Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings earns trust of teammates in seizing No. 1 role
His affable father, fair or not, was not necessarily one of the more popular figures in Pittsburgh sports. But the just-as-genial Jacob Stallings, undoubtedly, is one the most popular players among his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates.
Less than two years after Kevin Stallings was let go by Pitt following a winless season in ACC basketball play, his son Jacob has completed a remarkable ascent to the No. 1 catcher’s role for the Pirates heading into the 2020 season. And his rise within the organization is attributable in so small part to how much his teammates are drawn to him.
“He’s great,” pitcher Chad Kuhl said last month at PiratesFest. “He has those characteristics that you look for in a catcher, that you look for in a battery mate. You look for those guys that want you to be at your best.”
Kuhl compared Stallings to popular former Pirates catchers Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart, veterans who were leaders in the clubhouse and coveted by pitchers as catchers with whom they wanted to work.
“Those guys who come and sit with you at the end of each inning or whenever you need it, (Stallings) has those qualities,” Kuhl said. “Obviously, he’s a good receiver. He’s just a good guy to have back there. And people just love throwing to him because he knows that from Pitch 1 to the end of the game that guy is locked in, and that’s why people love him.
“He cares.”
For a player who entered last season as a 29-year-old with just 24 MLB games played, Stallings is an unlikely No. 1 catcher — even for a rebuilding team such as the Pirates.
Stallings was designated for assignment last May, but by the end of the season he was established as the clear starter. Stallings played 36 of the Pirates’ final 53 games, starting 30. From June 22 on, he started more than half of the Pirates’ games, and he posted a respectable-for-a-catcher .268/.331/.408 slash line.
“It was certainly a whirlwind,” Stallings said of his 2019. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to get picked up by another team (after the May 18 DFA). It was a lot of prayer time and honestly a lot of worry — but just hoping for the best and just really grateful that it did work out for the best.
“Didn’t get claimed, obviously, and got called back up a week later (May 27, after Cervelli went on the injured list). So, just really thankful with how it worked out. Playing so much in the second half into the year was obviously not something I’d gotten to do yet at the major league level. It was fun for me getting to prove more what I could do and prove to myself what I could do.”
Stallings proved he can be an above-average defensive catcher in the majors. He rated fourth in fangraphs.com’s Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) metric among the 48 players who caught at least 400 innings last season. He also rated ninth best at framing pitches and 11th best overall in Fangraph’s defensive data.
Suspicious of opponents engaging in sign-stealing, the #Pirates at times would change their catcher-to-pitcher signs every inning during road games last season, catcher Jacob Stallings said https://t.co/9gM00KOvYa
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) January 26, 2020
“The effort (Stallings) puts on is what we appreciate more than anything,” starting pitcher Joe Musgrove said. “That’s who he is. Every day Jake was there, he was watching our films, he was catching our bullpens, talking with us during games. That’s what you need.”
The player Stallings passed as the Pirates’ No. 1 catcher, the since-released Elias Diaz, was last overall in framing and DRS.
It’s no coincidence all of the Pirates’ starters quickly were clamoring to work with Stallings after Chris Archer requested him as his personal catcher.
Saturday's cover: Jacob Stallings wins it for #Pirates with 11th-ining single vs. #Nationals. Story >> https://t.co/kxHtNW8oEp pic.twitter.com/WgabjDedPP
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) September 24, 2016
Still, none of that would have mattered if the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Stallings didn’t improve his offense with the help of hitting coach Rick Eckstein.
“Defense had always come easier for me,” said Stallings, who finished seventh on the team in Wins Above Replacement (WAR). “It’s kind of like shooting a basketball. Shooting a basketball kind of always came easy to me. Hitting did not come easy to me, so it’s something I always worked at. So it’s been cool.
“I always felt like I had a good swing, but getting in a position to hit with my big lanky body has been challenging for me, so working with (Eckstein) on that was huge for me.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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