CLEVELAND: It’s no secret the Indians haven’t gotten much value out of the catching position this season.
Yan Gomes never got going offensively, putting forth an abysmal season at the plate for a former Silver Slugger winner. Roberto Perez then broke his thumb and required surgery.
As Perez was reaching the point of being able to return, Gomes separated his shoulder, and the two flip-flopped with each other on the disabled list. The club added Chris Gimenez, though he doesn’t have a significant offensive pedigree either.
Per FanGraphs, Indians catchers have had the lowest value of any club in the league at -0.5 WAR this season, though defensive metrics for catchers are largely still unable to be properly quantified.
Over the last several weeks, the Indians have taken to pinch-hitting for both Perez and Gimenez late in games. For the most part, the team has had to compensate for lost production at that spot in the batting order, especially with Gomes missing significant time.
The reason the Indians have been patient with their catchers has been their work — especially by Perez — behind the plate and defensively. It’s been on display this week.
Several pitchers and Indians manager Terry Francona talked about how Perez has improved as a blocker behind the plate, allowing pitchers to throw any pitch with a runner on third, which isn’t always the case.
On Wednesday, Perez delivered a potential game-saving throw to second base to nail Kansas City’s Terrance Gore in the ninth inning. It was the first time Gore had ever been caught stealing.
Plays like that are how Perez maintains his value to the club, particularly in October, when he’s slated to be the primary catcher and every run seems so much more significant. Those moments are what Perez looks forward to, even more than a potential big hit.
“As soon as they brought Gore in, I knew he was going to come in and try to steal a base,” Perez said. “For me, man, I had the opportunity to throw him out yesterday, some miscommunication covering the base, so I hesitated to throw to the base. But today, I was hoping Allen would give me a chance and he did. And I just [made] a good throw.”
Offensively, it’s been slow going for Perez. He hit .182 with a .270 on-base percentage in August. In September, he’s hit .227 but his on-base percentage has dropped to .255. Still, with some of the plays he made this week, Francona doesn’t hesitate to write his name in the lineup each day.
Gomes, meanwhile, is very likely done for the season and postseason after he fractured his hand just days before being able to return from his shoulder injury. He’s still working and going through drills as if there might be a chance for him to return, though, should the Indians advance deep into October.
The Indians didn’t plan any baseball activity for Gomes on Thursday, but he felt good enough that he wanted to throw prior to the game. Still, the club isn’t expecting a miraculous return.
“I mean, in all fairness to Yan, he shouldn’t really have any chance to play,” Francona said. “I think that to be fair, if there’s a one percent chance my guess is he’ll probably be the one. He’s trying to do everything he can and in five or six days he’s made a lot of improvement.
“I don’t think anybody knows if that continues at that rate or it levels off because there is a break, but he’s trying and we appreciate that.”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ