I found myself faced with an unexpected question this past Saturday at VEB day. The topic of the conversation was Bryan Anderson, longtime prospect and martyr of the “Veteran Backup Catcher” philosophy. He’d become something of an afterthought this year after seemingly falling by the wayside to one Matt Pagnozzi. So what has the erstwhile 2005 prospect sidekick been up to.
Bryan Anderson is having a good year by catcher’s standards. He’s posted a .792 OPS and a .344 wOBA. While the translation for those numbers are perhaps less inspiring (.657 OPS MLE) the manner in which Anderson is posting those numbers is, arguably, a noteworthy one.
With 7 homeruns in 2010, Anderson has surpassed his 2009 total and is just 2 away from meeting the combined 2008-2009 total. Given the paucity of recent at bats in recent years, this isn’t terribly surprising since we’re working with a counting stat. It does add to the narrative that he’s hitting for more power though. With a .192 ISO, he’s got the highest power rate of his entire career thus far. After having been pilloried in recent years for never developing the power he was projected for, at age 23, Anderson may be ready to make good on his initial promise.
Additional cause for optimism this season would be the appearance that Anderson has hit into bad luck with a 25% line drive rate and a meager .283 BABIP. Anderson is hitting just .267, which is a bit of a departure from previous seasons when the main point of his resume was his ability to hit .300 consistently. In reality, Anderson continues to make contact and put the ball in play.
Keeping in mind that Anderson plays catcher (an inherently valuable position) and is showing increased power to go with good contact rates, there’s still reason to keep an eye on this player who remains a valuable prospect.
Note: All statistics include games through 6/19.
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how many cases are there of guys in their mid or late 20′s getting it together and being productive players? it happens, aren’t those stories of the 30 something rookies some of the best to follow? Anderson in only 23, a leftie hitting catcher, who has improved his defense and is hitting enough to seriously think he could the the backup next year to Yadie. whether Tony would agree is not the point. He has worked and progressed enough he is fully capable of having a big league career, and I hope he continues to improve and succeeds at it.
An after thought to whom? Certainly not the organization who has given him nearly two thirds of the catching duties (over Pags) and also called him up over Pags.
I am encouraged that he has improved this year in his 2 areas of deficiency – power and defense.
Thanks for the article.
I’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again…Yadi plays too often, and i think a lot of the reason is because tony knows that larue sucks…i’m holding out hope that we will not re-sign larue this offseason and give the backup catching job to anderson…and i’m holding out hope that anderson starts 35-40 games next season just to give yadi a break…molina played in 140 games last season(all but 22) and is on pace to play in 143 games this season…that is entirely too many for a catcher, and i think his offensive performance this season is due in large part to the wear and tear of the last two season…if larue can’t play more than 20 games a season, get someone who can
@VolsnCards5:
How many games does Mauer catch? Now, don’t get off on the “don’t compare Yadi to Mauer tangents”—-I am just asking. Yadi needs to catch that many games to help this team win. It’s a pretty easy equation.
Now, I would love to see Anderson up next year as a backup/personal catcher. That would give Yadi the day off every 5th and keep Bryan pretty fresh.
Mauer has actually has been hurt quite a bit in the last few years which saves the wear and tear of being a catch. I wouldn’t be heartbroken if Anderson becomes the personal backup catcher to our number 5 next year.
@VolsnCards5: My thinking as well. Agree completely.
Nice writeup Robot. I think Anderson compares great to Jaso from the Rays. I am hopeful the Cards find a way to make him useful to the big league club like the Rays have done with Jaso.
Anderson has 8 HRs and 836 OPS going into tonight’s action. (Do articles here get delayed release?)
Anderson might get promoted this summer. Stay tuned.
He’s got ALOT of work to do defensively still, I’m happy with him just working with Matheny where ever he is.
I always thought that Anderson would develop above average power for a catcher. He made contact and had a reasonable doubles rate coming up through the league. More of his doubles are making it over the fence now. It is not suprising to see power develop a little later for a catcher and 23 is by no means late.
This is one prospect that I have seen a few times and his approach behind the plate has made a lot of improvement. He recieves and blocks the ball better a lot better now. I don’t think he is going to ever shut down the running game like Yadi, no body does, but if he can gain the confidence of his pitchers by receiving the balls low in the zone well his bat is going to play.
I also think he’ll hit enough to have a career but will only get the chance (at least with us) if his defense really has improved as much as has been stated. If he can improve enough to be a frequently used back up for Yadi he would be a very useful player. It would give us an offensive edge against some right hander, a pinch hitter off the bench and a chance to see what Yadi could really do if he got adequate rest.