A.J. Preller should trade for a catcher by month’s end. That’s clear.
Allow me a few disclaimers while the Padres (52-44) head into the All-Star break in the National League’s third wild-card slot — half a game ahead of the Giants — following Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Phillies.
One, the Padres’ No. 1 strength — run prevention — owes in part to catchers Elías Díaz and Martin Maldonado.
They’re both baseball-smart, bilingual leaders who can read hitters and pitchers. I admire their grit and their baseball IQs.
Two, the Padres can win a wild-card playoff berth without adding a catcher.
Three, the farm system seems low on trade currency, nor is it certain that MLB’s ninth-highest payroll can be increased.
Three catchers Preller should look into: Sean Murphy (Braves), Shane Langeliers (A’s) and Joey Bart (Pirates).
Murphy, 30, could punch up a catching group that’s 29th in slugging percentage, batting average and weighted runs created and 30th in on-base percentage.
Murphy has 16 home runs and a .523 slug rate heading into the All-Star break. Drake Baldwin, 24, could lead the Braves to weigh offers for Murphy, who’s owed about $50 million through 2028. Trading with the Braves last year, Preller saved $5.5 million by dealing Ray Kerr and Matt Carpenter to Atlanta. Kerr’s elbow later gave out.
The Braves, however, might decide Murphy can bring them a better deal this offseason.
Langeliers, 27, has a .424 slugging percentage with the A’s. Bart, 28, is having a poor offensive season but hit 13 home runs last year with Pittsburgh, and the Pirates and Preller have brokered several trades.
Gauging a catcher’s defensive value is difficult, even with advanced metrics.
Based on how Padres pitchers have performed, Díaz and Maldonado had a fine defensive first half.
Manager Mike Shildt noted that in Sunday’s game, Díaz had a say in how the Padres attacked Phillies hitters in 41 plate appearances — 10 times Díaz’s total of four at-bats as the lineup’s No. 9 hitter. The pitching was so good, the Phillies were fortunate to score at all and one run was unearned.
“I can confidently tell you that Maldy and Díaz have done a really good job,” Shildt said. “It’s a hard job also.”
He praised the catchers’ “shepherding” of low-experience starting pitchers, such as rookie Ryan Bergert (10 games, 2.84 ERA), Stephen Kolek (12 starts, 4.24 ERA) and Randy Vasquez (19 starts, 3.80 ERA).
Shildt also linked the All-Star status of three Padres relievers to the support from both catchers.
“There’s nuances of it, the preparation to it, the strategy going into a game, the awareness to make adjustments during the game, the ability to give guys confidence, the ability to make a trip and say the right things,” he summed up. “They’re a big reason why we sit there and have one of the best staffs with a lot of new guys that have made their debuts this year or are young to this league.”
I believe Shildt.
But here’s the rub: the Padres aren’t talented enough to get to and win a World Series with Grade-F offensive production at one position.
Might the catchers’ hitting improve?
Seems a stretch. Díaz has a .555 OPS this season. His adjusted OPS of 59 stands about 40% below MLB average. At 34, he has caught a team-high 556 innings — 62 more than Maldonado. Fatigue could catch up with Díaz.
Maldonado will turn 39 next month. He has four home runs and is batting .178 with a .221 OBP in 141 chances.
The Padres’ ERA with each catcher is 3.70 or slightly less. That beat the league-average ERA of 4.14
Campusano’s struggles
Why have the Padres leaned on two low-salaried catchers past their primes?
Because, in part, Luis Campusano, 26, hasn’t earned the trust of field personnel.
Recalled for Sunday’s game when Gavin Sheets went on the paternity list, Campusano started at designated hitter and looked overmatched in all three chances.
He struck out twice and grounded into an inning-ending double play before Shildt had Jake Cronenworth bat for him.
In fairness, Phillies lefty starter Cristopher Sánchez’s changeup is too good for most big leaguers. Even today’s high-tech batting machines aren’t much help in preparing for it.
“Personal opinion — the changeup’s the best pitch in baseball, because it’s the only pitch you can’t really replicate,” Shildt said. “You can replicate spin, you can replicate a fastball, you can replicate movement on a slider, sinker and all of those things. You just can’t replicate a changeup of a machine or an arm.”
Campusano never adjusted to Sánchez’s killer changeups, seeing a whopping nine of them.
He swung at two for strike three. In his third at-bat, the first pitch was, yes, a changeup, off the outside corner.
Lunging, the righty grounded it to shortstop, resulting in the inning-ending double play.
Shildt was asked if Sánchez’s changeup — an 80 on the 10-80 scouting scale — made it tough to evaluate Campusano’s showing in his first big-league game since June 14.
“Listen, it’s the big leagues,” he said. “ Yeah, it’s a tough draw. But there’s tough draws in this league. So, I’m not sure how to answer that one.”
Campusano is 0-for-21 with 11 strikeouts in multiple stints with the Padres this year. As for his defensive game, neither of the past two Padres managers, one of them former catcher Bob Melvin, seemed wild about it. Caveat: catchers often need extra developmental time, due to the position’s enormous mental and physical loads.
This indeed is the big leagues.
The trade deadline comes July 31. You’re up, A.J.
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