Another Underwhelming Year From Miguel Montero

For the four seasons spanning 2009-12, Miguel Montero was a very useful fantasy catcher. The lowest triple slash he posted over that time frame was a useful .266/.332/.438 line, still good for a 100 wRC+. His decline has been rapid, as for the second year in a row Montero has hit below .250 and over his past 1,035 plate appearances he’s managed a mere 86 wRC+. 

Injuries have played a role in his descent to near fantasy irrelevance, as back injuries sapped back nearly all of August 2013. After coming back he manged just two home runs in the final five weeks of the season. This year we saw him get into 136 games, however his offensive totals are still disappointing. His 13 home runs are a welcome sight, but for the fourth consecutive year we’ve seen his HR/FB% drop. Displayed below is Montero’s average fly ball distance by year as well as his overall fly ball rate.

	HR/FB%	FB%	AVG DIST
2011	12.6%	35.9%	294
2012	11.6%	36.0%	290
2013	11.3%	31.4%	288
2014	9.9%	33.2%	284
Career average	11.1%	42.8%	291*

*Baseball Heat Maps did not have Montero’s information for 2008 or any data from his 17 PAs in 2006. 

Factor in the injuries and general wear and tear on a catcher and it is quite possible we’ve seen the best from the now 31-year-old Montero. He’s still getting on base — three straight seasons of 10%+ walk rate — however his batted ball rates continue to decline. His four most recent seasons have seen him hit more ground balls than fly balls which would normally a good thing for BABIP. Unfortunately the term “catcher speed” is a label that isn’t a compliment and the weak grounders Montero is putting into play aren’t translating to singles. It’s possible we’ll see a bounce-back from him, similar to his magnificent 2012 campaign where he posted a .362 BABIP, when he gets some good fortune in the batted ball department, but I doubt it. As a long time Montero fan, the truth hurts and the writing seems to be on the wall. Montero still has his place in two catcher leagues but if you play in a standard 12-team mixed format, there are better options available.