Whatever It Is This October, It’s Catching

NEW YORK — Though he wasn’t the offensive star of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series — he didn’t hit a moonshot into the second deck like Shohei Ohtani or Max Muncy — Will Smith did collect two hits in the Dodgers’ 8-0 victory over the Mets. They weren’t exactly scorchers, but one was of critical importance, as it drove in the game’s first run. Remarkably, Smith’s performance was just the second time this postseason that a catcher has collected multiple hits in a game, and for as much as Smith has struggled, his numbers still stand out relative to the competition. It’s been an exceptionally difficult October for the men wearing the tools of ignorance.

These days, those tools actually suggest anything but ignorance. Armed with more data than ever, and playing in a pressure-cooker atmosphere where a single pitch can turn a series, Smith and those of his peers who are still standing (or squatting) in October — namely the Yankees’ Austin Wells, the Mets’ Francisco Alvarez, and the Guardians’ tandem of Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges — might be required to navigate a short-working starter and half a dozen relievers through opposing lineups, controlling the tempo of the game when things threaten to spiral out of control. Hitting? That’s part of the job, but this fall, these catchers’ offensive contributions have felt particularly secondary, not unlike those of pitchers swinging the bat in the days before the universal designated hitter.

The numbers certainly look like those bygone pitchers hacking away. Thus far, the catchers for the 12 postseason teams have collectively hit .169/.236/.255 (40 wRC+) with five homers and a 28.3% strikeout rate through 254 plate appearances. In other words, they’ve been outhit by Madison Bumgarner (.172/.232/.292, 44 wRC+ career).

Prior to Thursday’s Game 4, when Mets manager Carlos Mendoza spoke of the responsibilities borne by his young backstop, and where his offense fit into the picture, he could have been speaking about any of the aforementioned men behind the mask, regardless of their level of experience. “The thing with Alvie, he’s 22 years old. He’s got a lot on his plate, especially when it comes down to preparing and game planning for a game. Nowadays there’s so much information, and he has to lead a pitching staff. And then on top of that, he’s got to be a hitter as well. But he’s one swing away,” said Mendoza, referring to the chance that Alvarez, for all of his recent offensive woes, might launch a homer.

Homers have been in particularly short supply from this crew, with Smith’s two-run shot off the Padres’ Bryan Hoeing in Game 4 of the Division Series — which expanded Los Angeles’ lead from 3-0 to 5-0 — the only one from among the four remaining teams. Because of that, and the fact that his hit total for October doubled on Wednesday night, his numbers tower over the remaining field:

That’s a cumulative .130/.201/.163 (10 wRC+) postseason line for those players, even worse than the field when including the catchers of the eight eliminated teams. Entering Thursday, Smith was the only one of the above whose postseason wRC+ was even positive, which, woof. In addition to his dinger, he has walked six times, two more than the rest of the still-active catchers combined.

As for Smith’s two hits on Wednesday, the big one — conceptually speaking — came in the second inning, with one out and runners on second and third. On the ninth pitch of a tenacious plate appearance in which he’d fallen into an 0-2 hole, he expanded the zone a few inches off the plate to hit an 85-mph comebacker that deflected off Luis Severino‘s glove and slowly trickled over to shortstop Francisco Lindor. The ball spent so much time in the no-man’s land behind the mound that Muncy was able to race home. Three pitches later, Tommy Edman’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a second run, and they never looked back.

Smith’s other hit in that game was of the more traditional variety, but far less significant given that it came in the ninth inning with the Dodgers up eight runs. Facing Tylor Megill, he hit a 102.6-mph grounder through the 5.5-hole, between Lindor and third baseman Mark Vientos.

Asked on Thursday whether he felt his two-hit game had unlocked something at the plate, the 29-year-old catcher wasn’t exactly buying. “I don’t know. I’ve felt fine the whole postseason at the plate,” he said. “So I was just trying to keep that going.”

Smith did allow that he was “try[ing] to clean some stuff up,” with his swing, noting that it was a constant battle. “The body changes a little bit. Fields change. Obviously the pitchers are really good. It’s just a fight… But I go up there with every at-bat, try to swing at the right pitches and try to do something good and move the ball.”

Smith did get on the board again late in Thursday’s 10-2 victory. Having already gone 0-for-4 against Jose Quintana, José Buttó, and Phil Maton, he capped a three-run rally — and the Dodgers’ scoring for the night — with a two-strike single off Danny Young.

Smith’s hits would barely be worth noting if not for the ups and downs he’s dealt with over the past seven months. Fresh off signing a 10-year, $140 million extension the day before his 29th birthday (March 28), he hit .362/.403/.543 (159 wRC+) through the end of April, but sank to .202/.303/.358 (86 wRC+) from June through August before closing strong with a .289/.365/.556 (153 wRC+) line from September 11 onward. Though he drew two walks and scored twice in the NLDS opener, he went hitless through his first 13 PA before his homer. His other hit was a seventh-inning single off Jason Adam in Game 5, moments after Teoscar Hernández had doubled the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0 with a solo homer off Yu Darvish; pressing the advantage, Smith followed with a surprise stolen base, but wound up stranded at second.

Smith has caught 27 of the last 28 Dodgers postseason games, DHing while Austin Barnes started Game 3 of the 2022 NLDS against the Padres (the Dodgers lost that one). He’s a far more capable hitter than Barnes, and manager Dave Roberts spoke glowingly on Thursday of his work shepherding a pitching staff that had combined for four shutouts in a five-game span, including the eight-pitcher all-reliever Game 4 when the team was facing elimination by the Padres. “I think Will is doing a fantastic job just sharpening every part of it — whether it’s catching the baseball, whether it’s the right pitch at the right time, game-calling with urgency,” said Roberts.

Smith is now catching in his sixth postseason. Alvarez, his opposite number, is going through his first, and his road to this point has been rocky. Three weeks into the season, he sprained his left thumb. He was sidelined for seven weeks, and the Mets bottomed out during his absence; they were 11-8 to the point of his injury but went 17-28 before he returned on June 11, having clawed their way back from being a season-high (low?) 11 games below .500 circa June 2 (24-35).

Alvarez hit .333/.410/.552 (170 wRC+) from the point of his return through the rest of the first half, but skidded to .187/.257/.337 (70 wRC+) in the second — and those numbers include a five-homers-in-10-games spree from September 11–21 and a 153 wRC+ for the month. In October, he has yet to connect for an extra-base hit, has driven in just one run, and has walked just once while striking out 13 times in 38 PA (34.2%).

Prior to Thursday’s game, in which he singled off Yoshinobu Yamamoto and got drilled on the left thigh by a 91-mph sinker, Alvarez conceded he had been trying to do too much at the plate, and sometimes had a tendency to open his hips too soon. He also said that at least in Wednesday’s game, he had been late on fastballs; instead he needed to “be early with my front foot and be shorter to the ball. If I can be shorter to the ball, I can be way better.”

Mendoza remains mindful of Alvarez’s offensive upside; while his 102 wRC+ this year represented a five-point improvement over his 2023 rookie season, he dipped from 25 homers to 11. “This is a guy that can change the outcome of a game with one swing, couple of guys on — because of the power,” said the manager. “He just has to relax here a little bit. But we know the potential there offensively.”

On Thursday, with the Mets down 7-2, Mendoza actually bypassed a chance for Alvarez to run into one with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning, instead sending up pinch-hitter Jesse Winker. The hit-by-pitch didn’t figure into it; instead, he wanted a lefty to face righty Blake Treinen. Winker hit a 94-mph drive to right that got the Citi Field crowd’s hopes up, but this was not to be the Mets’ latest OMG moment. Instead, the ball died in Mookie Betts‘ glove for the third out, and Torrens took over behind the plate.

While Alvarez had remained in the lineup despite his slump, Wells finally took a seat in the ALCS against the Guardians. The 25-year-old backstop began the season getting more or less equal time with Jose Trevino, a 2022 All-Star and Gold Glove winner who was limited to 53 games last year due to a season-ending right wrist injury. Just before the All-Star break, Trevino strained his left quad; he missed a month, and played just 14 games thereafter. Wells headed into September looking like a strong candidate to win the AL Rookie of the Year award, hitting .259/.348/.447 (128 wRC+) with 3.6 WAR, but he bottomed out to a 22 wRC+ for the final month and closed in a 3-for-45 slump.

“I don’t think it was the length [of the season],” said Wells before Game 2 of the ALDS against the Royals. “Obviously I haven’t done it, so it could have been, but I don’t think it was. I just think getting towards the end, [I was] trying to do too much at the plate.”

Despite Wells’ slide, he’s drawn praise from manager Aaron Boone. “Even as he struggled a little bit offensively down the stretch, you still see that high level at-bat in situations,” said Boone before the ALCS opener. “But the catching has been excellent.”

“Austin is obviously learning on the fly, this being his first experience in the postseason,” said Gerrit Cole after a wobbly ALCS Game 2 start during which he allowed two runs but walked four in 4.2 innings. “He’s doing a wonderful job. I think his continuity from game to game and then from pitcher to pitcher within the game, his communication is high, and he’s got a game plan of how he wants to navigate throughout the game based on the weapons that different guys have. So I think it comes down to his preparation and his great instincts.”

On Thursday in Cleveland, Trevino finally saw his first action of this postseason, but the results were decidedly mixed. In the second inning, with men on second and third, he drove in the game’s first run with a sharp single off Matthew Boyd. Moments later, the 31-year-old catcher with second-percentile sprint speed was picked off first base, the latest baserunning gaffe by a Yankees squad that has been sloppy on the bases throughout October. Wells pinch-hit for him in the eighth, striking out against Hunter Gaddis; he fanned in the ninth against Eli Morgan as well. So it goes.

As for the Guardians, during the regular season their catchers hit a combined .205/.271/.341 for a 74 wRC+, the majors’ seventh-lowest mark. Much of the positive production came from superduperutilityman David Fry, who homered five times and hit for a 217 wRC+ in 61 PA in that capacity when he wasn’t DHing or spotting at the infield and outfield corners. Unfortunately, Fry injured his elbow on June 23 while making an awkward throw, and since then he’s caught just once, so he’s not an option behind the plate right now.

Prior to Thursday, both catchers had gone hitless, with Naylor 0-for-14 with four strikeouts and Hedges 0-for-9 with five strikeouts. During Wednesday’s media session, manager Stephen Vogt, a former catcher himself, offered some optimism regarding their offense while praising their ability to work the count. “They just haven’t had any success or results yet,” said Vogt. “I love the word ‘yet,’ because at any moment, I think either one of them could break out and have a big game for us because they’re prepared and they’re ready to go.”

The 24-year-old Naylor had started six of the Guardians’ seven postseason games, but had gone the distance only in the ALDS opener against the Tigers, a 7-0 romp. He particularly scuffled behind the plate in the ALCS opener, when Joey Cantillo relieved Alex Cobb in the third inning with the bases loaded and sandwiched two run-scoring wild pitches around a walk. Returning for the fourth, Cantillo bookended two more wild pitches with a pair of walks, one of which came around to score. Both members of the battery seemed like deer in the headlights.

Vogt’s penchant for pinch-hitting for his catchers has left the Guardians in some difficult spots with Hedges, who during the regular season had the majors’ third-lowest wRC+ (20) among players with at least 100 PA. With the bench depleted, he pinch-hit for Naylor in ALCS Game 1, then came up again with the team down 5-2 with two outs and a man on in the ninth inning. He struck out on three pitches from Luke Weaver to end the game.

The two Guardians’ catchers made positive offensive contributions in a near-must-win situation on Thursday. Hedges started and hit a fourth-inning double off Clarke Schmidt, then drew a seven-pitch walk in the sixth inning against Tim Mayza; the Guardians didn’t score either time, but that’s on the batters behind him. Naylor entered in the top of the ninth, after Will Brennan pinch-hit in the previous half-inning. In the 10th, he hit a first-pitch single off Clay Holmes. Three batters later, Fry, the designated hitter, swatted a walk-off homer to give Cleveland some life in the series.

Despite their woes, it’s not too late for any of these catchers to play the hero, just as a 24-year-old Dodgers backstop who had hit .212/.297/.303 through his first nine postseason games did in 2020. Down three games to one in the NLCS, and on the short end of a 2-1 score, that catcher clubbed a three-run homer… off Braves reliever Will Smith. The homer — by his namesake, as you probably deduced — keyed the comeback that led to a championship. For any of these guys, Smith included, a similarly pivotal moment may be just one swing away.

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