Will Smith grew to become the first-string catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the Covid-shortened 2020 season, but it took fairly awhile for him to earn wider acclaim.
Smith bashed 25 homers in 2021 and adopted up with 24 the following yr. He drove residence a complete of 163 runs in these two seasons.
These are extremely respectable numbers, but Smith wasn’t named to his first Nationwide League All-Star crew till 2023, an honor he repeated in 2024. He additionally acquired his first nomination for a Gold Glove this yr.
These latest accolades replicate Smith’s regular climb to the very best echelon of big-league catchers.
I ought to say very highest, at the least by way of general base worth. Smith gathered an OBV of plus-207 throughout the half-decade from 2020 by means of 2024, a determine unsurpassed by some other catcher.
Total base worth is a stat that measures a participant’s productiveness on the plate. A constructive OBV signifies {that a} batter reached extra bases (by means of hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices) than a typical hitter would have attained beneath the identical circumstances.
Right now’s rankings are confined to main leaguers who made at the least 1,400 plate appearances throughout the 2020-2024 interval — and who spent greater than 50 % of their time as catchers.
Smith was the one catcher to publish a five-year OBV greater than plus-200. Three runners-up exceeded 100: brothers Willson and William Contreras and J.T. Realmuto.
Willson Contreras (plus-168) cut up time between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals throughout the half-decade, whereas William Contreras (plus-144) performed for the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers. Realmuto (plus-139) has served because the common catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies since 2019.
Scroll all the way down to see the ten greatest catchers within the half-decade’s OBV rankings. Every participant is adopted by parenthetical stats for 2020-2024 — video games, residence runs, runs batted in, and batting common — capped by his general base worth.
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1. Will Smith (G 558, HR 96, RBI 339, BA .259) — OBV +207
2. Willson Contreras (G 507, HR 85, RBI 241, BA .250) — OBV +168
3. William Contreras (G 449, HR 68, RBI 239, BA .277) — OBV +144
4. J.T. Realmuto (G 554, HR 84, RBI 299, BA .264) — OBV +139
5. Salvador Perez (G 610, HR 132, RBI 413, BA .268) — OBV +94
6. Adley Rutschman (G 415, HR 52, RBI 201, BA .261) — OBV +83
7. Sean Murphy (G 490, HR 73, RBI 232, BA .233) — OBV +45
8. Tyler Stephenson (G 470, HR 50, RBI 208, BA .267) — OBV +41
9. Cal Raleigh (G 464, HR 93, RBI 251, BA .218) — OBV +32
10. Yasmani Grandal (G 428, HR 53, RBI 176, BA .226) — OBV +6
