Baseball’s Most Underrated Catcher: Ryan Jeffers

[Ted Schwerzler]

The catching position has evolved over the years, and there are very few players that contribute to it at a high level on both offense and in the field. For the Minnesota Twins, Ryan Jeffers has become that type of player, and he’s doing it while flying completely under the radar.

 

As a catcher in the Minnesota Twins organization there are high standards in every facility you step foot in. Littered with Joe Mauer accolades and memorabilia, the Hall of Famer set the gold standard at the position, and the recency of his retirement keeps his presence feeling fresh.

Mitch Garver took over for the Twins a handful of seasons ago and quickly became one of the most consistent power threats in baseball. While he struggled to stay healthy, his offensive production was virtually unmatched at the catching position. Although he wasn’t a defensive stalwart by any means, his framing abilities were lauded and earned him roles in key situations.

When Derek Falvey decided to trade Garver to the Texas Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez , the decision was made because Ryan Jeffers also existed. The former second round pick, once seen as something of a reach by the Twins, had begun to blossom. The heights that he is now reaching may just be the surface being scratched.

In the draft Jeffers was seen as a bat-only prospect that should have gone multiple rounds later. He has transformed himself into an all-around talent behind the plate, and made receiving, blocking, and even nabbing baserunners as positives to his game. The bat he was expected to bring to the table has been there and then some.

A nice showing as a rookie in a brief cameo translated into two down seasons before the Twins backstop took center stage a year ago. Christian Vazquez was signed to a three-year deal and the veteran threatened to take away a bulk of the catching duties. Rather than allow that to come to fruition. Jeffers posted a 135 OPS+ with career high marks across his slash line, and tying his 14 home run total from 2021.

Fast forward to where we are in 2024, and it’s without question that Jeffers has been Rocco Baldelli’s best hitter out of the gate. He once again has a career-high OPS, this time well over 160 OPS+, and he blasted five home runs in his first 27 games. Despite the Twins rigid plan to rotate their catchers on a daily basis, it has been Jeffers getting regular starts at designated hitter to keep his bat in the lineup, and a pinch hit home run truly encapsulated how good he has been at answering the call.

It’s not as though Jeffers is just good for the Twins though either. Already generating a 1.1 fWAR, Minnesota’s catcher is tied for third-best in baseball, trailing only Will Smith and William Contreras. Among American League catchers, he’s at the top of the leaderboard, even with Kansas City’s Salvador Perez. He has also been allowed to contribute defensively less than all of those counterparts. Going back to 2023, only Yainer Diaz and Contreras have a better OPS from the position and Jeffers’ 144 wRC+ comes in second. 

Seeing his name so high up on the leaderboard both offensively, and as an evaluation of his game as a whole, probably isn’t a surprise to Twins fans. This slow burn has been happening for a while now. Across the league though, it’s Perez, J.T. Realmuto, Contreras, and others that are often given national recognition. Jeffers’ greatest amount of time in the spotlight recently may have been a spot talking about the Twins homer sausage.

Maybe that’s a good thing as Jeffers doesn’t seem like the type searching for a consistent amount of praise. It doesn’t change how impressive his development has been though, and how much of a force he has become for the Twins. Game-planning for hitters like Edouard Julien, Carlos Correa, and a healthy Byron Buxton might be where teams start, but if they aren’t watching out for Jeffers he’ll continue to punish them like he has done each of the past two seasons.

At this point there is no argument to be made against it. Ryan Jeffers is one of baseball’s best catchers, and he’s arguably the most underrated as well.

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[Schmoeman5]

Underrated? By who? Dr. Gus? You don't get a spot on MLB by being underrated. Jeffers puts himself out there. He deserves it. He may not be known as well as Realmuto, Perez, or Contreras. They've been on the scene and doing very well for a longer time. Jeffers is putting up big offensive numbers for a little over a year. The fact that an article comes out like this now kind of means you've underrated him too. 

[strumdatjag]

One catcher not mentioned is Alejandro Kirk. Who has seen his offensive stats plummet over the past two seasons. It’s nice to have a catcher (or any player) on the rise. 

[JD-TWINS]

Catchers are generally underrated. Jeffers is a decent catcher that’s hitting really well over 6-7 months. His success this year has come with other’s injuries and ridiculously slow starts throughout the roster making it impossible not to DH him. He’s in the line-up or is inserted essentially 90% of the games played.

He’s been great - often clutch! Underrated, (nationally) absolutely!! 

[DJL44]

He should have been offered a contract extension in the offseason. That was a missed opportunity.

[Riverbrian]

One of the top hitting catchers in baseball. 

Am I over rating him or under rating him? 

[Linus]

To get his production out of the catcher spot is a real bonus. He has made noticeable improvements in his hitting and catching since he came into the league. 

[LambchoP]

How long is he signed for? Hopefully we don't have to let him walk due to payroll:(

[Doctor Gast]

I like Jeffers, he's very valuable to the team, one of the best-hitting catchers out there. He's definitely not underrated by the Twins who value bat over glove. The marvelous play at home plate that Jeffers mirrored from Vazquez was rightfully well-praised. The Correa/ Vazquez play, Correa got most of the praise. The problem w/ Jeffers is that he's at best average defensively & the league puts (rightfully so) more importance on the defensive side for catching.

I hated the Twins' move that disturbed our great catching chain of Garver/ Jeffers/ Rortvedt. The phasing out of Garver with Rortvedt. Rortvedt is a much better defensive catcher (Gerrit Cole's preferred catcher) IMO with the potential of good LH hitting. Away from MN & NYY hitting approach, at TB Rortvedt is flourishin.

351

.439

.843

My opinion of Jeffers has vastly improved. Though not popular, I'd still prefer Rortvedt.

 

[Doctor Gast]

12 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

How long is he signed for? Hopefully we don't have to let him walk due to payroll:(

Scott Boras is Jeffers's agent. Twins had difficulty extending Arraez because of Boras before the salary crunch. I'm afraid that Jeffers is going down the same road.

[Road trip]

6 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

 

I hated the Twins' move that disturbed our great catching chain of Garver/ Jeffers/ Rortvedt. The phasing out of Garver with Rortvedt. Rortvedt is a much better defensive catcher (Gerrit Cole's preferred catcher) IMO with the potential of good LH hitting. Away from MN & NYY hitting approach, at TB Rortvedt is flourishin.

351

.439

.843

My opinion of Jeffers has vastly improved. Though not popular, I'd still prefer Rortvedt.

 

Yeah, you may be the only one who would prefer Rortvedt overall.  Good defensive catcher, not at all likely to continue hitting.  Currently sporting a BABIP over .500 - that isn't even remotely sustainable. 

[jmlease1]

21 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I like Jeffers, he's very valuable to the team, one of the best-hitting catchers out there. He's definitely not underrated by the Twins who value bat over glove. The marvelous play at home plate that Jeffers mirrored from Vazquez was rightfully well-praised. The Correa/ Vazquez play, Correa got most of the praise. The problem w/ Jeffers is that he's at best average defensively & the league puts (rightfully so) more importance on the defensive side for catching.

I hated the Twins' move that disturbed our great catching chain of Garver/ Jeffers/ Rortvedt. The phasing out of Garver with Rortvedt. Rortvedt is a much better defensive catcher (Gerrit Cole's preferred catcher) IMO with the potential of good LH hitting. Away from MN & NYY hitting approach, at TB Rortvedt is flourishin.

351

.439

.843

My opinion of Jeffers has vastly improved. Though not popular, I'd still prefer Rortvedt.

 

Let's check back in on that Rortvedt opinion in July and see if you still prefer him? Because there's little to suggest that Rortvedt's out-sized success at the plate so far this season is anything more than small sample size. That BABIP isn't remotely sustainable, so once a bunch of those singles start turning into outs again his value at the plate diminishes rapidly. (I'm baffled by the idea that TB has a drastically different hitting approach than MN; Rocco cut his teeth in TB and clearly respects their development patterns and approach) I was a Rortvedt backer from the jump, but there's little in his history that suggests this is sustainable for him; he's always had the profile of a backup. Much as I've always liked him, I'd wager money he won't be a league average hitter this season, and I'd wager the same kind of money that Jeffers will be one of the best hitting catchers in baseball.

The split that the Twins do on their catchers probably keeps Jeffers from getting the same kind of attention that some of the bets catchers get, but if he keeps hitting near this he will get his flowers. While I'd like more production from vazquez, I think the Twins concept of shared catching duties is a smart one and it's helped Jeffers flourish. We'll see where his framing numbers land at the end of the season, but he's doing a good job blocking the plate (a real concern a few seasons ago) and limiting the running game. I don't think any Twins pitchers have a problem throwing to jeffers.

Twins had a big advantage with Joe Mauer's offense at catcher back in the day. It's a big advantage having Jeffers offense back there today, and he's been a key man in running the twins back into contention.

 

[Doctor Gast]

39 minutes ago, Road trip said:

Yeah, you may be the only one who would prefer Rortvedt overall.  Good defensive catcher, not at all likely to continue hitting.  Currently sporting a BABIP over .500 - that isn't even remotely sustainable. 

Yeah, I know defense isn't very sexy in Twinsland but it's necessary for a competitive team. Also, I agree his hitting is great, especially for a catcher that it's probably not sustainable & it's a small sample size but under his new conditions, I expect him to put up some respectable #s & hit a few HRs in time.

[Schmoeman5]

48 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I like Jeffers, he's very valuable to the team, one of the best-hitting catchers out there. He's definitely not underrated by the Twins who value bat over glove. The marvelous play at home plate that Jeffers mirrored from Vazquez was rightfully well-praised. The Correa/ Vazquez play, Correa got most of the praise. The problem w/ Jeffers is that he's at best average defensively & the league puts (rightfully so) more importance on the defensive side for catching.

I hated the Twins' move that disturbed our great catching chain of Garver/ Jeffers/ Rortvedt. The phasing out of Garver with Rortvedt. Rortvedt is a much better defensive catcher (Gerrit Cole's preferred catcher) IMO with the potential of good LH hitting. Away from MN & NYY hitting approach, at TB Rortvedt is flourishin.

351

.439

.843

My opinion of Jeffers has vastly improved. Though not popular, I'd still prefer Rortvedt.

 

The question was. Is Ryan Jeffers the most underrated catcher in baseball?  Did I miss the part where the question was asked, should Twins have traded Garver and or Rortvedt. 

[Jeff K]

Got him on my fantasy team!  Love him!

[DJL44]

Is Rortvedt actually a good defensive catcher or do people just assume he's good defensively because he can't hit?

Jeffers is an average defensive catcher. Pair that with his bat and you have a candidate for the All-Star game roster.

[bean5302]

50 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Is Rortvedt actually a good defensive catcher or do people just assume he's good defensively because he can't hit?

Jeffers is an average defensive catcher. Pair that with his bat and you have a candidate for the All-Star game roster.

I remember when Rortvedt was drafted, he was considered a bat first catcher, but coming up through the minors he got a lot of attention and accolades from the defensive side.
https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/news/new-york-yankees-catcher-ben-rortvedt-dynamic-defender-catching-coordinator-tanner-swanson
SI had an article on him after the Twins traded him to the Yankees.

I agree that Jeffers is an average defensive catcher. So was Garver. Lots of complaints about those guys when it came to a wild pitch that didn't get blocked or whatever, but Jeffers was average in terms of inning between passed balls or wild pitches, framing, and probably being a little below average catching base runners attempting to steal. Nothing stood out as great, nothing stood out as really poor.

Jeffers is on a hot streak completely out of line with his history with almost a 50% reduction in his strikeout rate. It feels like Brent Rooker's April last year, but if Jeffers can keep the K rate down, he'll be elite.

[jmlease1]

3 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Yeah, I know defense isn't very sexy in Twinsland but it's necessary for a competitive team. Also, I agree his hitting is great, especially for a catcher that it's probably not sustainable & it's a small sample size but under his new conditions, I expect him to put up some respectable #s & hit a few HRs in time.

A lot of us love defense. And the Twins organizationally value defense more than I think you believe, or they wouldn't have signed guys like Vazquez or Santana. Or kept running with Kepler when his bat didn't deserve it.

At catcher they seem to have recognized that Garver wasn't going to stay healthy back there and weren't confident that Rortvedt could hit enough to be anything more than a backup. Since the Twins prefer to do a 50-50 or 60-40 share between their catchers, I can see how expecting Rortvedt to hold up a 40% share might have been hard. It certainly would have been a disaster last season. Jeffers has clearly been the better bet.

[chpettit19]

I don't know how to really judge how underrated a guy is. The Twins in general are not big time national talking points. Ryan definitely gets some love from some of the national guys. But I don't know how to judge how underrated someone is. He's been playing really good baseball for a year plus now, though. Definitely needs to be in any discussion about the best hitting catcher in baseball. And when you're in that discussion an average glove is absolutely good enough.

[RpR]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I remember when Rortvedt was drafted, he was considered a bat first catcher, but coming up through the minors he got a lot of attention and accolades from the defensive side.
https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/news/new-york-yankees-catcher-ben-rortvedt-dynamic-defender-catching-coordinator-tanner-swanson
SI had an article on him after the Twins traded him to the Yankees.

I agree that Jeffers is an average defensive catcher. So was Garver. Lots of complaints about those guys when it came to a wild pitch that didn't get blocked or whatever, but Jeffers was average in terms of inning between passed balls or wild pitches, framing, and probably being a little below average catching base runners attempting to steal. Nothing stood out as great, nothing stood out as really poor.
 

Rortvedt

One thing he did fairly often before, hitting home runs in his few at bats, has stopped; maybe quiting trying to hit it over the fence made a huge difference.

If he were here, he would probably be doing exceptionally well in AAA, so being where he is, in the Majors should be good for him.

[Ted Schwerzler]

13 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Scott Boras is Jeffers's agent. Twins had difficulty extending Arraez because of Boras before the salary crunch. I'm afraid that Jeffers is going down the same road.

Ehh, this is a bit overstated. Boras got worked this offseason on his free agents, and the Twins have worked with him well recently on Correa too. Market shift incoming.

[Ted Schwerzler]

11 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Is Rortvedt actually a good defensive catcher or do people just assume he's good defensively because he can't hit?

Jeffers is an average defensive catcher. Pair that with his bat and you have a candidate for the All-Star game roster.

That's what they're doing with Vazquez...

[DJL44]

10 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

That's what they're doing with Vazquez...

Vazquez has a well deserved defensive reputation. It isn't just because his bat is bad.

[Finlander]

Unless he falls apart, Jeffers looks like an All Star reserve to me. His defense has improved enough to warrant it, and he's clearly the #2 or 3 AL catcher IMO.  If Pablo and Jhoan are All Star pitchers, it would make sense to have Jeffers in there behind the plate for one if not both. He'll get some national visibility then.