Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona Diamondbacks: Despite early success, catcher still a sore spot

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:45 p.m. ET

Fansided, Tim Haberin/FanSided via Call to the Pen

As the Arizona Diamondbacks continue to defy expectations, how important is a productive starting catcher to their continued success?

Entering the 2017 season, many expected the Arizona Diamondbacks to struggle to identify a clear starting catcher from their group of middling backstops. Of course, most expected the D-Backs' team as a whole to struggle as well, coming off an ugly 93-loss campaign the year before.

The D-Backs have been one of baseball's most prominent surprises nearly two months into the new season. They are eight games over .500 at 26-18, just one game behind the also unanticipated Colorado Rockies in the NL West. Arizona's +51 run differential is good for fourth-best in Major League Baseball.

New manager Torey Lovullo's squad is doing all this with a catching corps that's been about as lackluster as most thought heading into the regular season. D-Backs catchers are batting .199 as a unit, which ranks 26th in the league. Their .683 OPS is somewhat better, but still within the bottom third of the league at 20th.

Arizona has gone with something of a hodgepodge behind the plate, deploying each of their trio of catchers a fair amount thus far. Thirteen-year veteran Jeff Mathis has been used the most, making 22 appearances at catcher. Chris Iannetta has played 15 games there, and Chris Herrmann has donned the mask 11 times.

None of the group has really separated himself from the pack, though one has shown signs of life over his last couple games.

Mathis owns a .184/.215/.355 slash line with two home runs and five RBI. Iannetta has been only marginally better, hitting .220/.292/.390 with three homers and six RBI. Herrmann has shown the most pop, slashing .203/.288/.441 with four round-trippers and 10 RBI.

Herrmann, however, has swung a hot bat in his most recent two appearances. On May 17, he went 2-for-4 with a home run, double and a walk. Yesterday he left the park once again, going 2-for-5 with another homer and double. He played catcher in both games, which is an important point to note considering the utility role the D-Backs have given him so far.

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While Herrmann has made most of his appearances at catcher, he has also played seven games in the outfield and one at first base, while also being used frequently in pinch-hit scenarios. Should his hot streak continue (small sample size alert), would Arizona be comfortable using him more often behind the plate?

Herrmann's offensive skills don't come completely out of nowhere. In 56 games last season, he hit a healthy .284/.352/.493 with six home runs and 28 RBI. It was easily his best showing at the plate in his five years in the major leagues. It's a fair bet he'll outpace both Mathis and Iannetta with the bat by a fair margin at the end of the year.

Of course, many teams can accept a weak bat at the catcher position if they're getting steady defense. Iannetta and Mathis fit the bill and both have over 10 seasons of MLB service. Herrmann has caught no more than 38 games in a single season in his career, so it may be too soon to declare him the imminent starting catcher.

As a whole, the D-Backs lineup has been humming. Their 225 runs scored are fourth-most in baseball, while their .269 team batting average and .796 OPS both rank third. Given the offensive talent on this club, their ultimate fate probably won't hinge on the backstop position. However, the 29-year-old Herrmann could give them something to think about if he begins to significantly out-produce his elders at the dish.