The Pirates announced they’ve selected catcher Taylor Davis to the big league club. Starting backstop Jacob Stallings has been placed on the 7-day concussion injured list. To open space for Davis on the 40-man roster, right-hander Bryse Wilson was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.
Davis appeared in the majors with the Cubs in each season from 2017-19 but tallied just 39 total plate appearances. The 31-year-old has spent almost the entirety of his eleven-year professional career in the minor leagues, with the bulk of that experience coming at Triple-A. Over parts of six seasons at the minors’ top level, the righty-hitting Davis owns a .275/.350/.381 line.
Signed to a minor league deal by the Orioles, Davis was flipped to the Pirates in a minor trade in mid-June. He’s split the season between the two clubs’ Triple-A affiliates, hitting .253/.347/.331 across 176 plate appearances. Davis will get the call to pair with the lefty-hitting Michael Pérez with Stallings landing on the shelf.
It’s technically possible Stallings recovers in time to make it back for a few more games, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the concussion brings his year to a close with just two weeks left on the schedule. One of the game’s more underrated catchers, Stallings owns a .240/.329/.366 line in 414 plate appearances this season. That’s more or less in line with that of the league average catcher, but he rates very highly among publicly-available defensive metrics.
Statcast’s pitch framing metrics have pegged him as above-average in that regard for three years running. He’s been a little below-average at throwing out attempted basestealers, but Stallings rather incredibly hasn’t been charged with a single passed ball in 865 innings behind the plate this season. That’s contributed to a league-leading estimated 21 Defensive Runs Saved.
The Pirates never seemed anxious to discuss Stallings in trades this summer, but it wouldn’t be a shock if his name comes up in rumors over the upcoming offseason. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the second of four times this winter, due a raise on this year’s $1.3MM salary. Even a bump in salary to the $3-4MM range would be a bargain for a player of Stallings’ caliber, and catcher-needy teams won’t have much to choose from in free agency. With the Pirates amidst a full rebuild and Stallings set to turn 32 in December, a few clubs figure to at least gauge his availability.
Wilson’s season is officially over on account of a left hamstring strain. The 23-year-old split the year between the Braves and Pittsburgh, making sixteen starts in aggregate. Wilson struggled to a 5.35 ERA with well below-average strikeout (14.3%) and swinging strike (8.7%) marks. The righty had been one of the Braves’ top pitching prospects before being sent to Pittsburgh as part of the deadline day Richard Rodríguez deal. In spite of his struggles, Wilson seems likely to have an inside track at a rotation spot next season based on that pedigree.
Waiting for the first idiotic pirate bashing comment
PIRATES SUCK LOLZ
Shush
What a lowlife troll. Stuck in mommas basement. Crying because your diaper is full.
Shush
I ended up being disappointed in Wilson as a Brave. I thought he was just what the team needed when he first came up. I liked him a lot better than Kyle Wright who was drafted out of college and more than a full round ahead of him. I think the Braves were smart to trade Wilson for several years of control of a closer caliber reliever like Richard Rodriguez. We used to call Ivan Rodriguez “I-Rod.” We used to call Alex Rodriguez “A-Rod.” Isn’t it only fair to start calling Richard Rodriguez “Dick-Rod?”
oh boy can’t wait to see how many death stares he gets to make
I was thinking the same thing.
Look in the mirror maybe what stares back will be DEATH
Shush
Baseball Reference says Davis is only 31, but the picture of him they have in a Pirates hat looks like 51.
Also, idk who the second catcher will be for the Pirates next year, but it cannot be Michael Perez. The guy can’t hit and his fielding is average at best.
There are quite a few guys who will be available in Rule V this year who can fit the bill, but then again it might be a guy like Davis. I wonder if some of the guys in Greensboro, like Koch and Sabol, will get a look next spring. In the meantime, enjoy the moment Davis.
Kinda hope the Indians/Guardians DFA, release, non-tender or are willing to salary dump Austin Hedges. I want that outstanding defensive combo of Stallings/Hedges to catch the many young pitchers that will probably come up sometime during 2022.
Hedges and Stallings would make an interesting duo behind the plate. I like what you’re thinking here, but I don’t see Cleveland giving up on Hedges.
Ben stacked the minors with Catchers this season. other than Davis none seem to have a high ceiling. Most of the offense is garbage but handful of good defenders could be a couple backup or third catchers in there. Since 2022 is more of a prospect evaluation year putting any money into a backup catcher probably isn’t worth it unless it is a league minimum.
There is also a possible Stallings trade.. if that happens then yeah they’ll probably want to pick up a Barajas type catcher or talk the Fort into coming back for the year.
I don’t think Ben is going to ‘try’ next year.. if he does though… then yeah they got money to fill holes like this. Sign a couple mid range starters a couple relievers an outfielder or two on two year deals and then run with it and then trade at the deadline/off season if the run fails. Most of the prospects that we are evaling probably won’t be there the first half anyway. BUT that is more of a NH move that really didn’t work out all that well.
Looks like a Real Pirate.
A 51 year old might be able to put up a higher batting average than Michael Perez
I’m in my mid 40’s and Taylor Davis looks older than me.
Now the Pirates can’t afford $3M for Stallings? His defense is worth that alone, not to mention the way he handles a talent-less pitching staff.
This story doesn’t say that they can’t afford him.
Bucsfan000(0) is a complete (0)
Shush
Theyre “gauging his availability”, which means theyre likely going to trade him. If you look at the mlbtr list of FA catchers, its less than appealing, so they can probably get a decent A ball player for him.
Why would a team trade their starting catcher who is a clutch hitter and one of the better fielding catchers for a middle of the road A player?This is the same team with Michael Perez as the backup.Stallings is a bargain at whatever salary that they will be paying him.
Just like this year the Pirates will not get enough in return to justify trading him,especially with absolutely no one ready to take his place.
Must be nice being an idiot
Shush
You must like ass. You moron troll
Shoosh
Stallings in a trade is on the table but doesn’t have much to do with his salary. They probably are not actively shopping him either
He is good behind the plate with a bat that seems to work in the clutch and won’t kill your offense and cost controlled until 2025. Valuable for any team even if it is a backup roll but he is a proven starter now including the pirates.
But, he is also 31. for a catcher that is more like 35. He has a fair chance of plummeting performance in the next year or two. If the team gets a good offer at this stage in the game it is hard to say no.
Way to go
Gut feeling is stalling will get traded. Why,because it’s the pirates and he’s getting a raise. Perez has the lowest average in pirates history right now lol.
He’s had some big hits this year. I hate to see Stallings go. But i think youre right. Management won’t justify giving a raise to someone when theyre going to lose 90+ games with or without him.
If it was me, even in their situation, I would keep him for sure. The immediate in-house options suck. You would think he has a ton of value as a pseudo-coach. They will probably think he’s at the top of his trade value though and deal him.
Stop staring at me Davis!
For a moment I thought that was an insanely fast move to the majors for their #1 draft pick. But that’s Henry Davis.
Did Chris Davis legally change his name after “retirement”?
There’s some talk on this post about trading Stallings. I’m not going to claim I’m an expert on what’s going on in the league, but if you were to ask me, the Pirates would be (and should be) very hesitant to trade Stallings for anything less than an overpay. Stallings is a passable hitter for a backstop and is one of the best defenders in the league, regardless of position. His +21 DRS ties him with Michael Taylor for the league lead. With the Pirates having a ton of young pitchers coming up through the system, many of which will start 2022 in the upper-levels of the minors (Contreras, Omar Cruz, Mlodzinski, Tahnaj Thomas, Michael Burrows) and a handful of pitchers in the majors with limited experience (Yajure, Keller, Brubaker, Bednar, Crowe), they’d be absolutley foolish to trade him. I usually don’t take into account things such as intangibles and x-factors, or whatnot, but for a catcher, I think the ‘x-factor’ or whatever you want to call it means a whole lot. Pirates pitchers are confident in pitching to a guy like Stallings. It helps develop the young pitchers, and in my own opinion, that’s more valuable than Stallings’ trade value on the market. Unless a team is offering up like one consensus top 50 prospect and another consensus top 100-75 prospect, I’m keeping Stallings until Endy Rodriguez and/or Henry Davis are ready for major league playing time. Usually, I’m very open to the Pirates trading whatever player as long as they get back fair market value. But the return for Stallings has to be sizeable to even consider trading him in my opinion.
TLDR: Development of young or inexperienced pitchers>most prospect packages for him.
Rats, the Pirates have only used two catchers the whole season. I think they are the last club this season not to use more. More significantly, as much as Perez sucks offensively, the tandem Stalin’s and Perez have zero passed balls for the season. Bright spot for the Pirates, one of the very few bright spots, as they are the only team to have zero passed balls. The lack of passed balls is not due to having an excellent pitching staff as the Pirates staff is marginal at best. (Being generous) The pitching staff throws a lot that need to be blocked which Stallings and Perez do very well.
I doubt Stallings gets traded this off season unless there is a significant overpayment. He is still a bargain and he works well with young pitchers.
actually the reds had only used 2 catchers until tyler stephenson went on the covid list yesterday, both teams had only used 2 catchers all year and they both lost one of them on the same day in the last 2 weeks of the season, what a coincidence
The pic looks like Brian McCann in an orioles cap
Hedges and Stallings would make an interesting duo behind the plate. I like what you’re thinking here, but I don’t see Cleveland giving up on Hedges.