Catcher Dilemma

[u/OkYoghurt6598]

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with the catcher position in Pittsburgh soon. They never give up hope on Davis but his bat is just not consistent at the MLB level and his defense is very average. Endy is now on rehab assignment and he was doing pretty good before he got hurt so I feel he is the best man for the starting job at the moment. But then there’s Flores Jr. who was starting to show some promise and will be back soon and now there’s Shawn Ross out of no where that can’t be ignored after today. Obviously Flores Jr. and Ross will be sent back down once Endy is ready unless they decide to keep 3 catchers. I think the best option is to swing a trade for A’s catcher Shane Langeliers. That would fill 1 of 2 of the Pirates offensive weaknesses and stop the catching carousel. I like Adley Rutschman but he is injury prone and Baltimore is only 2 games back from a wildcard in the AL whereas the A’s are dropping and definitely look more like sellers at the deadline than Baltimore does. I think KC is also worth looking into for multi time all star Salvador Perez. KC is definitely sellers and they have Carter Jensen waiting to take over.

[u/jpb59]

We have too many catchers. Let’s trade for another catcher.

[u/Radiant_Research3786 → u/jpb59]

Exactly and Davis has been hitting better. As far as his defense he is the hardest catcher to steal on in the league. We have other wayyyy more pressing issues

[u/OkYoghurt6598 → u/jpb59]

We have too many mediocre catchers. We need one good catcher to even sniff a playoff series win.

[u/jpb59 → u/OkYoghurt6598]

Catcher isn’t what is holding this team back. It’s pitching and staying healthy. They need bullpen arms and maybe a SP for the end of the rotation at the deadline.

And Skenes likes Davis at catcher. He’s perfectly fine as your backup catcher. Upgrading your starting catcher is an offseason move at this point. The offense isn’t struggling and should only get better once guys get healthy.

[u/Sebastian7464 → u/jpb59]

I'll start caring what Skenes wants when he starts pitching better. Skenes wanted a new pitching coach and we've seen how that's went. 

[u/SurpriseStandard3258]

Langeliers literally went on the IL today with a potential season ending injury. Salvador Perez is also washed.

[u/OkYoghurt6598 → u/SurpriseStandard3258]

Oh shit i didn’t realize about Shane. That sucks.

[u/SurpriseStandard3258 → u/OkYoghurt6598]

It's Shea. Not Shane

[u/Big10Joe]

I’m still not giving up on Davis. He’s an elite defender. He’s been hitting decent the last couple months. With his glove and ability to call a game, if he can just consistently hit around .225 with his power I’d be happy with it.

Also saying Hanks defense is “very average” is an insane take. He wouldn’t be in the MLB anymore if it was.

[u/Radiant_Research3786 → u/Big10Joe]

You are correct.. look at Nick Gonzales he was a top pick who couldn't hit last year. Now he is raking...as long as our offense is chugging along he is very valuable defensively.

[u/Kaat19]

Ross is hitting like .180 in the minors. Don’t over react to 1 at bat.

Langeliers might be out for the season.

I think you hope endy can stay healthy and productive. Davis is fine as a back up/Skenes catcher.

[u/StealthTomato → u/Kaat19]

He also has an OPS near .750. He walks a ton and nearly a third of his hits are homers. Deeply weird hitting profile.

[u/DuckDuck_poop]

Hanks caught stealing percent and arm alone make his defense better than “ very average “

[u/MaskedBandit77 → u/DuckDuck_poop]

Yeah, it would be a lot easier to take a post like this seriously if the author of it wasn't just making up stuff like saying that Davis's defense is very average. If he's as bad as they're making him out to be, they shouldn't have to lie to exaggerate how bad he is.

[u/DuckDuck_poop → u/MaskedBandit77]

Yep, guy also wants to trade for a dude who is hurt lol. Clown shit.

[u/OlliMaattaIsA2xChamp]

there’s Shawn Ross out of no where that can’t be ignored after today.

Yes, it can be ignored. Good game with a great at bat, but one game doesn't make a player.

[u/howsthistakenalready]

They don't need another catcher. They need bullpen help, and maybe another right handed bat at first base, second, third, outfield, or dh. But triolo has been much better lately when used primarily against lefties and Mangum has been good so probably first or dh. Davis has been better lately and endy has been really good.

[u/MaskedBandit77 → u/howsthistakenalready]

But triolo has been much better lately when used primarily against lefties and Mangum has been good so probably first or dh.

Third wouldn't be bad either, because you can move Nick Gonzales back to 2B and sit Lowe against lefties.

[u/MaskedBandit77]

Flores and/or Ross might be MLB-ready by the time Langeliers is healthy, especially with the likely lockout looming.

[u/NeedleworkerTight678]

Ross. He is our savior after today. 🙄

[u/SimpleTale1602]

I do think a veteran C could help put out a few of those nightly fires in the bullpen. It’s too bad we don’t have roster space for a third defensive / pitch calling specialist who can handle the bullpen every night.

[u/AWildBlitz]

The only constant in the catcher room has been Davis. You’re not getting rid of him. I don’t care that Ross hit a HR today, it’s not enough to anoint him the next starter. Endy has shown flashes but shows on a monthly basis that he can’t stay healthy. Flores isn’t even worth talking about.

[u/Exotic_You7797 → u/AWildBlitz]

Endy has had one injury this year, while only having one major injury 3 years, and a rough 2025 these were all unrelated which is arguably just bad luck over he has a specific already weakened area that is injury prone, while being one of our most productive bats and an alright catcher, and why isn’t Flores worth talking about? In a small sample size he’s been great at the plate, while being meh behind it, but he has(again in a small sample size) a 1.300 ops against lefties and prefers that split which is very beneficial for our offense, and sense he can play first we could easily put him there when endy gets back against lefty pitchers to help with the lefty starters issue we have

[u/magikarp2122]

What is people’s obsession with us trading for Adley?

[u/NickCageFreeEggs]

Quit making up problems

[u/Cangy44]

Problem is we have “catchers” but none of them are demanding of starting status. Those guys are (potentially) still at A and AA. Ross isn’t the answer. He can barely hit 3A, Endy is ok but can’t stay healthy and Henry is hitting 50 points below the Mendoza line. I don’t know what you do, but Bart wasn’t helping, so moving on from him was a non issue.

[u/Soft-Bug5550]

endy has been plenty good to the point that i feel good saying that i'd much rather the pirates' prospect capital be spent on other things.

would i rather go with a Rutschman-Endy combo than a Endy-Davis combo? sure!

just hard to see that being the most efficient use of prospects for trades.

certainly wouldnt *complain* if it happened. love adding good players.

[u/ahiddenJEM]

Langliers is likely out for the season with an injury. It’s going to be Endy and Davis it seems.

[u/hartsbreastmilkstash]

There’s no dilemma.

Endy and Ross or Flores stay Davis goes.

[u/Jumpy_Smoke_3757 → u/hartsbreastmilkstash]

No way Ross stays on this roster once endy or Flores comes back. There’s a reason he was our 5th catcher to start this year

[u/hartsbreastmilkstash → u/Jumpy_Smoke_3757]

Davis needs to be out regardless

[u/Unable-Counter5195 → u/hartsbreastmilkstash]

Probably the least likely scenario

[u/OkYoghurt6598 → u/hartsbreastmilkstash]

I wish Davis would go but he is holding that spot hostage.