We mentioned in our Pitcher of the Month article that Scooter Hightower ran away with the honor and he didn’t even need to do well in his last game because he was so far out ahead of everyone else. The Player of the Month voting was the exact opposite. We took an early look at the numbers on the Sunday night before the final game and there were votes for Erich Weiss and Jacob Stallings, so it literally went down to the final day. Weiss went 0-for-4, while Stallings singled as a pinch-hitter. That gave Stallings the slightest of edges and got him named as the Pirates Prospects Player of the Month for August/September.
Part of the problem with judging catchers against everyone else, is that they don’t receive the same amount of playing time. If you follow the minors, you know that there are very few off-days during the season, so even the most durable catchers aren’t playing seven times a week. Stallings had 72 plate appearances over August/September, well short of the 103 by Weiss.
So while Stallings put up the better numbers and had the better defense, the difference in plate appearances made it much closer. Stallings got a little credit on time because he was with the Pirates for a very brief stint in August, but being a catcher inevitably hurts players over a long period when comparing hitting stats due to the playing time they lose. In fact, Stallings is just the second catcher to be named as our Player of the Month, joining Tony Sanchez from way back in May of 2013, just before he made his Major League debut.
Better known for his glove and work with the pitcher staff than his bat, Stallings actually put up solid numbers this season at the plate. He hit .301/.358/.431 during the season and his .789 OPS is well above his previous high of .722 set back in 2013 while with Bradenton. Stallings wasn’t seeing a lot of playing time early on this year. He was backing up Elias Diaz in Indianapolis, then lost more playing time while he was in the majors in June, also backing up Diaz.
Through July 31st with Indianapolis, Stallings was batting .253/.327/.373 in 44 games. Over his final 18 games, he hit .409/.431/.561 in 72 plate appearances. I mentioned that he got a pinch-hit single on the final day of the season. That single pushed his season average from .298 to .301 to finish the year, so it was more than just a hit that helped push him over the top for our Player of the Month. He also extended his hit streak to ten games with that final hit. It wasn’t just his average though. That .561 slugging percentage was the best in the system over the final five weeks. Stallings also posted a career best .996 fielding percentage and threw out 37% of base runners during the season.
Despite the better hitting this season, the 27-year-old Stallings still remains a fringe big league player. He got to the majors due to his defense, but with the added offense, you could now see him being a reliable backup for a few years. He is a better fit as a strong third option behind the plate and that could be his role going into next season, assuming Francisco Cervelli and Elias Diaz are the combo for the Pirates. That would leave Stallings as the starter in Indianapolis, possibly in a platoon with Jin-De Jhang, giving the Pirates a reliable backstop who they could call upon if they need a catcher during the season. He works well with the pitchers and has caught most of them currently on the Pirates, plus the Major League experience over the past two seasons helps his case going forward.
PLAYERS OF THE MONTH BY LEVEL
Indianapolis – Jacob Stallings, C (.409/.431/.561, 72 PA, 1 HR)
Altoona – Cole Tucker, SS (.280/.372/.440, 147 PA, 2 HR)
Bradenton – Ty Moore, OF (.301/.347/.419, 103 PA, 2 HR)
West Virginia – Albert Baur, 1B (.356/.402/.542, 132 PA, 3 HR)
Morgantown – Lucas Tancas, OF (.324/.387/.463, 120 PA, 3 HR)
Bristol – Ben Bengtson, 3B (.258/.403/.435, 77 PA, 2 HR)
GCL Pirates – Rodolfo Castro, 3B/SS (.274/.333/.537, 107 PA, 6 HR)
