Rating Pudge

I’ve got a feeling Pudge is sitting on a big year. As this story notes, he’s closing in on a number of milestones and I think he’s going to redouble his focus. I think he is aware that he could have a special place in baseball history if he continues to perform at a top level.

Could Pudge be the greatest catcher of all time already? Certainly, an argument could be made in his favor. He has 12 Gold Glove Awards, the most for any catcher. Johnny Bench has 10 and I think could be the only catcher that could challenge Pudge for the top spot if you factor both offense and defense.

Bench had a career OPS of .818 while Pudge has a .825 mark. Although Bench owns a 389-277 advantage in HR, Pudge has a .483-.476 edge in SLG.

Pudge’s career Runs Created/27 Outs is 6.0 while Bench has a 5.7 lifetime mark.

Yogi Berri won 3 MVP Awards and had a seven-year stretch in which he finished no worse than fourth in the voting, so that certainly merits consideration even though he never won a Gold Glove. The award didn’t start until 1957, when Berra was 32.

To judge Berra’s defense, he had a .989 career fielding percentage at catcher while the league average was .987. He had a 5.61 range factor while the league average was 4.73. Pudge’s numbers are .991 for FP and 6.55 for range factor.

Berra has an .830 career OPS and 6.05 RC/27.

Pudge has 1 MVP Award and 1 NLCS MVP honor to his credit. Bench has a ROY plus 2 MVP and 1 WS MVP awards.

Mike Piazza has a career .930 OPS and 7.75 RC/27, which probably makes him the position’s greatest offensive force.