2022 Topps Heritage brings us back to 1973 and it’s not a bad idea to add some cards from this set to the collection. Last month, I bought some packs of the 2022 Topps Heritage in a sports card shop, trying to find some cool rookie cards.
I did find some rookie cards, however, I didn’t get a Wander Franco rookie card from this set. But, when I was checking some cards I found in this set, I saw two cards. One is a Yardier Molina base card and the other is a Gary Sanchez base card. I just checked the stats on the back of each card and was wondering who is the best hitting catcher in the MLB. To understand a little more, I went to check on the Fangraphs website.
Last year, 7 catchers had at least 20 home runs. Salvador Perez had a fantastic 2021 season, hitting .273/.316/.544 with 48 home runs and 121 RBI. Mike Zunino crushed 33 home runs and Will Smith had 25 home runs. It’s worth mentioning that these three catchers each posted an .860 OPS last year. Yasmani Grandal owned a .940 OPS in 2021 and Gary Sanchez had a .730 OPS. At the same time, Yadier Molina’s OPS was .667 last year.
In addition, Gary Sanchez made it into the big league in 2015 and he has been considered a good hitting catcher. However, the Yankees sent him to the Twins in a trade this March. I’m just wondering about his contribution with the Yankees.
Well, Gary Sanchez only had 2 plate appearances in 2015, so let’s just look at the numbers from 2016 to 2021. Over the last 6 seasons, Gary Sanchez blasted 138 home runs, most among MLB catchers. Salvador Perez and Yasmani Grandal each had 130+ home runs during these 6 years.
Now, let’s look at the RBI. Salvador Perez missed the 2019 season. However, he had 377 RBI from 2016 to 2021, leading among MLB catchers. Additionally, J.T. Realmuto collected 375 RBI during this period and Yasmani Grandal had 364 RBI. Yadier Molina didn’t crush as many home runs as Gary Sanchez did, but Molina did collect more RBI than Sanchez over the last 6 seasons.
Finally, let’s look at OPS. Mitch Garver made it into the big league in 2017 and he has an OPS over .800 so far in his career. His best season so far was the 2019 season that he slashed .273/.365/.630 with 31 home runs and 67 RBI. Furthermore, Yasmani Grandal owned an .828 OPS over the last 6 seasons. Moreover, Willson Contreras and Gary Sanchez each had an over .800 OPS from 2016 to 2021. At the same time, Yadier Molina owned a .732 OPS during this period.
Last year, Yadier Molina was hitting .252/.297/.370 with 11 home runs and 66 RBI. Gary Sanchez was batting .204/.307/.423 with 23 home runs and 54 RBI. In 2021, Molina had a higher batting average and collected more RBI than Gary Sanchez did. However, over the last 6 years, Sanchez had an over .800 OPS, which is good. But, Sanchez didn’t own an OPS over .800 over the last two seasons. He is one of great hitting catchers in the majors, but he has something to prove in Minnesota this year. Yadier Molina might not be the best hitting catcher in the league, but he’s very consistent during his career. In 2022, Molina is looking forward to a good journey in the last season of his career.
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