Sundberg was one of the first relevant Ranger players, and he continues to work for them today. He's one of the best overall defensive catchers of all-time for his ability to block pitches, throw and his handling of the pitching staff.
Mike Matheny had one of the best arms in baseball in the late 90s. His only problem is that the guy who is No. The six-time Gold Glove winner kept runners at bay behind the plate. As mentioned earlier, when players get a reputation, they are seldom allowed a real chance to catch someone stealing. Matheny's rookie year, he threw out 53 percent of would-be base stealers. The league average that year was 32 percent. Needless to say, base-runners gave him less opportunities after that.
Roy Campanella was one of the pioneers that broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. The Dodger catcher's caught stealing percentage is 57 percent. That is still the best career percentage of all-time. Campanella revolutionized the game as a catcher. He was one of the first to be feared as a defensive catcher and a ballplayer who could mash the baseball.
In , an automobile accident paralyzed him from the shoulders down and cut his playing career short. He was later able to regain movement in his arms and hands. During his post-playing career, he was still very active with the Dodger organization and served as a mentor to young catchers. Molina's bat is less than exceptional, but his arm is a commodity that doesn't come around often and honestly may never come around again.
He has a way to go, but he may go down as the greatest arm in the history of the game when it's all said and done. His monstrous hands often pictured holding seven baseballs at once could stop any ball and throw anyone out. All-Time Tool : Ivan Rodriguez. Major-league average pop times come in at around 1. The following grading system lays out the scale in its entirety:. Throws with high amounts of tail will often force the receiver into the path of the runner, a trait that is clearly undesirable for numerous reasons.
If all of the above characteristics are met and some modicum of arm strength is present, the throw should appear to be on a downward plane and remain in line with the receiver at second base. In young catchers below the major-league level, raw arm strength is the desired commodity. Developmental systems can teach the proper fundamentals to allow the arm strength to play in game action.
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Subscribe now. In This Article 0. View article on legacy site. BP Prospect Staff. Mark Anderson. By the end of the season, on defense, Sanchez had an arm strength of Though his performance during the season was inadequate due to multiple injuries that he had been subjected to, he came back stronger in the season by hitting his th career home run against Los Angeles Dodgers.
This earned him the fame as the fastest catcher ever to have hit home runs, and the second-fastest catcher of all times to have hit home runs. Presently he holds the highest single-season home run totals, and climbing up to the same position as Yogi Berra, as the second with a multiple 30 homer years.
Bengie Molina, nicknamed Big Money, the other highly acclaimed defensive MLB catcher and a sibling of the Molina trio, has a career fielding score of 0. With a career track of 13 years in MLB starting from to , Bengie Molina, being the oldest of the three Molina siblings, had led the way of his younger brothers Jose and Yadier to being expert catchers at MLB. After he retired, he served as a color commentator on the Spanish language radio broadcast of St Louis Cardinals, and he still occupies the position.
He is currently serving as an instructor for the catchers of Texas Rangers. He entered Los Angeles Anaheim Angels in as their regular catcher and remained so across several seasons up to During his games with the San Francisco Giants between the years , he won the Willie Mac Award winner for two years in a row. He joined the Texas Rangers in and achieved the grandest form of recognition during his play there.
In the entire history of MLB, Bengie Molina is the first catcher to hit a grand slam and hit for the cycle in the game of Texas Rangers against Boston.
One of the siblings of the power-packed trio of Molina brothers, Jose Molina, is definitely one of the top ten catchers of all time. With an excellent track record of 15 years, commencing from the year to , this star player has an established fielding percentage of 0. Known to be a former Defensive Catcher at MLB, and a natural at handling pitch-framing and managing pitching staffs, Jose is also a two-time silver-medalist with Puerto Rico.
During the season, Jose entered into the team of Anaheim Angels as a backup catcher for his brother Bengie, and also as a starter catcher in the season when Bengie had departed the Angels. In , Jose joined the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as their minor league catching coordinator to train the catchers. According to season stats, Jose Molina occupies 85th position as a catcher with a career total of 6, putout score as a catcher.
With a track record of 16 years, having started in and running, Yadi has a career fielding percentage of 0. When talking of astounding catchers, Yadi is one of the first names that come to mind, and he is the recipient of countless accolades including 6 Fielding Bible Awards and 9 Rawling Gold Gloves.
He is also the first among active catchers with assists, all-time runners caught stealing, and 55 pick-offs. The accolades do not end here. He also lists in the top 70 catchers in terms of games played, the number of assists, fielding percentage, and double plays turned. Having received training and inspiration from his older brothers, he is a natural team leader on the field, and one of the longest-tenured players playing for one team since Remarkably, he leads among all catchers as far as double plays, stolen bases, put-outs, total chances, and starts are concerned.
He is considered to be a savior to the Cardinals, and one of the youngest ever catchers in MLB history with magnificent scores up to date.
Overall, a catcher is expected to be active and aware at all times, and if he is an all-rounder, then even better. What do catchers do? He crouches behind the home plate, in front of the umpire, and waits to receive the ball from the pitcher, and stop the runner from reaching the bases. More or less, a catcher is similar to a wicketkeeper in cricket games.
Alfaro graded out as a top-five pitch-framer. However, Alfaro's focus on catching the ball perfectly prevented him from catching it cleanly many times.
That was the trade-off. The Phillies worked tirelessly to develop Alfaro into an upper echelon pitch-framer. They should be able to do something similar with Realmuto, who doesn't lack any of Alfaro's tools. If Realmuto's pitch-framing improves in , the gap between he and Alfaro could grow from about a 2. For a team in the Phillies' position, a team on the precipice of contention, every additional win carries great importance.
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