Resurgence Of The Major League Catcher

As the careers of Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez began to diminish in the beginning of the 21st century, the catching position in the Major Leagues started to be considered weak. There were no great players at the position and it seemed that would be the case for some time.

Here we are in 2008 and the good catchers in the league are plentiful and young. The National League is stocked full of them:

The Dodgers' Russell Martin, who is 25 years young, is batting .309 and has stolen 9 bases so far this season after stealing 21 last year. Brian McCann of Atlanta is 24 years old, has hit 14 homeruns to date, is batting .298, and is the favorite to start in the upcoming All-Star game. Geovany Soto, who plays in the North Side of Chicago, is 25 years of age and has smacked 14 homeruns to date and is hitting .290 this season (18-44 vs. Pittsburgh this season... shit). There is Yadier Molina, who is not a prototypical hitting catcher (4 homeruns, 14 extra-base hits total) but he is batting .306 to date and has always been known as a solid fielder of his position and he is turning 26 years old later this month. And last but not least, Pittsburgh's Ryan Doumit. If not for over 30 games that Doumit missed due to time on the DL for a broken finger and most recently due to a concussion, he would be fourth in the league in batting average (.337) and sixth in the league in slugging % (.594). His 10 homeruns as a catcher puts him in third place in the National League despite missing over 30 games this season. At age 27, Doumit is somewhat of a veteran to the younger catchers, but if he can stay healthy, he can expect to play in many All-Star games in his career.

In the American League, there is really only one catcher worth mentioning, but he is no doubt the best in the Major Leagues. This would be Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins. Mauer is only 25 years old (birthday is April 19th, woot) and 2008 is his fifth year in the league. Mauer is hitting .324 this season (second in the American League behind Ian Kinsler at .325) and is a career .315 hitter. Mauer, like Molina, is not your everyday hitting catcher. His career high in homeruns is 13 and has only 38 homeruns in 492 career games. but the most astonishing thing about Mauer is his on-base %. In his career, Mauer has 45 more walks than strikeouts (251-206) and has a career on-base % of .397. Not only that, but Mauer has an incredible .995 career fielding percentage. Now I have obviously never seen the likes of Johnny Bench or Roy Campanella, but in my mind, Mauer will be the best catcher of my lifetime. In the future he will squash the likes of Sandy Alomar Jr. and Ivan Rodriguez as a whole in all of the aspects of the catching position. Of course, Mike Piazza's 427 homeruns may not be touched by another catcher, ever, but if Mauer stays healthy, he will be one of the best overall hitting catchers in history.

So there it is, the newest class of catcher in the Major Leagues, you will be seeing a lot of them in years to come, and possibly later on... in Cooperstown.