After going into last season with plenty of questions about catching, the Pirates have some more stability at the position heading into 2021. Jacob Stallings proved that not only could he handle an everyday workload, but that he could perform at a high level, being named the team’s MVP and finishing runner-up for the Gold Glove.
The question this year is who will back him up. Entering camp, the two most obvious choices are Tony Wolters and Michael Perez, both of whom are looking for a fresh start. Wolters signed a minor league contract earlier this month after being non-tendered by the Rockies, and Perez was claimed off waivers in October.
Both had spent their entire Major League careers with just one team before, so this is a second chance with their second club.
“I just feel like a lot of the guys I talked to throughout the organization are very positive minded, and the main key word of this whole thing is opportunity,” Wolters said in a Zoom call Thursday. “That's all I can ask for, and I'm just going to try and make the best of them.”
Neither provides much on offense. Perez has a career .221 batting average and .600 OPS over 84 games, and Wolters slashed just .230/.280/.270 without a home run last season despite playing his home games at Coors Field, the most hitter-friendly park in the league.
They provide value in other ways, though. Wolters has a good career track record as a a defender and a pitch framer. Perez caught 32% of potential base stealers last season, an above average clip, and is bilingual, which could help the team's Spanish speaking pitchers.
And both are looking forward to getting to know this new group of pitchers and helping them grow.
“I know it's gonna be a lot of work, but I'm going to be diligent and [be] connecting with our pitchers, getting more familiar with them and make sure to be impactful to them,” Perez said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez.
Since he recently signed, and with how groups are structured in camp because of COVID-19 protocols, Wolters hasn’t had the opportunity to get to know most of the pitchers yet. He and Stallings have a fishing trip planned where they will be talking a lot of pitching, so he’ll get notes about the staff there.
“I think that's just where I'm at right now, is I'm just writing down names, seeing what they want and just kind of doing it naturally," Wolters said about how he’s going about building a rapport with the pitchers.
Don’t undervalue how important those pitcher-catcher relationships are. The guy who can add more that way could be in position to win the job. The Pirates value catchers who make their pitchers better, and for a manager like Derek Shelton, who emphasizes those relationships between players and his staff, it can’t be understated. Both guys are new to a team that has a lot of new faces, and the one that pitchers like throwing to more could very well be the one who gets the nod.
The good news for them is Derek Shelton has given both good grades in that area.
“From the time we talked to both of them, sign, acquired both of them, they've been all-in on wanting to learn about our pitchers and our group and what we're doing and how we're doing that,” Shelton said. “I think when you have guys that come in with a 'catching first' mindset, and what I mean by that is ability to handle the pitchers, or game planning or learning the guys, it's really important."
Shelton has said there will be plenty of competition this spring training. The backup catcher spot may not be the most heated battle this spring, but the Pirates have two guys who check the boxes of what they’re looking for out of the position.
“I'm very confident in myself,” Perez said. “I'm very confident with the tools that I bring. I'm very confident in the player that I am. And I'm looking forward to working hard and earning my spot. Doing what I've got to do to show them that I belong in this organization, but more than anything, on the roster."
TERRY RODGERS / PIRATES
Michael Perez takes batting practice in Pirate City.
More from the Pirates' second day of workouts in Bradenton, Fla.:
• After being forced indoors Wednesday because of rain, the Pirates had to break out the sunscreen Thursday.
Players were broken up into four small groups, where the pitchers threw bullpens and participated in fielding drills.
• Last year, Major League Baseball allowed Puerto Rican players to wear No. 21 during Roberto Clemente day. Perez was one of the players who took advantage of that, which he called "a very proud moment" in his career and life.
"I'm very excited now to represent him as a patriarch of Puerto Rico and to be able not only represent him, but to try to continue to reflect who he was in the organization of the Pittsburgh Pirates," Perez said. "It was an awesome moment, and I'm looking forward to continue that legacy going forward with the Pittsburgh Pirates."
• The Pirates are less than two weeks away from their first home spring training game, and the first time they had fans in the stands in just under a whole year.
Stallings was in the pro-crowd noise camp last year because he didn't want batters to hear where he was setting up. But outside of not being able to interact with fans before games, he hasn't thought about what it will be like to have people back in the ballpark.
"Last year I didn’t really notice that there were no fans during the games," Stallings said. "I think when it was the strangest was when I was walking out pregame to stretch and get ready, because there’s always fans there before the game and whatever. So during the game it’s not something that I notice a whole lot. I’m not really a guy that really feeds off the fan energy, I guess, but it’ll be nice. It’ll be nice to have some noise and not just hearing the other team’s dugout. That was kind of annoying last year, so hopefully we can get fans in the stands so I don’t have to listen to the other team."
LECOM Park will be at approximately 25% capacity for those games.
• And some more minor league news to close. The league announced the 2021 minor league schedules, with AAA clubs playing 142 games and AA and A clubs playing 120.
The Indians will open Apr. 6 in Memphis. The Curve will start May 4 at home against the Bowie Baysox. The Grasshoppers and Marauders will also open at home on May 4.