allowed eight last year in just 600.1 innings. In 2021, a dozen pitches got by him in even fewer innings (487.2). He’s not the worst defensive catcher of all time, but he certainly has his strengths and weaknesses.

Bins is the most divisive option but the most intriguing. He’s a boom-or-bust kind of hitter who might give the team a dozen home runs but also strikeout in nearly 40% of his plate appearances. He’s definitely behind Heineman and Delay in terms of defense but is ahead of Kevin Plawecki. He might seem like he’s behind all other options, but the Pirates did give him an invite to Spring Training. Maybe an outstanding spring could turn some heads and give him an inside edge.