Should the Pirates bring Yasmani Grandal back for 2025?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are reportedly looking at the catching market. Although it may not make too much sense for the Pirates to bring in another catcher when they currently have four on the 40-man roster, the Pirates may be looking to take the initiative to keep Paul Skenes happy. The Rookie of the Year and Cy Young finalist used a personal catcher for much of the season, with only 17 of his 133 innings pitched being caught by someone other than veteran Yasmani Grandal. But should the Pirates bring Skenes’ personal catcher back?

The well-traveled veteran had a very mixed season with the Pirates. The lowest point of Grandal’s tenure was in early July when he was hitting .171/.203/.256, with his OPS falling to just .460 in 124 plate appearances. Keep in mind Austin Hedges had a .467 OPS with the Pirates in 2023. Grandal’s wRC+ clocked in at 23. Grandal was likely staring down the barrel of a DFA, but he started to turn things around in the second half. 

Grandal’s final 119 plate appearances of the year saw him bat .296/.410/.571. Grandal walked nearly as often (19) as he struck out (24) and provided a ton of power. He had seven home runs and an isolated slugging percentage well above .250 at .276. Grandal had a 169 wRC+ throughout the home stretch of the season. Ultimately, Grandal ended the season with a .704 OPS, .308 wOBA, and 95 wRC+, which is quite good for a secondary backstop.

The defensive metrics did not hate Grandal’s work behind the dish. He had zero defensive runs saved but +13.5 framing runs. The former All-Star also graded out as a slightly above-average blocker with +2 blocking runs. Still, there are some major red flags in Grandal’s current game. He had the slowest qualified pop time in MLB at 2.09 seconds. Along with being slow on the draw, his arm was well below average, as his throws from behind the dish averaged just 77.5 MPH, which was the ninth-slowest count in baseball.

Of course, Pirates fans can also attest to some major defensive miscues that don’t show up on the metrics. Grandal missed multiple throws to home that would have nabbed runners if only he'd caught the ball. Some of those instances were game-changing plays. He also caused Jared Jones to have a complete meltdown in Coors Field because he failed to throw the ball back to the mound in a timely manner, causing a runner to steal home.

Should the Pirates bring Paul Skenes' personal catcher back into the mix?

The Pirates have two questions they must ask themselves. The first is if they need more catching depth. Joey Bart will likely get the bulk of playing time this year. They also have Endy Rodriguez returning from Tommy John surgery, with Henry Davis and Jason Delay on hand. They’ll likely be willing to see if they can get anything worthwhile out of Davis or Rodriguez. Delay might interest a team with a need for a second-string backstop. The Pirates would likely have to make at least one trade involving Delay, Davis, or Rodriguez if they brought Grandal back into the fold.

But the second, and arguably more important, question is how much Paul Skenes wants Grandal back as his personal catcher. Skenes only threw 11 innings to Bart and none to Delay or Davis. Grant Koch made up the other six innings Skenes threw, and he was only brought up because of an emergency need. Skenes had a historic rookie season while pitching nearly all of his innings to Grandal. Sure, Skenes could likely pitch at an All-Star level to a nine-pocket, but if Skenes ultimately wants Grandal back into the fold, then the Pirates should try all they can to re-sign familiarity.

The Pirates should do whatever keeps Paul Skenes the happiest. Skenes is a generational-type hurler, and Grandal did well enough in the second half to merit the Pirates considering bringing him back as their ace's personal catcher. Sure, the Pirates have a decent amount of catching depth already, but they could definitely find a suitor in a trade.