Heroes of the Zeros: Catcher
Continuing on with our All Decade ballots, today we look at catcher. The Reds haven't had an All Star catcher since Bo Diaz in 1987, but they've still had what could be considered a solid crop of players at backstop since Johnny Bench retired. None of the guys listed below would likely be on most teams' All Decade squad, but that doesn't mean the Reds have had crap there over the last decade. They managed to get somewhat above average production out of the position a few years over the last 10, even if they weren't consistently good from year to year.
Now that we are into the hitters, let me explain what we'll be doing. For catchers, you will be selecting a starter and a backup, but you won't be doing that for any other position. After we get through all of the positions, I will have a day for selecting a left-handed and right-handed pinch hitter, and I will also take the the top vote-getter in the OF who is not a starter as the backup OF, and the top middle IF non-starting vote getter as the utility IF. That will give us a full 25-man roster for the decade.
So, if you are having a hard time deciding who should be the backup catcher, remember that the guy has a shot at being a pinch hitter, assuming he was used in that fashion frequently enough. Ballot is after the jump.
Other ballots: Starting Rotation | Bullpen
| Years | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | wOBA | WAR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Bako | 2008 | 99 | 338 | 299 | 30 | 65 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 35 | 34 | 90 | .217 | .299 | .328 | .626 | 64 | .271 |
-0.6 |
| Ryan Hanigan | 2007-2009 | 126 | 402 | 346 | 34 | 92 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 48 | 42 | .266 | .363 | .341 | .704 | 86 | .307 |
1.5 |
| Ramon Hernandez | 2009 | 81 | 331 | 287 | 25 | 74 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 37 | 33 | 34 | .258 | .336 | .362 | .699 | 84 | .307 |
0.5 |
| Jason LaRue | 2000-2006 | 679 | 2441 | 2136 | 251 | 513 | 120 | 6 | 81 | 293 | 186 | 613 | .240 | .326 | .416 | .741 | 91 | .314 |
6.2 |
| Corky Miller | 2001-2009 | 104 | 342 | 288 | 24 | 57 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 36 | 33 | 69 | .198 | .301 | .316 | .617 | 61 | .276 |
0.0 |
| Chad Moeller | 2007 | 30 | 49 | 48 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 17 | .167 | .167 | .250 | .417 | 4 | .175 |
-0.6 |
| Dave Ross | 2006-2008 | 254 | 817 | 692 | 86 | 157 | 34 | 1 | 41 | 104 | 99 | 203 | .227 | .324 | .457 | .780 | 96 | .318 |
3.3 |
| Benito Santiago | 2000 | 89 | 277 | 252 | 22 | 66 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 45 | 19 | 45 | .262 | .310 | .409 | .719 | 79 | .292 |
0.1 |
| Kelly Stinnett | 2001-2003 | 157 | 518 | 459 | 51 | 110 | 29 | 0 | 15 | 57 | 45 | 137 | .240 | .318 | .401 | .719 | 86 | .306 |
-0.1 |
| Eddie Taubensee | 2000 | 81 | 291 | 266 | 29 | 71 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 24 | 21 | 44 | .267 | .324 | .380 | .704 | 76 | .310 |
-1.3 |
| Javier Valentin | 2004-2008 | 441 | 1086 | 981 | 107 | 259 | 56 | 2 | 34 | 149 | 93 | 154 | .264 | .326 | .429 | .755 | 93 | .322 |
1.0 |
0 recs |
21 comments
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Comments
i guess you have to go with larue as 1
but it was an easy number two … long live LLM!
"Some times you get lucky; some times you get Willy Taveras." - Teh Fay
Since this is the Red's all decade team
Shouldn’t there be three catchers?
by fourrunhomer on Dec 16, 2009 9:19 AM EST reply actions 10 recs
Good old Hedley Lamar

There is an overriding misconception that Clutch is an overriding misconception.
Man, I really liked David Ross
Still peeved that he was released in ‘08. Contact was an issue, but the guy could walk, had power, and had a cannon. Hanigan’s similar, but without Ross’s power (and many fewer strikeouts, of course).
-j
I write at:
Beyond the Boxscore | Red Reporter | Basement-Dwellers.com | Twitter: @jinazreds
i liked him a lot too.
i think he just needed to get healthy. he hit pretty well for a #2 catcher last year.
it made no sense to release him seeing as how his ceiling was a million times higher than paul bako’s.
oh my god this keeps getting uglier.
"There is no harder thing than to have Glenn Beck outlive your child."-The Onion
why do you say that
I’d say having 3 above average hitting catchers in a decade ain’t bad, especially since they accounted for 63% of PA listed above. I think the starting pitching looks much worse than the catching.
Red Reporter or follow on Twitter: @redreporter
Yeah the starting pitching's gotta be bottom 3 in the MLB for the 2000s
However, when you have to justify a position with this quote
They managed to get somewhat above average production out of the position a few years over the last 10, even if they weren’t consistently good from year to year.It’s kind of damning with faint praise.
RR: Proud home of the most mods in SBNation.
If you think this is bad, you're really overrating catcher offense
Only the Braves (McCann and the freakish Javy Lopez season) and maybe the Mets (with the good Piazza years early in the decade) have clearly put up better catcher offense this decade.
maybe the Cubs with Micheal Barrett
and Geovanny Soto
"Everything you are doing is bad. I want you to know this."
by Charlie Scrabbles on Dec 16, 2009 9:35 PM EST up reply actions
thanks, ken
This is kind of like saying you almost survived a crash landing on Mars.
At least you made it to Mars.
none
I hate to repeat. This list is more pathetic than the starting pitchers.
Corky got the nod
If you’re going to do something poorly, you might as go all the way.
Start SEEing motorcycles
then tatum make the all century team, right?
"Some times you get lucky; some times you get Willy Taveras." - Teh Fay
all-century, so far
After that buildup, then I get to see the list.
Wow, so many exciting choices.
So
so
so so many.
Is Jerry Zimmerman still available?
backup
It’s also nice to know that my backup choice, should he not be selected, can still serve as the team’s premiere pinch hitter (provided he was used as such often enough.) I’d think if anything, my backup catcher would be the guy they’d hit FOR.

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