Catchers
The 2016 catchers will remain unchanged. Stephen Vogt and Josh Phegley were both very impressive in 2016. Now the A’s just have to hope that they weren’t overperforming.
Vogt is the more likely of the two to have a repeat performance. His 2015 offensive metrics were really not that much higher than the previous two years. For example, his OPS was .695 in 2013, and modestly climbed to .752 and .783 the following seasons. The difference is that he was plugged into the starting role in 2015 and played over 100 games for the first time in his career, so his offensive contributions were more pronounced than in years past.
Phegley is at much more of a risk to revert to the mean in 2016. He was a career .206/.223/.299 hitter before coming to Oakland, and the offensive spark that he provided the A’s in 2015 surprised nearly everybody. When he was sent to Oakland before the 2015 season, it seemed like he was included to round out the Jeff Samardzija trade. However, it became clear that he was destined for significant Major League time when Derek Norris was traded two weeks later.
He will definitely get opportunities to sustain his momentum in 2016, and that will be a welcome surprise for the A’s if he is successful.
Conclusion: The 2016 catching corps is solid and will contribute to wins in 2016, but it is at risk of being less effective than it was in 2015.
Next: The Infielders