The Colorado Rockies Top 5 Catchers in franchise history

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In the next few weeks, we will not have baseball games being played by the Colorado Rockies or any other team, due to the cancellation of the rest of spring training and the postponement of the regular season for concerns over the coronavirus. That doesn’t mean that we won’t have plenty of things to discuss over the coming weeks. Today, we will start our series on the top 5 players at each position in Colorado Rockies’ history.

The Colorado Rockies have a few positions in which they have been really strong. Unfortunately, for the Rockies, the catching position is one that has not been their strong suit.

Particularly at the beginning of their franchise’s history, there was a lot of turnover at the position, which is part of the reason why there’s not a really strong candidate at the position. Even now, the Rockies catching situation is one of the weaknesses of the team, particularly at the batter’s box.

For these and all of our rankings, we will consider their time in a Rockies uniform. However, if it is very close, we will consider their time with other teams as, essentially, a tiebreaker.

Without further ado, let’s check out the Rockies’ top five catchers of all-time.

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 27: Nick Hundley #4 of the Colorado Rockies throws to second base during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on August 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Rockies won 9-4 in 11 innings. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Number 5: Nick Hundley (2.0 bWAR, 0.8 fWAR, 2 seasons as a Rockie)

Nick Hundley only played two seasons with the Rockies (2015 and 2016) and he makes this list largely because of his first season. In 2015, he hit .301/.339/.467 in 103 games for the Rockies, which was good enough for a 105 wRC+, which was only behind Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez of player’s with more than 100 games played.

In 2016, Hundley struggled more both defensively and at the plate as his wRC+ dropped 20 percent. The Rockies let him go in free agency following the 2016 season.

Number 4: Yorvit Torrealba (0.9 bWAR, 3.4 fWAR, 5 seasons as a Rockie)

Torrealba played with the Rockies in 2006-09 and 2013. The main reason why he is placed at number four is because of his defense.

In his first season as a Rockie in 2006, he caught 21 of 52 would-be base stealers (40.4 percent) and he caught would-be base stealers at a 19.7, 26.2, 14.0, and a 28.9 percent clip in his other seasons as a Rockie. His career caught stealing numbers are about 7.3 above league average during his career.

If you check out his defensive and offensive ratings on FanGraphs, it’s obvious that his defense was superior to his offense. Offensively as a Rockie, in 373 games, he hit .256/.313/.379 with an OPS+ of 74.

LOS ANGELES – JULY 23: Catcher Charles Johnson #23 of the Colorado Rockies catches a pop-up from a botched bunt attempt by Kazuhisa Ishii #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during their game on July 23, 2003 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /

Number 3: Tony Wolters (2.3 bWAR, 2.4 fWAR, 4 seasons as a Rockie)

Wolters has been a Rockie for parts of four seasons but only played more than 100 games at the MLB level for the first time in 2019.

Like Torrealba, he is much better defensively than offensively. In his career, Wolters has a wRC+ of 59 (63 OPS+). His career slash line is .239/.327/.324 and that .324 slugging percentage is part of why his park-adjusted offensive numbers are way below league average.

Defensively, he has caught 32.8 percent of would-be base stealers and has 26 fDRS. His pitch framing has, by and large, been above average as well (he regressed well below league average in 2019, though).

The longer he plays with the Rockies, though, he could eclipse the other two guys on our list.

Number 2: Charles Johnson (2.1 bWAR, 2.3 fWAR, 2 seasons as a Rockie)

If we were ranking catchers on their overall careers, Charles Johnson has had the best career of the guys on that we will talk about. However, since he only played two seasons as a Rockie and he was on the back-end of his career.

While with the Rockies, Johnson didn’t hit for much of an average (.233) but his OBP was .334 and his slugging percentage was .443, which was good enough for an OPS+ of 89 (88 wRC+). Defensive metrics were not what they are now but his overall defensive numbers with the Rockies were very good (as they were for all of his career).

DENVER, CO – JULY 13: Chris Iannetta #22 of the Colorado Rockies holds the ball attempting to apply a tag against the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field on July 13, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

Honorable Mentions: Wilin Rosario (1.8 bWAR, -0.5 fWAR, 5 seasons as a Rockie), Joe Girardi (1.0 bWAR, 0.3 fWAR, 3 seasons as a Rockie), Jonathan Lucroy (0.7 bWAR, 0.8 fWAR in 46 games with the Rockies).

Rosario would be higher on the list if not for his defensive deficiencies. His 94 wRC+ (98 OPS+) can’t overcome his -48 DRS number.

Girardi was good defensively but his below offensive numbers (particularly his .323 OBP and .371 SLG %, even by today’s standards) in Mile High Stadium and pre-humidor Coors Field in the steroid era are the reasons why he doesn’t make the list.

Lucroy would be in the top five if he played for more than 46 games at the pace he played with the Rockies.

Number 1: Chris Iannetta (7.3 bWAR, 3.5 fWAR, 8 seasons as a Rockie)

Chris Iannetta is number one on our catcher’s list for a few reasons. 1) He has played the most seasons as a Rockies catcher and it’s not even close (Wilin Rosario is #2 with parts of five seasons).

Secondly, his offensive numbers have him just shy of league average (.232/.352/.422 slash line with an OPS+ of 95).

For most of his Rockies career (particularly in his first tenure with the Rockies from 2006 through 2011), Iannetta was around league average on defense. In his second go-around (2018-19), his defensive skills (and offensive skills) had diminished, which is to be expected out of a 35-year-old catcher.

Next. The Rockies and Forgetting Sarah Marshall: A Comparison. dark

Throughout the next few weeks, we will have more all-time lists for different positions as well as some analysis on the upcoming season, which will hopefully be here sooner rather than later.

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