Jacob Stallings Coming Into His Own Behind The Plate
Ever since he was drafted in the 7th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, everyone knew that Jacob Stallings was a good defensive catcher. He has developed into one of the best pitch framers in the game and works well with the entire Pirates pitching staff. However, recently Stallings has shown that he can swing the bat well to and drive in runs on a consistent basis. Not only did Stallings have a strong day at the plate against the Brewers yesterday, going 2-3 with a walk and three RBI, but he has has a strong week's worth of games at the plate. He is currently on a four-game hitting streak and has had strong series against both the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers.
Over his last seven games, Stallings has gone 10-20 (.500) with a home run and four RBI. Stallings has bumped his average over the .300 mark for the first time this season and is currently the team leader in batting average sitting at .313, sitting 39 points higher than the next closest Pirate. These numbers are close to what he was hitting during the ladder half of his Minor League career and is showing what he can do when given the opportunity. He finished last season at the .262 mark and showed more power than expected. If he is able to keep it up, what looks like a career-year for Stallings could turn into a future behind the dish for the Bucs.
Offensive Surprise
As we stated before, Stallings has never really been highly regarded for his work on the offensive side of the ball. Entering this season, he was a career .268 hitter through his first four big-league seasons, but 2019 was his first real shot at consistent playing time. Before that, Stallings's career-high for games played was 14 during the 2018 season. Because of this, he never really got his timing down and couldn't get into any sort of rhythm at the Big League level. Now that he is seeing those regular at-bats, he has that average up over .300 Nd has raised his career average to .275.
The key to his offensive success so far this season is his ability to hit the ball hard on a consistent basis. His hard-hit percentage is up to a career-high 43.2% and measures at a 64, which ranks in the top 40% of Major League baseball. Most of those hard hits are coming on the fastball, which he sees a lot of. He has seen 59% fastballs this season and is hitting .355 with three extra-base hits while facing the fastball. While he hasn't had as much success against the breaking ball, he is still hitting .286 against breaking pitches. When it comes to the breaking ball, Stallings changes his approach from hitting the gaps to just going with the ball and slapping it for a single. He has only struck out one time against the Breaking Ball as he goes into more of a defensive approach.
Overall, Stallings is not going to jump off the page at you offensively, but he is going to have a consistent batting average at the plate. He will get his hits, but not generate a lot of power. He is a 5-10 home run hitter at max while driving in 60-70 RBI over the course of a full season. He is proving that he can be a viable Major League catching option. The Pirates still need some catching depth, but at least offensively Stallings has proven that he can hold his own from the bottom of the Pirates batting order and provide some offense when his team needs it.
Defensive Star
Now when we move to the defensive side of the ball, there aren't many other catchers in Major League Baseball that compare to Stallings. He ranks as one of the top pitch framers in the game and works very well with the Pirate's young pitching staff. He is in the top 10% of the league in terms of pitch framing getting 48.7% of pitched outside the zone called strikes. He is most effective on the corners getting 62.5% called on the left corner of the plate and 69.1% called on the right side of the plate. He has also shown a great ability to throw out base runners, nabbing 33% of would-be base stealers this year and showing a much stronger arm.
He has gotten crossed up a few more times than normal this season allowing three passed balls in his first 17 games. He has also made some great blocks behind the plate and prevented runs from scoring. He does not have the pedigree of a Russel Martin or a Francisco Cervelli, but he does a nice job of handling the position defensively. He may not be the catcher of the future in Pittsburgh, but he is providing a nice stop-gap for future generations of Pirates catchers whether that be inside or outside the organization.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (6-17) look for their first sweep of the season when they wrap up their series with the Milwaukee Brewers (11-14) today at 1:35 pm. JT Brubaker (0-0, 4.91) looks for his first Major League win against Corbin Burns (0-0, 3.00) for the Brewers. You can watch the the game live on AT&T Sportsnet or listen live at 93.7 The Fan.
Comments
Post a Comment