Can Catchers Be MVPs?
My pickleball partner Lee and I talked baseball. Catchers need a wide range of skills, both physical and mental. Surely, they are often voted MVPs!? And yet, I did not remember a catcher MVP. It had not happened since 2012 (Buster Posey). To my surprise, 12 catchers have been MVPs! Lee’s response was, “that’s something.” Perhaps catchers don’t get the recognition they deserve.
How Amazing is Cal Raleigh?
He is one of two top candidates for the AL MVP (the other is Aaron Judge).
Although it’s unlikely that Cal Raleigh needed his
competition to experience difficulties, his chances increased because Judge had a flexor strain of his right elbow that kept him out of games from 26 July to 4 August. After that Judge only played DH, likely because he is healing.
Last season, he was awarded the platinum glove for his incredible defense. This season, his batting broke out to a career best (170 OPS+, with 46 homers and 100 RBIs in 533 PAs so far). When he reaches 49 homers, he will have the record for most homers by a catcher in one season. He won this season’s home run derby. FanGraphs shows that his team, the Mariners, is the third most likely (9.6% chance) to reach and win the World Series.
In 2021, catcher Salvador Perez hit 48 homers in 665 PAs. That is the most homers by a catcher in one season. His record may soon fall.
What was Cal Raleigh’s biggest reasons for success?
After reading tips from former MLB catchers, a few important things are:
- Know your pitchers and earn their trust.
- Mental and physical toughness.
- Fundamental techniques and skills as a catcher.
Now, with that context, let’s look at Cal Raleigh.
“The biggest thing is like, yes you want to recover, but you’ve got to stay in shape. You’ve got to stay on top of it. You’ve got to continue to build on it, because if you don’t use it, you lose it. I think that’s what I see with a lot of guys is that their bodies start breaking down. Obviously, that’s going to happen because Father Time is undefeated, but you also have to keep that strength. You’ve got to keep that mobility. That’s kind of the key to me.” — Cal Raleigh
“It’s just everything altogether. It’s the bat. It’s the leadership. It’s the humility. It’s what he means to the guys in the clubhouse. It’s what he means to the fans in Seattle.” — Bryan Woo, starting pitcher for Mariners
How does Gabriel Moreno compare to Cal Raleigh?
They are top ten catchers in the Majors. At the start of the season, MLB’s Top Ten Catchers Now ranked Raleigh as fourth best, and Moreno as seventh best. Both of them won a gold glove for their defense.
Gabriel Moreno is younger (25.5 vs 28.7 years old). Due to injury, Gabriel Moreno will likely impress me more next season, especially if his batting reaches a career high. Nevertheless, let’s look at this season.
Cal Raleigh’s batting stats are clearly better and he will almost certainly break the all-time record for most home runs in a season by a catcher (48). His current total is 46. Cal Raleigh’s arm strength is slightly better. However, Gabriel Moreno has a well-earned reputation for throwing out runners at second base. Gabriel Moreno is better at defense (blocking, framing, pop time to second base, and overall catching runs).
The following two tables shows a comparison (Data from Baseball Savant):
Summary.
In the last 12 seasons, no catcher was voted MVP. Perhaps catchers don’t get the recognition they deserve.
This season, it’s likely that catcher Cal Raleigh will be voted AL MVP. Last season, he won a platinum glove. This season, his batting broke out to a career best. He may soon hold the record for most homers by a catcher in a single season.
His reasons for success include leadership, his batting breakout, and his humility. His biggest key is continuously staying in shape.
Cal Raleigh and Gabriel Moreno are top ten catchers, each with a gold glove. Moreno is younger. Due to this season’s injury, Gabriel Moreno will likely impress me more next season.
