ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s going to be hard for the 2024 Texas Rangers to top the productivity of the 2023 World Series winning catching tandem of Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver. That bountiful setup ended up being a principal reason for Texas ending their season as the last team standing.
Garver, while spending much of the season anchored as the designated hitter, ended up signing a two-year deal with the Seattle Mariners to greatly improve the lineup of an immediate rival. For a guy on the wrong side of 30 who has had troubles staying healthy when placed behind the dish, a nice deal with guaranteed at-bats at DH works pretty well for him.
But Heim had long usurped Garver as the primary catcher in Texas, and that has borne fruit even if the safety net of Garver is now in the Pacific Northwest.
2023 Opening Day Catchers: Jonah Heim, Mitch Garver
2024 Projected Opening Day Catchers: Jonah Heim, Andrew Knizner
After a strong 2022 season put him on the map, 2023 was something of a coming out party for Heim, as the then 28-year-old backstop received praise from all over for both sides of the ball.
Using Baseball Savant’s Catcher Framing metrics, Heim was top ranked among all full-time Major League catchers. His caught stealing percentage of nearly 30% was one of the tops in the league. The pitchers who worked with him last season praised his preparedness, communication, and consistency.
For such a strong defender, on the offensive side of things, Heim was a bonus. Yes, a catcher should be able to hit well, but when their primary job is navigating a pitching staff – for Texas in 2023, that included star veteran starters and a balky bullpen – anything you can get with the bat is a plus.
With Heim, the Rangers got far more than they bargained for, as the catcher put up a .258/.317/.438 line with a career-high 18 homers, 95 RBI (second in Rangers’ history only to Pudge Rodriguez), 28 doubles, and 61 runs scored. His combination of defensive prowess and offensive acumen earned him his first All-Star Game nod as the American League’s starter.
Heim also was one of three Rangers to win Gold Gloves at the end of the year, along with first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and right fielder Adolis Garcia. Suffice it to say, that 2023 was an incredibly successful year for Jonah Heim.
Now, going to 2024, the expectations have been raised exponentially. Heim, behind the plate, now will have to deal with a slightly less star-studded rotation, as Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and newcomer Tyler Mahle are out with injuries until at least the second half of the season.
Starting the season with Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford likely fifth in the rotation isn’t entirely different from what Texas had throughout the 2023 season, but there are concerns about the depth and ability to wait out the injuries. As steward of the staff, some of the management of missteps falls to Heim.
Heim will also try to shepherd the bullpen back to respectability with Jose Leclerc, Josh Sborz, Brock Burke and newcomer David Robertson being the only cemented spots. Offensively, the league will know what to expect from Heim and he’ll have to make any necessary adjustments to keep the production with the bat going.
Backing up Heim will likely be former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner. Knizner, also going into his age-29 season, will be relied upon to spell Heim which means he’ll be counted on for defensive purposes and game calling first and foremost.
Backup catchers often don’t have or need to have strong offensive capabilities. With that said, Knizner wasn’t exactly a slouch at the plate for the Phillies last year and has been a better hitter than the boilerplate backup in the mold of all-field, no-hit Austin Hedges or Jeff Mathis.
In over 70 games with the Phillies, Knizner put up a respectable .241/.288/.424 slash with 10 homers, 31 RBI and 30 runs scored. That’s up from a 2022 in which he played in 26 more games and posted a worse slash line. For comparison, Garver put up a .270/.370/.500 slash in 87 games, although much of that came as a DH.
Offseason non-roster invitees Jose Godoy and Andrew Knapp are still in the battle for a job at spring training camp if Texas isn’t comfortable with Knizner or if they want to carry three catchers as they did for much of the year last season. Prospect Sam Huff is also an option at the minor league level, but the Rangers seem determined to get him more reps at Triple-A Round Rock to better him behind the plate.
There are some injury concerns with Heim, which makes the lack of a true Garver-level backup a potential oversight for 2024. Overall, however, Texas’ situation behind the plate is as bright as ever, with Heim leading the way as one of the league’s best backstops.
Heim is under team control through 2027, but with another stellar year, the two sides could look at an arbitration buyout. He’s certainly earned the $2.3 million bump in pay that he’s getting this year after a season for the ages in 2023.
Do you think the Rangers are in better shape overall at catcher in 2024? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
