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It’s also tough comparing them to each other. When Molina, Posey, Martin, and McCann enter the Hall of Fame ballot, it will be reductive to compare their WAR against the existing Hall of Famers. Called strikes per pitch taken took off after 2001, so McCann likely represents the extreme case, but a difference of ☑0 wins is realistic for those pre-Pitch/FX or pre-pitch-by-pitch catchers. McCann was worth 30 more wins according to WARP than he was to bWAR, so the difference can be profound. The problem is we don’t know by how much. We know that we should mentally skew their numbers in one direction. Conversely, it’s overvaluing players like Jorge Posada and Jason Kendall who will finish with about as much bWAR as Molina but conspicuously hemorrhaged runs behind the plate in the final years of their careers. WAR is likely undervaluing Bench and Fisk and countless other catchers who played before pitching tracking. Max Marchi’s RetroFraming suggests that Carlton Fisk was an excellent framer as well even at age 40. He pioneered the style of receiving the ball with one hand, so he was probably good in this regard. We don’t know how good Bench was at framing. Baseball Reference’s WAR is the only one that’s consistently calculated, and the gap between Posey-the active leader in bWAR-and Bench is enormous. Molina, Posey, Martin, and McCann are all getting credited for a skill that couldn’t be measured in Bench’s or Fisk’s time. Before 2008, WAR doesn’t account for pitch framing which is the largest part of catcher defense.

Realmuto have a real shot at catching Molina, too.Ĭomparing catcher WAR across eras is tricky. Buster Posey is right on Molina’s heels and is four years younger. Russell Martin is still active (but unsigned) and has about a one-win advantage on Molina.

At FanGraphs, Brian McCann retired with a narrow lead on Molina that will almost certainly be passed. Even among catchers of his generation, Molina doesn’t come out on top, at least not at this moment. On the all-time WAR leaderboards, Molina is still well behind Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, and Gary Carter no matter which WAR you choose. His response was “ As the best catcher to ever play baseball.” I think everyone but Cardinals fans guffawed at that answer, but in Molina’s defense, what are you supposed to say when asked that question? Saying “I want to be remembered as the ninth best catcher to ever play baseball,” might be more accurate-and still a remarkable achievement-but it’s a question that begs for some sort of self-aggrandizement. Last week, Yadier Molina was asked how he wants to be remembered 100 years from now.