MATT WIETERS: Catching thieves at an impressive rate

Matt Wieters, as of the time of this post, is leading all catchers in throwing out stealing base runners. He’s thrown out seven people, and in the form he’s in this season, Matt certainly has a future in bouncing should this whole baseball thing not work out. O’s fans have gotten accustomed to Wieters’ work behind the plate, and its not uncommon to hear praise for number 32. Listen closely and you’ll hear the phrase, “best defensive catcher in baseball,” pop up from time to time.

With all of the excitement Wieters has been bringing to Camden Yards, it seems fitting to compare him to some of the best defensive catchers to have played the game. Matt Wieters is currently 8th among active catchers in caught stealing percentage, having thrown out 33.91% of runners over his five-year career. Yadier Molina of St. Louis leads the group throwing out 44.58%.

Of all those ahead of Wieters it’s worth noting that all are starters behind the plate except for Brandon Inge and Henry Blanco, who more or less have their numbers locked in for the remainder of their careers. Wieters has also thrown out 118 runners, putting him 21st on the active list. Ignoring the brief 2013, Wieters is averaging 27.75 arrests per year. It also looks like a pretty safe bet for this average to keep climbing. He threw out 32 runners last year, and 34 the year before, which was up from 21 and 24 in 2009 and 2010.

One huge caveat in all this is that Wieters is only 27 years old and in his 5th year in the majors. On both the active caught stealing percentage and total caught stealing lists, nobody above Wieters is younger. For players of similar ages and years played, Alex Avila (5th season, 26 years old) has thrown out 30.79% of runners for a total of 101. Ryan Hanigan (7, 32) has thrown out 40.25% of runners, but for a low total of 95. Nick Hundley (6, 29) has thrown out 28.45% of runners for a total of 103. Lastly, Buster Posey (5, 26) has thrown out 33.20% of runners for a total of 80.

Obviously, none of Wieters’ contemporaries are matching his 27.75 average each season. For a greater sense of Matt’s ability, we’ll extrapolate just a bit. Assuming that average will climb up to at least 29 per year, and that Wieters will keep a good enough bat to keep him a starter, and to keep him playing a decently long 15 years, Wieters will be on pace to throw out 430 runners in his career. The current active leader is Ramon Hernandez with 345. This would put Matt around 89th on the all-time list, while that doesn’t seem impressive the modern-era greats aren’t too far away.

Yogi Berra threw out 404. One of the greatest catchers of all time, Johnny Bench, threw out 469. Jason Kendall’s legendary arm threw out 495, and our own Rick Dempsey threw out 507. Should Wieters’ 33.91% hold constant, he’ll still be above the likes of Carlton Fisk, and it doesn’t have too many points to climb to catch the likes of Mike Scioscia (34.44%), Dempsey (39.70%), and Joe Torre (40.60%).

Matt Wieters has tons of time ahead to make his mark on history. Whether or not he’s the best defensive catcher in baseball right now, an aging crowd and no other front runner to compete with should help swing the door wide open for Matt. Regardless of where he ends up in the record books, the fans at Camden Yards are witnessing a great talent behind the plate, game in and game out.