Matt Wieters: Comparison to his Competition

[TuckerBlair89]

Wieters was one the few bright spots for the Orioles this year. While he may have not been "terrific" with the bat, he still proved that he is capable of becoming a very good hitter in this league for a long time. I compared Wieters stats to the other qualifying catchers. I also threw in some defensive stats since we are indeed talking about catchers and defense is Wieters' strength.

Catcher had 9 Qualifying players in 2011 (Obviously there were many catchers close, but only 9 qualified)
*Also take into account that Mauer and Posey were injured most of the year
*Some Catchers (Carlos Santana) had more plate appearances due to playing another position



Some more defensive notes:

Wieters ranked 1st in the entire league with 14 DRS (Total Defensive Runs Saved)
He also ranked 1st with 5 RSB (Stolen Based Runs Saved)

Overall, I would say that Wieters was very satisfying from a Catchers standpoint last season. The defense was top tier, and the hitting aspect of his game is only going to get better.

One final fun note:
Bill James projection on Wieters in 2012: .281AVG/.353OBP/.468SLG/.304BABIP/.357wOBA

I would gladly take that!
(stats all taken from http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=c&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=800&type=1&season=2011&month=0&season1=2011&ind=0&team=0&players=0)

[ofahn]

Thanks for doing this. It's real quality work.

[Matt P]

I think it's safe to say he is one of the elite catchers in the game.

[TuckerBlair89]

I think it's safe to say he is one of the elite catchers in the game.

I would argue he is top 5 to be honest.
His hitting is only going to get better in my opinion.
The thing I like about Wieters is that he seems to be a very good student of the game. I wish we could say that about every other player we have

[Don]

I said sometime last winter that his bat should eventually come along. He will not be the dual threat that a lot saw out of Georgia Tech, but his power production, on base percentage, combined with his defensive improvements lead very little that could be more crucial in baseball.

You could make a solid case for him over any other catcher in baseball, but a few can make a case above him. Either way, he is something that is rare. A complete catcher...

[kbrooke]

Nice job. Who would you get as his backup next season now that we're down our last two options?

[Shorebirdfan]

I said sometime last winter that his bat should eventually come along. He will not be the dual threat that a lot saw out of Georgia Tech, but his power production, on base percentage, combined with his defensive improvements lead very little that could be more crucial in baseball.

You could make a solid case for him over any other catcher in baseball, but a few can make a case above him. Either way, he is something that is rare. A complete catcher...

Have to agree. He is floating in rare air as an all round player at the C spot. Best part is he is only going to get better.