Rockies GM has faith in his new old catcher

The Colorado Rockies, if you ask the critics of their offseason, have not done enough to address their biggest problem from a year ago. Specifically, they’ve not gone outside the organization to improve an offense that ranked in the bottom third in 2017.

The pitching was largely fantastic en route to the Rockies’ first postseason appearance since 2009… and then the team went out and spent a record amount of money… on pitchers.

The only roster move designed to pump up the lineup (other than letting a few players walk) was bringing in an aging, former Rockies catcher in Chris Iannetta.

While he clearly represents an upgrade over what the Rockies have had behind the dish over the last few seasons, he isn’t the kind of name that inspires an abundance of excitement.

Hitting .254/.354/.511 with 17 home runs in 2017, Iannetta managed to have one of the best seasons of his career at 34 years old. But it is with his glove that the advanced metrics suggest he gets most of his value, posting positive WAR numbers in 11 of his 12 MLB seasons.

Rockies GM Jeff Bridich says this is a huge reason why Colorado brought him back and could even be integral to the growth of the other young catchers on the roster.

“Chris is now in his mid-30’s, he’s been playing this game at the major league level for a very long time,” Bridich says. “He’s grown a lot over the course of his major league career. We feel like we know who he is at his core. We feel good about the person, about the leader. Those are valuable things, especially when you have youth in the rotation.”

Much has (rightfully) been made about the impact that Jonathan Lucroy had on the Rockies’ young pitching staff when he came over at the deadline last season. But Lucroy never had a spring training or even first half of a season with the squad. Iannetta, whom the defensive stats already like better, will have a much higher level of comfort with his staff.

And yes, Bridich is well aware of one particular skill that Iannetta has made a staple of his game. “One of the main [reasons to bring him back] is his pitch framing.”

As much as the team looks fully prepared to run with Iannetta behind the plate for most of the season, Bridich also made it clear that the young players who struggled last year are gonna get their shot. “There are a lot of lessons that our younger catchers will be able to take from him,” he says.

“There’s no reason why, if we’re all intelligent in terms of how much he plays—it’ll be some sort of timeshare—he is going to be a big part of our roster.”

It is still unclear who will emerge as the primary backup behind Chris Iannetta, but the Rockies are in a much better spot at the position than they were at this time a year ago. If one of Tony Wolters or Tom Murphy can turn it around and fulfill, the Colorado Rockies could turn a major weakness into a major strength in 2018.