Ranking the best Mets catchers of the past two decades

According to a Facebook post by one Mets page, latest New York Mets’ hero Patrick Mazeika is the Goat catcher. Well, Mike Piazza could very well just enter this chat. It’s to everyone’s surprise that Mazeika is still hitless but delivered not one but two fielder’s choice walkoff wins. Well, for a guy that really is struggling to get a hit but comes in clutch by absolute luck, it just makes you gawk at the game of baseball and how it is played in such dramatic fashion sometimes. The bottom of the ninth, you’re down by a few runs, you rally to win the game, now, that’s special. Now, getting back to ranking the catchers of the Mets over the past decade, I’m going to highlight a few names, I’m sure you’ll recognize them and remember what they were about.

1. Mike Piazza. The man, the myth, the legend. I honestly could care less that his defense behind the plate was horrific. I mean, every player has one or two flaws in his game. Most do. But Piazza really is the best hitting catcher the Mets have had, and JT Realmuto really could never even come close to topping Piazza’s legacy. Sorry, Phillies fans. This might have been a dig at ya boy.

Piazzas career stats? Let me pull that up for you. 59.5 WAR, 427 home runs, 220 of those home runs in a Mets uniform, 1,335 RBIs, so who are you to even mention Mazeika’s name in the same sentence as Piazza’s? Please stop it.

2. Travis dArnaud: Travis was very injury prone during his Mets tenure. He could not stay healthy if you even paid him to. While Travis and Kevin Plawecki, to be later discussed, platooned for the catcher position about three good years ago, it’s safe to say D’Arnaud hit the ball better and made solid contact, whereas Plawecki specialized in framing pitches and throwing out runners, a solid defensive catcher to say the least. I would not go as far to say that I actually miss having Travis in a Mets uniform, because he’s hurt currently despite lifting his new team to quite some impressive victories after leaving New York. Let me pull up his stats for you, those being during his Mets tenure. Here is the line for Travis, 76 home runs in a Mets uniform, 276 batted in, during his 7 year stint in New York. While we could definitely have been a little more patient, he also did give us some headaches with constant health woes, so I can see why he was sent packing in the grand scheme of things.

3. Kevin Plawecki: Now, Plawecki had all the tools defensively. He could very well have made a name for himself and won over the starting catcher’s position due to Travis being constantly shelved with an injury. However that did not prove to work out in Plawecki’s favor, because he simply was not a good hitter. You could argue that you need a good defensive backstop and how critical it is to helping your pitcher in key games, but I have my degree in sports management and can tell you from an analytical standpoint that’s simply not the case. You need offense. Offense is run production in case you’re new to my blog. Plawecki was a horrible hitter. This is why the Mets leaned to Travis. Let me show you his numbers in New York: Plawecki in a 7 year career hit 18 home runs and 110 batted in. Please don’t try to tell me he was better than Travis because I will just laugh at you.

4. James McCann: A huge contract can only tell you what you should be doing, am I right? The newest Mets catcher hasn’t gotten off to the best start in New York. I mean, neither has 340M dollar shortstop Francisco Lindor, or to be extended hopefully Right Fielder Michael Conforto, but let’s talk about McCann in key at bats where he REALLY needed to produce yet he’d ground into a double play or fly out to center field with runners in scoring position. You cannot make excuses for poor play in New York and smile to the media like Francisco Lindor tried to do, because even he heard the boos. No one is immune to a New York crowd letting you hear it after you prove you have done wrong. To say McCann is terrible as catcher is laughable. However, he really has to prove he can handle New York, and fast. The fans did not want McCann over JT. We have discussed this on Twitter, and the comments will prove my point. Let’s take a look at what McCann has done so far numbers wise in a Mets uniform.

McCann, so far, in his first season as a New York Met, has played in 25 games, 1 home run hit, and 7 batted in. THAT IS PATHETIC. Stop this now.

To sum things up, I don’t believe the Mets will ever see another Mike Piazza caliber catcher don the orange and blue, ever. Mike was one of a kind. Horrible defensively, yet gifted offensively to the point where you just have to throw a huge amount of respect on the man’s name. It’s not like the Mets are close to having their franchise catcher despite the McCann signing and Mazeika’s latest heroics, but let’s enjoy the ride while ya can.