Los Angeles Angels Ohtani Shohei has a dedicated catcher.
This is Max Stacy (32), a veteran who made his major league debut in 2013. He moved from the Houston Astros to the Angels in August 2019 in a trade. After that, he worked with Ohtani in 34 matches.
That’s 54% of the 63 games Ohtani started in the major leagues in 2018. In the remaining games, Kurt Suzuki (16 games) and Martin Maldonado (8 games) wore starting masks. In the case of last season, out of Ohtani’s 28 starts, Stasi sat in 26 games.
The power of Ohtani-Stasi is also revealed in the results. Ohtani’s career average ERA is 2.96, but the average ERA in 34 matches with Stasi is 2.45, which is a big difference. In the case of a starting pitcher, there is always a catcher that he prefers, and for Ohtani, Stasi is that person.
It is in 2021 that he forms a battery with Ohtani in earnest. This is the first season in which Ohtani created a myth of dual careers like a cartoon. Perhaps thanks to that, the Stache succeeded in signing a three-year, $17.5 million contract extension ahead of last year’s season.
A back-up catcher since his days in Houston, and an unremarkable player who went up and down the minor leagues, his value increased when he met Ohtani. He earned the lowest salary in Houston, but his value skyrocketed as he became the exclusive catcher for Ohtani. He’s up to $7 million in salary this year alone. 토토사이트
However, his position is not so solid. It’s because his attack power is too weak. He played in 102 games, the most in his career last season, and entered 375 plate appearances, but had a batting average of 0.180 (60 hits in 333 at-bats), 9 homers, 30 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.571. This is a significant drop from the 2021 batting average of 0.241, 13 home runs, and OPS of 0.752.
On the 15th (Korean time), the LA Times pointed out Stacy’s offensive power in an article titled ‘Five Stories to Watch in Angels Spring Training’ in the section titled ‘Cleaning up the catchers’.
Angels reporter Sarah Balanzuela, who wrote the article, said, “Stassi contributed to Ohtani’s best season as a battery mate last year, but his productivity as a hitter was greatly lacking, adding to the wrinkles.” It’s a big drop from 0.752 in the season,’ he pinched.
The question is whether it is acceptable to leave the starting mask to Stacy as Kurt Suzuki, another catcher, retired at the end of last season.
Regarding this, Minassian Angels general manager Perry said that he is considering signing a catcher this offseason. In fact, he showed interest in free agent catcher Gary Sanchez from the Minnesota Twins. Logan Ohope and Matt Tice are mentioned as internal resources. After being traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Angels last year, Ohope made his major league debut and played in five games, while Tais debuted in 2019 and played in a total of 93 games. Chad Wallach, who returned with a minor league contract, is also a candidate.
Angels manager Phil Nevin said, “Every position is a competition. The best player is the starting pitcher. I’m not here to show mercy. Stasi played a central role in guiding our pitchers last year. Blood was also impressive. Tais and Wallach were fine last year,” he said in principle.