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The Jays have an off day today. I think we all deserve one now and then.
Reese McGuire. The man who inspires thousands of bad jokes (and the odd good one).
Reese is 27 now. He’s played parts of four seasons for the Jays now. In total, he’s played 141 games, hitting .248/.297/.390 with 9 home runs. His first two seasons, he hit .297/.343/.539, so his four seasons kind of play like one Randal Grichuk season. He started off hitting great and then fell off.
The people who like him remember those first two seasons and think he could find a way to hit like that again.
Others look at the .222/.272/.310 line he’s had the last two seasons and worry that this is who he is.
Likely he’s somewhere in between.
Over the four years, he’s hit .279/.329/.431 against RHP and .151/.189/.256 against LHP. As a lefty batter, he’s not faced lefty pitchers much, and it shows. The line against right-handers is plenty good enough for a catcher with a good glove.
Defensively, he’s good. He’s thrown out 30% of base stealers over his career. He looks athletic enough behind the plate, and pitchers seem to like throwing to him, as far as we can tell.
Reese was DFAed last year, and no team took him, which is a good signal for his trade value. Every team has a catcher like him.
None of that means he doesn’t have value, but I think Jansen and Kirk have a lot more value. And if the choice is two of McGuire, Kirk, Bird or Katoh, I’d be irritated if they keep McGuire. I know they don’t want to give up on him, but I don’t see how he adds something to the team. I know there is talk about carrying three catchers, and if Kirk is a full-time DH, or five of seven days DH, I can see taking three. I don’t have a problem with Kirk catching. He may not be a Gold Glove winner, but he can handle the job.
PECOTA figures Reese to play in 51 games and hit .235/.298/.357 with 3 home runs.
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