Details of All MLB Catchers in 2022

This article is a survey of all Major League Baseball (MLB) catchers that played in the 2022 season.

It provides key facts, trends and averages about the men who wore catcher's gear in the big leagues that year.

Whether you're a young catcher hoping to make it to the major leagues one day or simply a fan, you should find something interesting in this article!

Number of MLB Catchers in 2022

During the 2022 MLB season, approximately 120 different catchers caught at least one big league game.

With 30 teams in the major leagues, that comes out to four catchers per team on average.

Interestingly, the number of catchers to make big league appearances seem to be going up each season. 

For example, twenty years earlier (2002) there were approximately 105 catchers, and ten years earlier (2012) there were 108. Even one year prior (2021), there were four less catchers during the season at 116 total.

The team with the most catchers to grace the roster by the end of the 2022 season was the Pittsburgh Pirates with eight. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a handful of teams only had three catchers on the roster during the season. These teams included the Padres, Phillies, Yankees, Marlins, Tigers, Rockies, Cubs and Orioles.

 

Nationality of Big League Catchers

Most surveys of MLB player demographics show that typically around 70% or more of big league rosters are composed of American born players.

Of the 120 MLB catchers in 2022, 79 (65.83%) were from the United States (not including Puerto Rico) - slightly less than the overall major league average.

The country with the next highest number of big league catchers in 2022?

Venezuela.

There were 19 Venezuelan born catchers on major league rosters in 2022, which is 15.83% of the total.

After Venezuela, Puerto Rico had the third most pro catchers with eight (6.67%).

The total number of countries, including Puerto Rico, that claimed an MLB catcher in 2022? 

Eleven.

Average Age, Height and Weight of MLB Catchers

The average age of major league catchers during the 2022 season was 28 years and two months old. 

The oldest catcher during the season was none other than Yadier Molina at 39 years old while the youngest was Francisco Alvarez of the New York Mets at 20 years old.

When it comes to weight, the average among 2022 catchers in the MLB was 213.5 pounds.

The heaviest catcher was Riley Adams of the Washington Nationals, who weighed 260 pounds.

 

Weighing a mere 170 pounds, Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs comes in as the lightest weighing catcher.

What about height?

The average height of 2022 big league catchers was six feet and half an inch (e.g., slightly less than 6'1").

The tallest at 6'6" was Grayson Greiner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Four catchers were 5'8", the shortest height of 2022's pro catchers.

In summary, the average MLB catcher in 2022 was 28 years old, weighed 213 pounds and stood 6 feet tall.

Batting and Throwing Hand

The majority (85) of the 120 catchers during the 2022 MLB season batted right handed. 

Approximately 22 catchers batted left handed and the remaining 13 were switch hitters.

When it comes to throwing, 100% of them were right handed. In fact there hasn't been a left handed throwing catcher in the MLB since Benny Distefano in 1989.

 

Games Caught in 2022

The average number of MLB games that the 120 catchers appeared in during the 2022 season were 40.7 games each. 

J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies led all MLB catchers with 133 games caught. 

However, eight different catchers during the '22 season caught just one game, many of whom were called up from the minors to fill in after an injury.

 

Average MLB Tenure During the 2022 Season

There was a wide range of experience among the 120 catchers, and Yadier Molina led the pack with his 19th big league season in 2022.

Yadi retired after the season and he should get the call to the hall one of these days.

Behind Yadi was Kurt Suzuki of the Los Angeles Angels, who was in his 16th big league season that year.

In third place was Houston Astros teammates Martin Maldonado and Jason Castro, who were in their 12th season during 2022.

On average, all catchers had 4.8 years of big league tenure during the 2022 MLB season.

 

Rookie Catchers in 2022

We've highlighted the catchers with the most MLB experience in 2022. 

However, what about those with the least amount of experience?

In other words, how many rookie catchers were there in 2022?

The answer - 27! 

During the 2022 MLB season, 27 catchers made their big league debuts. That means nearly a quarter of big league catchers during the season were rookies. 

The complete list of those rookie catchers in 2022 and their teams are as follows:

• Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
• Bo Naylor, Cleveland Guardians
• Brian O'Keefe, Seattle Mariners
• Brian Serven, Colorado Rockies
• Bryan Lavastida, Cleveland Guardians
• Caleb Hamilton, Minnesota Twins
• Carlos Pérez, Chicago White Sox
• Chris Okey, Cincinnati Reds
• Chuckie Robinson, Cincinnati Reds
• Cooper Hummel, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Donny Sands, Philadelphia Phillies
• Ford Proctor, San Francisco Giants
• Francisco Álvarez, New York Mets
• Freddy Fermin, Kansas City Royals
• Gabriel Moreno, Toronto Blue Jays
• Israel Pineda, Washington Nationals
• Iván Herrera, St. Louis Cardinals
• Jason Delay, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Jose Herrera, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Korey Lee, Houston Astros
• Logan O'Hoppe, Los Angeles Angels
• Mark Kolozsvary, Cincinnati Reds
• Michael Papierski, Cincinnati Reds (also played on the San Francisco Giants)
• MJ Melendez, Kansas City Royals
• René Pinto, Tampa Bay Rays
• Shea Langeliers, Oakland Athletics
• Yainer Diaz, Houston Astros

 

Leading Catchers in 2022

The majority of this article looked at general demographic information of catchers. 

Incredibly interesting, yes, but what about those catchers who shined during the season? Those that stood out with their mitt, with their bat, or with both?

Let’s take a look now at a few of the MLB leading backstops during the 2022 season.

• J.T. Realmuto. J.T. led MLB catchers in a large number of categories during 2022. These include most innings caught (1,131.2), putouts (1,151), double plays turned (11), lowest pop time to second (1.82 seconds) and highest bWAR as a catcher (6.5). He also won a National League (NL) silver slugger and a gold glove. Of note, J.T. became just the second catcher in history to have at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season.
• Alejandro Kirk. Captain Kirk led all catchers in batting average (.285) and on-base percentage (.372). He also won the American League's (AL) silver slugger award.
• Jose Trevino. The Yankees' backstop won the AL gold glove and led all catchers in defensive runs saved, with 21.
• MJ Melendez. MJ led the majors in runners caught stealing (49), caught stealing percentage (81.7%) and defensive runs prevented (-18.7).. 
• Elias Diaz. The Colorado Rockies' catcher led major league catchers in assists (52) but also in errors committed (11).

 

 

That’s A Wrap!

Thanks for stopping by Catchers Home to read this article. We hope you enjoyed it.

If you're interested in reading more like this, we'd suggest checking out our ultimate list of catcher's statistics - or browsing our other articles.

And if you'd like to get in touch, please do so! 

You can go to our contact page or simply email scott (at) catchershome (dot) com.

 

Sources:

• Baseball America
• Baseball Prospectus
• Baseball-Reference
• Fangraphs