Texas Rangers: Why Jeff Mathis is a great signing

The Texas Rangers made some waves this week as they signed catcher Jeff Mathis to a two-year deal. Why is that fantastic for the Rangers? Let’s take a look.

The Texas Rangers clearly thought that a move had to be made behind home plate as they landed veteran catcher, Jeff Mathis. The MLB nomad has been all over the place as this will be his fifth team in the pros. Mathis originated with the Angels, however, he soon moved on to the Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Can the veteran player make a difference on this Rangers team?

Most likely, as he is the type of catcher that should help these young pitchers reach their full potential. Now let me preface this by stating simply, Mathis is an awful batter.

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In 2017 he recorded one home run in 218 at bats. It appears Mathis has continued his MLB career for so long (14 seasons) because he is an elite game-caller who can have a profound effect on the pitcher’s mound.

I mean the guy has made over $15 million dollars as purely a game-caller, that is insanity. Offensively he cannot do a single thing effectively however when it comes to helping pitchers out there is no one better. Defensively he is also elite as his career 28 percent caught-stealing stoppage rate is a point higher than the MLB average.

He also has one of the fastest reaction times of any catcher when it comes to fielding ground balls, framing, throwing, and blocking. It appears Mathis’s appeal simply does not come from pure talent alone as he has seemingly been the baseball whisperer to entire pitching staffs.

His value comes from building a relationship with the mound that is unshakable and that makes a team better down the road. It has been noted that he just makes pitching staffs better and more efficient to win games throughout the arduous MLB regular season.

A big reason for this is simply the trust he builds with the pitchers he works with as they know he has a detailed game plan for how they can succeed. This move obviously explains why the Texas Rangers declined their $2.375 million option for their former catcher Robinson Chirinos during the offseason.

These moves also indicate what the Texas Rangers front office want from their veteran players, trust and tremendous knowledge about the game of baseball. Sure, Chirinos was the better hitter out of the two but the Texas Rangers could not have been happy about his lackluster performance behind the plate. Even with all of the questions surrounding the roster and the managerial elements of this baseball team.

The Rangers seem very comfortable knowing they have an elite catcher taking care of their pitchers.

• Published on 11/16/2018 at 18:01 PM
• Last updated at 11/16/2018 at 11:51 AM