MLB Top 10 Catchers- 2017

The Catcher position is full of veterans who are still young and others that are older. There are some young Catchers on this list that would not fit into being longtime veterans. The Catcher position is expected to have players who are great fielders with blocking pitches, throwing out base runners, and not making Errors. The position is not expected to have great hitting but there are exceptions, which what makes some great all around players. The position does not require players to play every day because it is a difficult position to play so most Catchers on this list do not play every game.

(note: NL= National League, AL= American League, HR= home run, RBI= runs batted in, OBP= on base percentage, SLG= slugging percentage, SO= strike outs, BB= walks, SB= stolen bases, E= errors, TC= total chances with putouts, assists, errors put together)

10. J.T. Realmuto- 25, MIA

J.T. Realmuto has played for three seasons and he is the youngest Catcher on the list who has potential to become an even better Catcher. He has played two full seasons and he was consitant in both with improvement in many areas. Last year he batted .303, hit 11 HR, 31 Doubles, drove in 48 RBI, with a .343 OBP, a .428 SLG, only 28 BB, and 100 SO. He is a good fielder with a .991 fielding percentage, 28 runners caught stealing, 8 passed balls, 10 Errors in 1159 TC. He had a good offensive year for his first full season but can improve in the future where he can become a great hitting Catcher. He was good in some areas defensively and not good in others but he has potential to improve. He is number 10 because he is young with potential and is already good offensively. What holds him from being higher on the list is the areas defensively he needs to improve but if he does he can potentially more up the list.

9. Yasmani Grandal- 28, LAD

Yasmani Grandal is a five-year veteran with only three full time seasons and he has had a productive career so far. He has had success with a NL All-Star selection in 2015. He has had success offensively hitting 15 plus HR for three seasons and having 72 RBI in 2016. He has been great defensively with three straight seasons having a .993 plus fielding percentage and 5 or fewer Errors in addition to two straight seasons with 20 plus runners caught stealing. He had an improvement in 2016 where he batted .228, hit 27 HR, drove in 72 RBI, with a .339 OBP, a .477 SLG, 64 BB, 116 SO. He is a great fielder with a .995 fielding percentage, only 5 Errors, 24 runners caught stealing, and 10 passed balls in 1082 TC. He is number 9 because he had a great year in 2016 both offensively and defensively with potential to improve by being in his prime. What holds him back is his lack of experience and consistency compared to other players with only one great year while not hitting for a high average with a lot of SO.

8. Matt Wieters- 30, WAS

Matt Wieters is an eight-year veteran who has faced injury problem two out of the last three years but had a healthy year in 2016. He has had success in the past being selected to four AL All-Star teams and winning two Gold Gloves. From 2010-2013 he played 130 games or over every season having three seasons with 20 plus HR, 25 plus Doubles, and 65 plus RBI. He has been a good to great Catcher with a career .992 fielding percentage, only two seasons with 10 or more Errors, every year with 5 or less passed balls, and eight seasons with 20 plus runners caught stealing. Last year he was healthy and had a productive year where he batted .243, hit 17 HR, drove in 66 RBI, with a .302 OBP, a .409 SLG, only 32 BB but only 85 SO. He did have an okay defensive year with a .988 fielding percentage with 11 Errors. He had other stats that were good with 6 Passed Balls and 23 runners caught stealing. He is number 8 because of his past success offensively and defensively and a productive year in 2016 after being injured the past two seasons. He is low on the list because of his injury problems and his struggles in some areas defensively. He could move up the list if he has another good year and gets his defense back to where it was before the injuries.

7. Wilson Ramos- 29, TB

Wilson Ramos is a seven-year veteran who has also faced injury problems through his career but had a good season in 2015 and a great season in 2016. He has only played over 100 games in three seasons but he is showing signs of being healthy with two full seasons in a row. Last year was a break out year for him where he was selected to the NL All-Star and won the NL Silver Slugger. In 2016 he batted .307, hit 22 HR, hit 25 Doubles, drove in 80 RBI, with a .354 OBP, a .496 SLG, only 35 BB but only 79 SO. He also had a great defensive year with a .997 fielding percentage, only 3 Errors, 10 Passed Balls, and 19 runners caught stealing in 1158 TC. He is number 7 because he has played two full seasons in a row with a good season and a great season but he is not higher up the list due to his injury problems. He may move up the list if he has another healthy year and maintains similar numbers to 2015 and 2016.

6. Brain McCann- 32, HOU

Brain McCann is a 12-year veteran who has had a great offensive career for a Catcher and has been durable. He has had a productive career with consistent statistics almost every year and has been a top Catcher for most of his career. He has been selected to seven All-Star teams with 2013 being his last appearance and he has won six Silver Sluggers with the last being in 2015. He has had a great offensive career hitting 20 plus HR in 10 seasons, eight seasons with 70 plus RBI, eight seasons with 15 plus Doubles, and has never had 100 or more SO in a season. He has had a good defensive career as well with seven seasons having a .990 plus fielding percentage. He has also had less than 10 errors in nine seasons and less than 10 Passed Balls in 11 seasons. In 2016 he batted .242, hit 20 HR, drove in 58 RBI, with a .335 OBP, a .413 SLG, and 54 BB but only 99 SO. He is a great fielder with a .995 fielding percentage, only 4 Errors, only 6 Passed Balls, and 14 runners caught stealing. He is number 6 just short of the top 5 because he has had a consistent career and has been durable only having one shortened seasons in 2013. He is also still productive and is still a good all-around catcher. He is older and did show signs of decline, which is why he is out of the top 5.

5. Russell Martin- 33, TOR

Russell Martin is an 11-year veteran who has had a productive career with many teams and is currently among the best Catchers. He has been selected to four All-Star teams, has won a Silver Slugger, and has won a Gold Glove. He has become a great defensive Catcher with five straight seasons with 6 or fewer Errors and a .994 plus fielding percentage. He has had good defensive stats by having nine seasons with a .990 fielding percentage and eight years with 6 or fewer passed balls. He has been good offensively in his career by hitting 15 plus HR in six seasons, seven seasons with 60 plus RBI, and six seasons with 20 plus Doubles. In 2016 he batted .231, hit 20 HR, drove in 74 RBI, with a .335 OBP, a .398 SLG, and 64 BB but less impressively 148 SO. He is a great fielder with a .996 fielding percentage, only 4 Errors, 9 Passed Balls, and only 11 runners caught stealing in 1048 TC. He is number 5 because he is a good all-around Catcher who can hit and defend while becoming a great defensive Catcher in recent years. What holds him back from being higher up is his age and he declined last year in a few stats like increased SO and less runners caught stealing.

4. Yadier Molina- 34, STL

Yadier Molina is a 13-year veteran who has been a top Catcher for most of his career and even though he is older he is still consistent. He made 7 straight NL All-Star teams from 2009-2015 and has been on two World Championship teams. He won eight straight NL Gold Gloves from 2008-2015 and one NL Silver Slugger in 2013. He has been more known for his defense where he has had eight seasons with a .995 plus fielding percentage, nine seasons with 5 or fewer errors at the Catcher position, nine seasons with 20 plus runners caught stealing, and eight seasons with 6 or fewer passed balls. He has been durable throughout his career playing 125 plus games in eight seasons. He has not had bad offensive numbers with eight seasons batting .275 plus getting above .300 in five seasons, eight seasons with 20 plus Doubles, and 12 seasons with 60 or fewer SO. In 2016 he batted .307, hit 8 HR, drove in 58 RBI, 38 Doubles, with a .360 OBP, a .427 SLG, 39 BB, and only 63 SO. He is a great fielder with a .998 fielding percentage, only 2 Errors, 8 Passed Balls, and 18 runners caught stealing in 1175 TC. He is number 4 because he has been a consistent Catcher for many years and has been dominant at defense for most of his career. He is also still a great fielder and a good offensive Catcher. He is older so he may only have a few more years as a top Catcher and some of his numbers declined last year.

3. Jonathan Lucroy- 30, TEX

Jonathan Lucroy is a seven-year veteran who has had some good statistics with last year being his best year. He has been selected to two NL All-Star teams in 2014 and 2016. He has had a consistently high batting average with four seasons batting .280 plus and four straight seasons with 20 plus Doubles. He has been less consistent in other areas with only two seasons with 75 plus RBI and one season with 20 plus HR. He has been a great defensive Catcher with six seasons having a fielding percentage of .990 plus, five seasons with 20 plus runners caught stealing. In every season, he has had 10 or fewer Errors and 10 or fewer Passed Balls. In 2016 he batted .292, hit 24 HR, 24 Doubles, drove in 81 RBI, with a .355 OBP, a .500 SLG, 47 BB, 100 SO. He is a great fielder with a .994 fielding percentage, only 6 Errors, 8 Passed Balls, and impressively 44 runners caught stealing in 2016. He is number 3 because he has had several good to great years for a Catcher both offensively and defensively. What holds him back is he has not been as consistent as other Catchers higher up the list but if he has a great season again he could move up the list.

2. Salvador Perez- 26, KC

Salvador Perez is a young Catcher who has played six seasons with four full seasons and is entering his prime years while having already accomplished a lot. He has been selected to four straight AL All-Star teams and was on the 2015 World Championship team when he won the World Series MVP. He has won four straight AL Gold Gloves and won the AL Silver Slugger in 2016. He has been durable so far playing 130 plus games over the last four seasons. His offense has good by having three seasons with 70 plus RBI, three seasons with 15 plus HR, and four straight seasons with 25 plus Doubles. He has been a great fielder by having four seasons with 5 or less errors as well as every season with 5 or fewer Passed Balls and a .990 plus fielding percentage. Last year he batted .247, hit 22 HR, 28 Doubles, drove in 64 RBI, with a .288 OBP, a .438 SLG, only 22 BB, and 119 SO. He is a great fielder with a .996 fielding percentage, only 4 Errors, only 5 Passed Balls, and 37 runners caught stealing in 1070 TC. He is number 3 because he has durable with great defense and he has put up good offensive stats, which makes him a consistent all around Catcher. He is also still young enough to have room for improvement and if he remains durable he could remain high on this list.

1. Buster Posey- 29, SF

Buster Posey is an eight-year veteran who has had many accomplishments throughout his career as a Catcher. He won the 2012 NL MVP, has been selected to four NL All-Star teams, won the 2010 Rookie of the Year, has won three Silver Sluggers with the last being 2015, and won the 2016 Gold Glove. He has also been on three World Championship teams all with the San Francisco Giants. He has been consistent with five seasons batting .290 plus, five seasons with 15 plus HR, four seasons with 80 plus RBI, and six seasons with 20 plus Doubles. He has been consistent defensively as well 10 or fewer Errors every season, every season with five or fewer Passed Balls, and six seasons with 20 plus runners caught stealing. He has also been durable playing 145 plus games for five straight seasons. In 2016 he batted .288, hit 14 HR, 33 Doubles, drove in 80 RBI, with a .362 OBP, a .434 SLG, 64 BB, and 68 SO. He is a great fielder with a .997 fielding percentage, only 3 Errors, only 2 Passed Balls, and 28 runners caught stealing in 1071 TC. He is number 1 because he is the best all-around Catcher currently and has had a consistent career offensively and defensively so far. He is in his prime and is also still young enough to potentially continue being a top Catcher.