Mariners Catchers From Dan Wilson through Cal Raleigh

This year’s spring training begins in about a month. Sodo Mojo will be looking at all the positions; who will be competing for a spot including the backups. I am beginning with the catcher’s position. The Mariners have had trouble having a solid starting catcher who can hit and play defense since the retirement of Dan Wilson.

The Mariners acquired Dan Wilson from the Cincinnati Reds. He was the Mariners starting catcher from 1994 through 2004. He retired after 2005 when he was out for most of that year because of injuries. He had 88 home runs and 508 runs batted in as a Mariner. The Mariners have had trouble keeping a solid catcher since his retirement. Although Mike Zunino did break Dan Wilson’s career record for home runs last season as a Mariner.

The Mariners decided to trade Mike Zunino after last season despite that he was named the best defensive catcher by Wilson the glove manufacturer. Zunino was traded on November 8 the day after he named for the award. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays along with Guillermo Heredia.

The trading of Zunino and Heredia was the beginning of several trades where the Mariners traded Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to the New York Mets. Also traded Jean Segura along with James Pazos and Juan Nicasio to the Philadelphia Phillies, James Paxton to the New York Yankees and Alex Colome to the Chicago White Sox.

The Mariners acquired Miguel Olivo from the Chicago White Sox in 2004. The Mariners were hoping he would be the heir apparent for Wilson however the Mariners ended up trading Olivo to the San Diego Padres at the end of the trading deadline in 2005 for a couple minor leaguers. His time with the Mariners in 2004 he batted only .200 and then before being traded to the Padres during the 2005 season he was batting only .151. He returned again to the Mariners in 2011

The next year in 2006 they imported Japanese catcher Kenji Johjima. He played for the Mariners from 2006 thru 2009 however he opted out on his last two years of a six-year contract to return to play in Japan. His first two years with the Mariners were his most productive offensively. In 2006 he hit 18 home runs and drove in 76 runs while batting .291.

In 2007 he hit 14 home runs while driving in 61 runs and a .286. Although his numbers looked pretty good for a catcher in 2008 his offensive numbers declined. His batting average went down to .227 and his home runs to 7 and runs batted in 39. In 2009 he played in only 71 games because of a hamstring injury. He had a .247 average with 9 home runs and 22 rbi’s.

Though Johjima had good offensive numbers for the Mariners especially in 2006 and 2007 his defense would not be close to Dan Wilson or Mike Zunino. Of course, we could say the same for the other catchers during the period between Wilson and Zunino.

Having Kenji Johjima out for a lengthy time in 2009 Rob Johnson the backup catcher caught 80 games. Defensively he was Ok but offensively he would not remind anyone of Johjima. He was like most of the catcher has had over the years; Johnson batted .213 with 2 home runs and 27 rbi’s.

The following year 2010 and Johnson’s last with the Mariners he hit below the Mendoza line batting .191 with 2 home runs and 13 rbi’s in 61 games.

The other catcher who caught almost as many as Johnson in 2010 was Adam Moore. He played in 60 games; his offense wasn’t any better where he batted .195 along with 4 home runs and 15 rbi’s. No wonder the Mariners brought Miguel Olivo back for the 2011 and 12 seasons.

The next year 2013 the Mariners went through several catchers like Kelly Shoppach who they signed as a free agent before the season began but was released on June 20. He played in only 35 games for the Mariners batting .196. He was replaced by Henry Blanco who was at the end of his career. The top prospect at the time the Mariners had traded for with the New York Yankees Jesus Montero caught 28 and Humberto Quintero 22 games after the Mariners picked him up from the Philadelphia Phillies.

With the lack of productivity from the catcher’s position, general manager Jack Zduriencik decided it was time to bring up top draft pick Mike Zunino in 2013. As we see now the decision Zunino was brought up too early. In 2013 Zunino caught 50 games batting .214 with 5 home runs and 14 rbi’s.

In his first full season in 2014, he showed his power potential where he hit 22 home runs while driving in 60 runs however batting only .199. In 2015 he opened the season again as the Mariners number one catcher but struggled again at the plate through his defense was major league caliber.

In 386 plate appearances, he batted .174 with 132 strikeouts. Also, he didn’t as much power having only 11 homes runs and 28 rbi’s. Since he was struggling the Mariners decided to send Zunino down to Tacoma in August.

When the Triple-A season ended Zunino was not called back up to Seattle which came as a surprise to everyone. Jesus Sucre the Mariners backup catcher played mostly the rest of the way. Sucre is a very good defensive catcher but with limited action didn’t hit well either.

The Mariners decided to start Zunino in Tacoma at the beginning of 2016 to get his stroke back. They signed free agent Chris Iannetta as the regular catcher. Iannetta played defense, OK but like many of the Mariner catchers in the past, his batting average was only .210.

When Mike Zunino returned as the Mariners starting catcher he played in 55 games where he showed his power once again with 12 home runs and 31 rbi’s however batted only .207.

In 2017 Mike Zunino had the year the Mariners hoped for when they drafted him. He still struggled at times however June through August he played very well. For the season he had the best year of his career so far where he batted .251 with 25 home runs and 64 rbi’s.

Going into 2018 it looked like Mike Zunino may have finally reached his potential however he started the season with injuries. He played in 113 games; hit 20 home runs and drive in 44 runs but his batting average dropped back down to .201.

General manager Jerry Dipoto decided since the team took a nosedive in the second half of the season and missed the playoffs even though winning 89 games. He figured with the Houston Astros and Oakland A’s ahead in the standings of the American League West the Mariners need to make changes if they ever figured to make a serious run to the playoffs.

Mike Zunino with Guillermo Heredia was traded to Tampa Bay Rays for center fielder Mallex Smith. The thought is Dipoto decided it was time to give up on Zunino for his lack of hitting and not his catching.

Before the Mariners drafted Mike Zunino they had another high drafted catcher in Jeff Clement however he never panned out. Like Zunino, he was terrific college catcher playing at USC. The Mariners drafted him in 2005. He made his major league debut in 2007 appearing in 9 games. In 2008 he played in 66 games for the Mariners at catcher and designated hitter.

He batted .227 with 5 home runs and 23 rbi’s. The next year he played in the minors then the Mariners traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates where he played in 77 games in two years.

Now the Mariners starting catcher going into 2019 is Omar Narvaez who they got from the Chicago White Sox for reliever Alex Colome. Narvaez doesn’t have the power that we have seen out of Zunino however he does hit for average. His first two full seasons he had a batting average of .277 and .275 while his home runs increased from two to nine

. He turns 27 years old on February 10 so his power may still increase as well however he is above average at the plate. The batting average for catchers in 2018 was .246 while the on-base percentage was .315.

Besides batting .275 Narvaez had an on-base percentage of .366 which is the major reason general manager Jerry Dipoto traded for him. He fits under the importance of analytics to Dipoto and manager Scott Servais.

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The future of the catcher’s position has slim pickings when it comes to the minor leagues. Currently, on the 40-man roster, they have two catchers in starter Omar Narvaez and backup David Freitas.

In 2017 the Seattle Mariners decided to have 2012 draft pick Joe DeCarlo switch from third base to catcher. He was drafted in the second round behind catcher Mike Zunino. The Mariners drafted him out of high school and he has been playing seven years in the Mariners farm system.

Last season DeCarlo was injured for part of the year playing in 58 games for double-A Arkansas. He batted for an average of .246 with 8 home runs and 30 rbi’s. What keeps the Mariners interested in DeCarlo is his on-base percentage was .339.

DeCarlo though he has been in the farm system for some time the Mariners did draft him out of high school and he is still only 25 years old. He isn’t in the Mariners top 30 prospects list though. Last year he was invited to spring training as a non-roster player before going to the minor leagues.

The Mariners likely will see him in major league camp once again though he probably will be assigned to double-A again or possibly triple-A Tacoma since right now the Rainiers have only one catcher Alexander Capriata listed on the roster at this time. This could be the last chance for DeCarlo to move up.

Speaking of Alexander Capriate he isn’t considered one of the Mariners catching prospects. He didn’t play at all last year and he is 26 years old. He has been in the Mariners farm system since 2011; he has spent most of his time in single A. This likely be his last chance as well.

The only catcher in the Mariners top 30 rankings is Cal Raleigh who is at number 18. The Mariners drafted him last year in the third round out of Florida State. He is a switch-hitting catcher who can be valuable especially with power. Jerry Dipoto feels Raleigh will move up the farm system verily fast however they will allow him to go at his own rate so will show in Seattle when he is ready. He is more known for his offense than his defense.

Raleigh spent last season in rookie ball at Everett. In 38 games he hit .288 with 8 home runs and 29 rbi’s. Very good if you put those numbers over a full season. Also, he was impressive because his on-base percentage was .367.

Hopefully having Omar Narvaez around for quite a few years I could see Raleigh as a good backup catcher who could play some first base and be a designated hitter when he isn’t behind the plate. Not only has the Mariners had trouble with a solid starting catcher in a long time they have had a hard time getting a good backup catcher as well.

If they had someone like Raleigh ready to go right now keeping Zunino around would have worked out. It is hard to find too many catchers around the major leagues who can hit and play good defense. The same goes even more for a backup catcher.

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