Stallings Looking to Run With First Starting Opportunity.
Since the 2012 season, Jacob Stallings has been working his way up through the Pirates system trying to make a name for himself. However, every time he was ready to make the leap to the next level, there was someone ahead of him ready to take his place. Because of this, Stallings's Major League reps have been limited to no more than 14 games a season and he wasn't seen as anything more than catching depth. 2019 would change all that as injuries thrusted Stallings into a starting role by the end of the season and he seemed to thrive.
The 30-year old would have the best season of his Major League career hitting .262 with six home runs and 13 RBI while appearing in a career-high 71 games behind the plate. It was a pleasant surprise to see the success Stallings had in a short sample size, easing some fears of him taking over the starting role. The average is consistent with Stallings career, but one thing that stood out was the power stroke that he hasn't seen since low A ball.
As Stallings's playing time went up, so did his power numbers. He took over the everyday catching duties in August and at the time he had just two home runs and five RBI in limited opportunities. He more than doubled that effort over the final two months of the year hitting four home runs and eight RBI. One thing that led to that success is how Stallings handled the fastball last season. He saw the pitch just under 60% of the time and hit .330 with four of his six home runs.
While he hasn't been given many opportunities at the Major Leagues to this point, he will have a chance to prove his numbers in 2020. While his offense is looking to improve, one thing that hasn't been questioned about Stallings is his defense. He has been known as one of the best pitch framers in the league, which not only makes him a better defensive option for the Bucs but it will also help out the Pirates starting staff.
Stallings has been noted as one of the top pitch framers in all of Major League Baseball. He ranked 18th in all of Major League baseball last season with three Runs Extra Strikes and brought just over 50% of the pitches he caught back into the strike zone. Stallings ranks higher than any Pirates catcher in recent memory and this is something that will benefit the Bucs greatly in 2020. Stallings is best at framing the corners getting 65.9% of the pitches called on the left corner of the plate and 67.7% on the right side of the plate.
This can mess with the opposing hitter because it makes him have to expand his zone and swing at pitches he doesn't normally swing at. With the batter swinging at pitches they wouldn't swing at it allows Pirates pitchers to be more selective and get ahead in the count easier. The proof is in his Catcher's ERA with some of Pittsburgh's top pitchers. Joe Musgrove pitched to a 4.35 ERA to Stallings in 2019, which was more than 2.00 higher than he had with any other catcher. By mid-season in 2019, Chris Archer requested to work exclusively with Stallings and is excited once again to work with him in 2020.
While Stallings is good at framing pitches, he also fares pretty well at stopping the run game. He caught 8 of the 20 stolen base attempts when he was behind the plate, good for a 40% caught stealing rate. He ranked higher than both Elias Diaz and Francisco Cervelli in that category and it helped him nail down the No. 1 job. He exchanges the ball from glove to hand in 0.71 seconds and gets it down to second base in 1.98 seconds, both ranking in the top 20 in Major League Baseball and is tied with the St. Louis Cardinals Yadier Molina.
2020 will be the first season that Stallings cracks the Pirates Opening Day Roster as he gets the chance to step up. The Pirates players and coaches are rooting for Stallings to be their guy this season and make his mark in the city of Pittsburgh. His dad Kevin Stallings might not have lasted long at PITT, but Jacob is looking to stick around for a while in a Pirates uniform.
Prediction: .268 10 HR 41 RBI
Given a full season of time behind the plate, Jacob Stallings numbers should sit right around where he has been for his professional career. I see him continuing to hit for decent power while driving in a career-high number of runs from the bottom of the order. My bold prediction of the season is that Stallings will be in the running for a Gold Glove at Catcher by the end of the year. His superb pitch framing, and ability to throw out runners at a high rate make him one of the best defensive catchers in the MLB.
As of now, the season is expected to begin somewhere around May 25th. Until then, we will continue to look at the men who make up this year's team and their contributions in 2020.
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