Pirates prioritize playing time, experience as trio battles for backup catcher spot
After enduring a season in which the Pittsburgh Pirates used eight catchers, breaking the emergency glass for an ill-fated inning with a position player, Ben Cherington wasn’t about to allow their backstop to become a laughingstock again.
The Pirates general manager looked smart after trading NL Gold Glove winner Jacob Stallings to Miami and immediately signing two-time AL Gold Glove winner Roberto Perez but had egg on his face when Perez suffered a torn hamstring May 7 that required season-ending surgery.
So, Cherington set out to address the depth behind the plate for the Pirates this offseason. He designated backups Jason Delay and Tyler Heineman for assignment, clearing 40-man roster space while keeping both in the system. Cherington signed Austin Hedges, regarded as an elite defender, to a one-year, $5 million contract. And he added eight-year veteran Kevin Plawecki on a minor-league deal.
All of the moves were made to strengthen the catcher position in the short term without blocking the paths to the majors of top prospects Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis. No wonder Pirates manager Derek Shelton offered that teams “can never have too much catching depth” and called it a position that is “gold in the industry.”
“Just the fact that the two guys that were catching a lot for us the second half of the season are still here but off the roster and competing to get back on the team, hopefully it means we’re deeper,” Cherington said last month at Grapefruit League media day in Dunedin, Fla. “It’s a long season. I don’t think we felt like we were short at catcher going into last spring training. It’s kind of like pitching, you can never take it for granted.”
Actually, the Pirates were woefully short at backup catcher last spring.
Taylor Davis, Michael Perez and Jamie Ritchie had a combined 176 career major-league games, with 154 belonging to Perez. When none of those three secured the role behind Perez, Andrew Knapp was signed the day before the season opener.
Where Derek Shelton ordained Hedges the starting catcher from the start of spring training, the Pirates manager knew it would require creativity to get enough repetitions for the handful of backup candidates. That Hedges and Plawecki were taking a crash course in familiarizing themselves with the pitching staff only added to the urgency.
“The challenge with catching is, when we have a C2 spot that there’s competition for, getting reps for catchers is hard,” Shelton said. “We have a new starter in Hedges and we have guys competing for the backup job, so you want to make sure they’re able to catch everyone, whether it’s in sides or live BPs or games.”
With only 10 Grapefruit League games remaining, the Pirates are nearing time to make a decision on their backup catcher. None has distinguished himself at the plate — Delay is batting .167 (2 for 12), Plawecki .154 (2 for 13) and Heineman .071 (1 for 14) — but all three learned a lot from their experience last season.
Late last night, the Red Sox DFA’d Kevin Plawecki. It was obviously time with him not being in the plans for 2023.
Plawecki has been one of the most important clubhouse guys on this team since arriving.
Thank you for giving us “Dancing On My Own.” ????pic.twitter.com/rXwy4QJPx3
— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) September 17, 2022
A 2012 first-round pick by the New York Mets, Plawecki has a career .235/.313/.341 slash line with the Mets, Cleveland, Boston and Texas. Despite a reputation as a game caller, Plawecki was designated for assignment in mid-September. It was an unpopular move in the Red Sox clubhouse, but Plawecki was in the midst of a disappointing season where he batted .217 with 12 RBIs and a .574 OPS in 60 games.
Plawecki promised he will provide a positive presence in the clubhouse and dugout with the Pirates.
He introduced the club song, “Dancing on My Own,” to the Red Sox by using it as his walk-up song and playing it constantly during their run to the 2021 ALCS run so it became their team anthem in victory celebrations.
“When I’m playing, you’re going to get 100%,” said Plawecki, 32. “When I’m not, I’m trying to keep the energy high, staying ready, trying to help the young guys read certain situations like where they might pinch hit and stay locked into the game so they’re not surprised by anything. I’m trying to make sure guys are staying positive throughout, win or lose; there’s a certain way to lose, a certain way to win. Creating that environment and whether I’m playing that day or not, being the same guy every day and trying to have fun. Once you get on a roll with winning, it’s a lot of fun. There’s not one thing I can bring. I’ve never been a true starter, so just finding ways to stay involved and help the team as when I am in the lineup.”
We like to call him the Magic-man. ????
Tyler Heineman has some (card) tricks up his sleeve for Andrew McCutchen, Rich Hill, and the squad. pic.twitter.com/bVLJl8aedr
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 10, 2023
Heineman, 31, can relate to the bouncing around the majors but never played in more than 15 games in a season with Miami, San Francisco or Toronto before batting .211 with six doubles and eight RBIs in 52 games for the Pirates last summer.
Heineman said he didn’t allow the moves to add Hedges and Plawecki affect his offseason plans. For the first time in his career, Heineman dedicated his training to increase his arm strength, doing plyometrics and following a throwing program.
“I’ve been around for a while so I know that teams do that, and they’re trying to improve their team, right?” Heineman said. “Regardless of who they sign — they could sign 15 guys, they could sign nobody — I’m trying to get better, and I’m trying to improve on the things that I’m wanting to get better at.”
Jason Delay just hit his first Major League home run! pic.twitter.com/6JdbeG4Apv
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 23, 2022
Delay, 28, had been demoted to bullpen catcher at Triple-A Indianapolis and hadn’t played in 16 days when he was called up after Heineman took family medical leave when his wife underwent an emergency C-section to deliver their daughter.
Delay always had a strong reputation behind the plate but he surprised even himself by batting .213 with six doubles, a home run and 11 RBIs in 57 games.
Delay, who earned an economics degree at Vanderbilt, spent the offseason working on his offense and completing his MBA program, with a concentration in finance, at Johns Hopkins.
“It gave me the confidence boost,” Delay said. “Baseball is a very mental game and when I was in that stage where I wasn’t playing, it’s a real blow on your confidence. To get called up and perform well and do things I know I’m capable of … Now I’m at the point where I know I really belong in the big leagues, and it’s a place I can perform and stay. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that people always need catchers. Just having that major-league experience goes a long way on a catcher’s resume. The experience is huge. I’m excited to build off of it.”
Despite splitting starts this spring while batting for the backup job, all three catchers are treating the competition as if they are fighting for the starting job instead of just a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“You don’t look at it like (Hedges is) the starter. You’re trying to beat everybody out,” Heineman said.
“Yeah, he’s established. Yeah, he’s got service time. Yeah, he’s on a major-league deal. But I think you’re shortchanging yourself and not allowing yourself to reach your full potential if you’re like, ‘We’re fighting for the backup job.’ No, we’re fighting for playing time. We’re fighting for trying to provide for our family and be the best that we can. That means going after the most playing time possible. Whether he’s the starter or not — and it’s looking like that — your mindset has to be, ‘I’m going out and trying to play as much as I can.’ ”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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