Orioles: 2016 AL East Positional Catcher Rankings
By Nate Wardle
2. New York Yankees – Brian McCann, Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez (prediction: 3rd, with catchers McCann, Sanchez and Romine)
A new addition behind the plate for New York helped them improve their ranking, and also set them up for the future.
Before the season started, I remarked that the Yanks would likely go with Romine as the backup ahead of Sanchez due to his experience, but didn’t think they should, and ultimately they did, but maybe they shouldn’t have.
Yes, it is safe to say the guy who only played in 36 games was the best catcher for the Yankees in 2016. Gary Sanchez stepped into New York stardom and excelled, starting 36 games, and hitting .299/.376/.657 with 20 HRs, 12 2B, 42 RBIs, 34 runs.
Sanchez also threw out 40 percent of runners, a very, very good number and showed off a really strong arm. No doubt that he was the best catcher for the Yankees, and will be the starter moving forward.
Meanwhile, Brian McCann hit .242/.335/.413 with 20 HR, 13 2B, 58 RBIs, 56 runs. For a guy who batted near the middle of the order, these numbers aren’t exactly fantastic. McCann finished with a oWAR of 1.6, and a dWAR of -0.3. McCann finished less than half of the Yankee games behind the plate, and started less than 100 games.
McCann only threw out 23 percent of base runners, but did have a great fielding percentage at .995, good for fifth best in the division.
Romine started 40 games at catcher himself, and hit .242/.269/.382 with 4 HRs, 11 2Bs, 26 RBIs and 17 runs. Not bad for a guy who was the second catcher until the last quarter of the season. Romine also struggled to throw out runners, throwing out less than 20 percent.