Who should be my catcher -- the gold glover or the phenom
 

Heading into the spring training portion of the season for my 2029 Cardinals.
Missed a wild card by a few spots in 2028, so obviously we want to improve.
We've had a solid catcher the past two seasons in Drew Romo.
He's won three straight Gold Gloves and our pitching staff has ranked among the top three in the leagues, the two seasons he's been here.
But he really doesn't hit.
However, we've got a young catcher, P.J. Morlando, who has been rocketing his way through the minors.
His overall rating (56) is already better than Romo (51) and his potential (80) tops the chart. The 27-year-old Romo is at 51.
Still Morlando's defense is nowhere near what Romo brings to the table -- and I have always skewed my team toward a strong pitching staff - so what should I do?
I always like to learn other's OOTP players opinions.
Morlando only has 110 games of minor-league experience since being a second-round draft pick in 2027.
Let him play a half-season in AAA, is my gut feeling.
Let him play in the majors behind Romo starting once every four or five games.
Let him compete for the starting job and make a decision once we get to opening day?
If he outperforms Romo by a wide margin, the job is his.

I think your approach is exactly right. Let the young slugger get some AAA experience, and then play behind the starter.

I agree with making defense a priority for catchers. I’m an old-fashioned “up the middle defense” guy: CF, SS, 2B, C. I’ve never been clear on how much a top defensive catcher actually helps make the pitchers on the team better in OOTP (if at all). Obviously throwing out baserunners and framing help.

Romo is a truly awful hitter. All those strikeouts, hardly any walks, no power. A true liability in your daily lineup. That 2.8 WAR is all from defense.

Catchers who are not named Fisk tend to wear down earlier in their career than other position players. Morlando could supplant Romo for that reason within the next few years. First he has to prove he can hit at AAA for more than power.

Of course, catchers are far more prone to injury than position players, although most of the injuries sustained are not serious. Your hand maybe forced before you are ready.

Personally, I would go with option A and give him a half season in the minors and then see if you want to alternate catchers every game or so. Once in the majors, if Morlando plays well enough you could use Romo as a defensive sub. Alternatively, depending on defensive ratings, you could give Morlando some looks at 1B or the OF in the minors to get both in the lineup. I like to get as much versatility out of my players as possible.

Unless they changed things in the newer version, I always go best catcher arm/ability over hitting ratings. A catcher with 70+ in both is worth far more to your team than his bat. Your phenom is trade bait, if I was in charge.

I also prefer a defensive C to an offensive C but don't pass up the opportunity of a C with 80 potential.

I would leave PJ in AAA until he is a 45/45 defensive C. Then I would put him as Drew's backup.

At the end of the season, I would analyze the situation, if I need more offense and can sacrifice a little quality and stats from the pitching staff, the starter in 2023 would be PJ, if batting wise I am in the top 3 or 5 and need more quality pitching I would still have Drew as the starting C.

I'd follow your gut feeling and let him play at AAA. While there Morlando is learning first base (LF if he has the ability) for my organization. I don't want him behind the plate for the next 10 to 15 years. If he's not the primary C he gets more games played and PA. Get some flexibility for his bat to be in the lineup every day. Think 1b, DH, along with being the second C and only playing there when needed.

I wouldn't be quick to change anything with a C and pitching staff that are league leaders. I would look towards finding a C with similar defensive abilities to Romo with a better bat. Doesn't have to be a great hitter, a .300 ish OBP while cutting down on the K's would do nicely. Also noting Romo is a captain which would be fine from the bench, but if you move him to another team leaving you without a great leader could become an issue. The other benefit of having Morlando at 1b/DH is one could in essence carry 3 catchers with Morlando being the "emergency C", Romo the backup and captain, and the new guy getting the majority of the starts.

If you already have a stud at 1b, then you have more decisions to make. ;)

Had to check, thought maybe this thread was started by Dusty Baker:p

How do we know rink23 isn't D.B.?

True.

I think it should be me.

To at least start the season, the decision was made for me as Morlando suffered a hamstring injury in spring training which will force him to sit at least a week into the regular season.
He was raking in spring training at the time of the injury -- .333, 4 home runs, 7 RBIs, .438 OBP, .815 slug. -- when he went down with 13 games in the book.
That will lead to a start at AAA and a re-evaluation of where he is at about Memorial Day.
I also like the idea of finding him a second position. Will need to see which one suits him best. (Looks like probably first base).
Team is off to a 5-1 start anyway.
As expected, Romo isn't hitting but the pitching staff is among the league's best in the early going.

Defensive catcher all the way. I don't care if they can't hit at all, they are there for the big bump catcher ability gives

Catcher Ability continues to be the single most overrated rating in the game by the OOTP community imo. Play the guy who can hit better if there's a significant difference, because the gap between elite and below-average CA is on the order of .2 ERA difference.

I'm not going to play a noodle bat over a good hitter so that every 4 games I allow one less run.

I will always take offense at every position over defense.

But catcher is one position where I platoon a lot since the fatigue demands on catchers are so much higher.
I am also not sure if your league uses a DH

I would use them both for a few seasons with the rookie getting the bulk of the playing time and the defensive catcher their to soak up his rest days and get what offense he can and add his glove to the mix.


I will also say I agree that defensive catchers are way too overrated in OOTP.
I will always take the guys who put runs on the board over those who do not.
If they offer great defense, even better.

I go with my defence catcher for the past 4 seasons. He's overpaid but my pitching is always top 3-4 in my conference. My backup is a better hitter.

You can DH or 1B the hitter.

Romo has multiple + WAR years. He's the catcher. You can also rotate the new guy in and have Romo as defensive replacement.

You want to make sure that Morlando is in the lineup at other positions. Catchers for some reason do not play more than 120 games if only at that position. They get tired easily and AI subs them out a lot.

Item number One is getting your Head Scout to give you a scouting report on the young phenom. The first thing that drew my eye is your current scouting accuracy on him is LOW- not good for making informed decisions.

Make your decision after you get the report back, it may not change much overall, but it doesn't cost you anything but a few days time. Otherwise I would say he needs more seasoning in the minors to hone his skills. Perhaps you will even learn some additional info about him in that time.

My opinion is to leave him in AAA for a full season at either C or 1B, and if the choice is 1B then next spring train him up at 1B.
Perhaps the team needs a look in other areas to improve.

he's already too good for AAA. i'd bring him up to MLB for the best development potential.

he's a better bat at a position where terrible is a average. it's a bigger bump than you'd get from average to good at any other position... ss would compete in that respect, too.

Don't know how much the framing stuff has affected catchers, but a really good offensive catcher is going to be a higher WAR.

I don't like depending on their bat in the middle of the lineup. i don't like paying them a ton of money when they only play 2/3rds of the season, but when they are cheap, there's no way i'd go with a limp bat with good defense over this guy's potential offensive ability and looks at least average as a catcher.

can always be a backup catcher that dh's. unless you have weird LTM/totals, power wins games. a different statistical environment would change any assessment.

going 6 bats deep instead of 5 can be a big difference in offensive output. good bats with power.. not hopes and prayers to the RNG bats. a WS caliber offense and pitching is the goal.