Michael McKenry's Breakout Year

Remember last year when the Pirates traded for that 5'10" catcher from the Rockies because every other catcher from Chris Snider to Jason Jaramillo was down with an injury, that guy who ended up being the teams seventh catcher of the season? Well guess what that same guy who was just an average catching prospect in the Rockies system is now making it hard to deny him a starting spot in the major leagues.

Michael McKenry started the year as just the back-up catcher behind Rod Barajas but is now starting to split time behind the plate because of some of the impressive things he's been doing both at the plate and behind the dish. There have been a total of 395 plate appearances between both of the Pirates catcher's this year and McKenry has gotten just 38% of them so when I say that McKenry has hit 10 home-runs this year it might not sound all that impressive but it is.

Michael Mckenry has an at bat to home-run ratio of 13.2, for those of you who don't know really what that mean's let me put that in perspective for you. The National Leagues MVP at this point is Andrew McCutchen and his AB/HR ratio is at 17.1 which means that it take McCutchen 17 at bats to hit one home run but it only takes McKenry 13 to hit one, that's a big difference. What this stat basically says is that if McKenry has the same number of at bats as McCutchen this year he would have hit 28 home-runs, which is only one less then the National League leader in Ryan Braun who has 29 long balls so far this year. If McKenry played every game this year at catcher for the Pirates this year his stat line would look something like .273/.344/.568 28 HR's, 76 RBI's, and a WAR of 4.26, these are all-star like numbers.

McKenry isn't one of those catchers who only made it to the major leagues because of their offense, in fact he probably made it to the big's because of defense earning him the oh so popular nickname "The Fort". McKenry's fielding percentage this year comes in at .991 and throws runners out at a 17% clip, not all that great but far better then the usual starter Rod Barajas. There really isn't a stat out there for ball blocked but I can tell you just from watching with my two eyes that Mckenry is one fantastic blocker of the ball behind the plate, he saves runs on a regular basis by putting his body on the line. McKenry has established himself as a fantastic defensive catcher.
The Fort has gotten his opportunites this year and has surely made the most of them, his teammates say he spends more time in the cage then just about anyone they have ever seen and it is sure paying off at the plate. McKenry spent his off-season not taking a break but instead taking lessons from Clint Hurdle trying to improve his swing earning him the title of a blue collar catcher. If I'm Clint Hurdle I start McKenry every game the rest of the year unless A.J. Burnett is pitching, but then again Clint Hurdle doesn't usually do what I say.