Seattle Mariners 2019 Position Preview: Catchers

OMAR NARVÁEZ

Acquired in December for Álex Colomé, Narváez comes into Seattle as the Mariners’ incumbent starting catcher. Narváez, who turned 27 on Monday, will be given his first real opportunity to start on a consistent basis in 2019 after posting impressive offensive numbers in limited action over the last three seasons.

Despite the great amount of power Mike Zunino brought to the table, Narváez is arguably the most consistent hitter the Mariners have had at the catching position in quite some time. As a career .274/.366/.379 hitter, fans should not be surprised if Narváez is slotted near the top of the Mariners’ lineup at some point in 2019, perhaps even in the two-hole. All Narváez has done in his young career is get on base, and that will likely continue into the upcoming season.

Defense, however, is the biggest question mark for Narváez. The 27-year-old graded out relatively well by FanGraphs’ metrics, but there is some concern about Narváez’s ability to frame pitches and handle a pitching staff that will grow younger as the season progresses. Two weeks ago, I wrote about why these concerns may be a bit overblown and that Narváez, one of the Mariners’ first acquisitions of the offseason, is potentially Seattle’s most underrated addition of their busy Winter.

If you read the article, you’ll understand that Narváez has a lot of potential to grow as a catcher. With really solid tools to work with, Narváez could develop into an above-average defensive catcher under the tutelage of more open-minded instructors and be exposed to a more modern outlook on the catching position.