2012 Position Previews - Catcher

Getting into some 2012 position by position previews. Starting behind the dish at catcher.

After losing Ryan Doumit and Chris Snyder this offseason, the Pittsburgh Pirates went shopping to find a new starting catcher. What they came up with was Rod Barajas, who will be carrying the load behind home plate in 2012. Here's his numbers:


Now none of those numbers above say anything about Barajas' defense, which is the main reason the Pirates brought him in. The guy is a very solid defensive catcher who has a sterling reputation with pitchers across the league. He knows how to handle pitchers and he's going to save you runs behind the plate (especially when he's replacing a guy like Doumit). The Pirates went defense-first mode this offseason getting Barajas and Clint Barmes, which is a good thing at those positions. However, they aren't going to get much offensively out of Barajas. Rod has some power, but a lot of that will disappear as his home games change from Dodgers Stadium to PNC Park. We're going to see a lot of balls off Barajas' bat being caught on the left-center field warning track. Don't get me wrong, he has legitimate power and will knock double-digit home runs out this year (assuming he stays healthy, which he most often does), but he's not going to get on base a lot or hit for good batting average. The Pirates will probably have him in the 7 hole to start the year, but he could slide up if Pedro Alvarez and/or Garrett Jones struggle. Barajas was a good, necessary addition for the club even if they did pay a little more than what we would have liked for him.

The back-up is Michael McKenry. Here's those numbers:

McKenry is widely overrated in Pittsburgh. He's a good underdog story, a guy that doesn't size up well with the rest of the competition but is what they call "scrappy" and works his butt off everyday to get better. However, at this level, if you don't have it, you don't have it. McKenry doesn't have it, in terms of being a starting major league catcher. However, he can be a nice bench player for this team. You always want those solid clubhouse guys in there, and McKenry can play a decent game of defense behind the plate when you need him too. I'm not on the wagon of saying that he's a good defensive catcher, because I think we need to see more than 58 games of him to determine that, but he's certainly not terrible. The bat is basically inexistent. The .222/.276/.322 he posted last year isn't too far off from what I think this guy would do over a large sample if he ever gets one, but I could certainly be wrong about that. He doesn't get on base, he has very little power, and he strikes out a bunch. I'm not sure what there is to like there. Sorry to be negative, but that's kind of just how it is. The good news is that McKenry is just a back-up this year. I'm certainly McRooting for him.
Catcher Grade: C-

You can read the rest of this series here, or click the links below:
First Base
Second Base
Shortstop
Third Base
Outfield