Detroit Tigers could use veteran catching depth at Triple-A

The Detroit Tigers have consistently found veteran help behind the plate in years past. Rafael Lopez and Hector Sanchez each represent solid depth options to stash at Triple-A in 2018.

Despite being a relatively thin position throughout the majors, the Detroit Tigers have rarely struggled with catching depth.

James McCann has been the Tigers starting catcher since 2015.

Behind him has been a revolving door of veteran backstops, including Alex Avila, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Bobby Wilson, Bryan Holaday and current backup John Hicks.

Heading into 2018, McCann and Hicks are expected to be the opening day catchers.

However, the Tigers are a bit thin behind those two.

Prospect Grayson Greiner is likely the third catcher on the depth chart and potentially the starter at Triple-A Toledo.

Greiner is a solid catching prospect, but he only has 14 at-bats at Triple-A in his career. He spent most of 2017 at Double-A, hitting .241 with 14 home runs and a 108 wRC+.

Greiner has a good chance of making his long awaited debut in 2018.

However, MLive Tigers reporter Evan Woodberry tweeted the following on Friday:

“Presumably Tigers will peruse the minor league free agent market for a veteran catcher to pair with Grayson Greiner in Toledo.”

This is obviously Woodberry’s opinion, but if the Tigers do pursue another catcher, a couple free agent options available to Al Avila and his crew are 30-year-old Raffy Lopez and 28-year-old Hector Sanchez.

Hector Sanchez

Despite being two years younger than Lopez, Hector Sanchez has considerably more major league experience.

Sanchez made his big league debut in 2011 and appeared in at least 28 games every season since.

He spent his first five years with the Giants as Buster Posey‘s backup. He also spent some time with the White Sox and was in San Diego with the Padres in 2017.

Sanchez hit a career-high eight home runs in 2017. He also posted a .219 batting average and a 70 wRC+ in 137 at-bats.

In his 783 career trips to the plate, the switch-hitting Sanchez has hit .238 with 21 home runs and a 76 wRC+.

While those numbers certainly don’t jump off the page, Sanchez has fared much better in Triple-A.

In 2016 with San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate Sanchez was a beast, hitting .324/.392/.636 with 13 home runs and a 168 wRC+ in 176 at-bats.

Sanchez’ Triple-A results might not  translate to the Majors, considering his bast numbers in the Majors. However, it does indicate that there is still life in his bat.

At 28 years old, it is not unreasonable to expect Sanchez to make some adjustments and become at least a decent big league hitter.

In this hypothetical scenario, the Detroit Tigers would be signing him to be their Triple-A catcher anyway, so expectations would be low for Sanchez, barring injuries at the big league level.

Defensively, Sanchez is a tick above average. His dWAR according to Baseball-Reference is 0.6.

He has thrown out 41 career base runners in 165 attempts.

Despite a below average bat, Sanchez has some big league experience and can hold his own defensively behind the plate.

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As a depth piece to utilize at Triple-A, Sanchez or Lopez both represent solid options. Each would give the Tigers experience and can contribute to the club if needed.