Saturday, February 24, 2018

89 best hitting seasons for catchers 1920-2017.

89 catcher seasons meet these criteria 1920-2017:
Played at least 75% of games at C
OPS+ >=135
Qualified for league batting title
sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+

Most seasons and their rank (top ten BOLD):
Mike Piazza 10: 1,2,5,16,19,21,28,59,67,84
Gabby Hartnett 5: 11,25,41,53,73
Ernie Lombardi 5: 9,23,31,65,71
Yogi Berra 5: 52,56,76,82,86
Ted Simmons 5: 30,38,50,61,85
Bill Dickey 4: 12,40,45,88
Gary Carter 4: 32,43,68,70
Johnny Bench 4: 6,44,54,62    Rank 54: 45 HR

Not only does Mike Piazza have twice as many such seasons as any other catcher listed but Piazza has three seasons in the top ten.


#PlayerOPS+YearAgeTmLgGPAABRH2B3BHRRBIBBIBBSOHBPSHSFGDPSBCSBAOBPSLGOPSPos
1Mike Piazza185199728LADNL152633556104201321401246911773051951.362.431.6381.070*2/DH
2Mike Piazza172199526LADNL1124754348215017032933910801011010.346.400.6061.006*2/H
3Buster Posey171201225SFGNL1486105307817839124103697962091911.336.408.549.957*23/HD
4Joe Mauer171200926MINAL1386065239419130128967614632051341.365.444.5871.031*2D/H
5Mike Piazza166199627LADNL14863154787184160361058121931022103.336.422.563.985*2/H
6Johnny Bench166197224CINNL1476535388714522240125100238420121866.270.379.541.920*29/35
7Chris Hoiles162199328BALAL126503419801302802982694949331011.310.416.5851.001*2/HD
8Carlton Fisk162197224BOSAL131514457741342892261526834101152.293.370.538.909*2/H
9Ernie Lombardi162194234BSNNL105347309321021401146371210171.330.403.482.886*2H
10Roy Campanella159195129BRONL14356250590164331331085351401912.325.393.590.983*2/H

Five catchers, two of them twice each, have hit at least 40 home runs ... that's a total of seven times. More on that in the next post and whether Yankee Gary Sanchez (career: 53 HR in 674 AB) can do it.

Note: Javy Lopez hit 43 HR in 2003 but did not have enough PA to be listed in this post; OPS+ 169!

Javy Lopez: most Home Runs in a season as a catcher. Friday, February 8, 2019

No comments: