Stallings earns trust behind plate in 2020

PITTSBURGH -- Jacob Stallings grew up dreaming about winning a Gold Glove Award. The funny thing, if you dig a little deeper into that childhood cliché, is that Stallings wasn’t sure he’d ever hit well enough to even play in the big leagues.

“That was like, ‘Major League Baseball player? Eh. Maybe I’d be good enough to win the Gold Glove if they DH’d for me or something,’” Stallings said in September, grinning. “It would be a dream come true, simple as that.”

Stallings’ dream did not come true on Tuesday night, as Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart emerged on top of the National League field to win a Gold Glove over fellow finalists Stallings and Willson Contreras of the Cubs. But the Pirates' catcher has clearly established himself as one of the top defensive backstops in baseball.

• 2020 Gold Glove Award winners

Stallings finished with a 2.9 SABR Defensive Index (SDI), the metric used to determine this year’s Gold Glove Award winners. Cleveland’s Roberto Pérez (5.1) and Barnhart (4.7) were the only catchers to post a higher mark during this shortened season. So Stallings’ defense is still worthy of attention, Gold Glove or not, especially when you consider the strides he’s taken over the last two seasons.

This year began with questions about whether the Pirates had a legitimate starting catcher on their roster. It ended with Stallings standing as one of only two or three Pittsburgh players to solidify a starting role heading into next season.

“Certainly at the end of last year, it was a goal of mine -- and a goal I wasn’t sure would be realistic,” Stallings said. “You just never really know. So many things have to fall into place. I didn’t know at the time if I was going to be a starter, what my role was going to be.”

Stallings and second baseman Adam Frazier both finished second in the SDI rankings at their respective positions, leaving left fielder Corey Dickerson in 2018 as the Pirates’ last Gold Glove Award winner. Pittsburgh’s most recent Gold Glove-winning catcher is Mike LaValliere (1987), while Tony Peña won three straight from '83-85, but Stallings had a strong case to change that.

He caught more innings this season (345 1/3) than any other catcher in the NL. He led all NL catchers with 22 assists, and he tied Yadier Molina for games played (42) while starting the second-most games among NL backstops (40, to Molina’s 42). He caught nine runners stealing, tied with Contreras for most in the league.

The advanced metrics were similarly favorable for Stallings. His excellent pitch-framing -- a skill he refined after being designated for assignment in 2019 -- totaled two runs from extra strikes this season, according to Statcast. Only Barnhart (nine) finished with more Defensive Runs Saved than Stallings (seven).

And Stallings has earned the respect of his teammates, especially Pirates pitchers, due to his diligent preparation and feel for game-calling. It is perhaps no coincidence that left-hander Steven Brault dominated in his final two starts of the season, for instance, while leaning completely on Stallings’ decision-making behind the plate.

"Every year he gets better, which I think is a very admirable thing. It's not easy, especially when you're in the big leagues, to keep continuing to get better every year,” Brault said in September. “I think what's cool about what Stallings does is he is so into it and he works with the pitchers so much and he works with [catching coach] Glenn Sherlock and he works with ‘Funky,’ the bullpen catcher [Jordan Comadena], and they're super into it and all the analytics of catching and everything. And then also he's a great guy.”

Stallings was named the Clemente Award winner (Pirates team MVP) and Chuck Tanner Award (most cooperative with the media) by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The 30-year-old paired his defensive prowess with a serviceable .248/.326/.376 slash line and 18 RBIs in 42 games this year.

Manager Derek Shelton recognized Stallings’ defensive ability when he began watching 2019 Pirates games after he was hired last winter. Watching from the dugout, it didn’t take long for Shelton to become his catcher’s biggest advocate.

Five games into the season, Shelton said he would be “hard-pressed to bet … that there’s been anybody better catching in baseball this year.” A month later, on Aug. 29, he repeated that claim and added that “people are missing it” if they don’t have Stallings atop the list of Gold Glove Award candidates. Throughout September, Shelton went out of his way to campaign for Stallings.

Stallings didn’t win an award on Tuesday night, but he’s won the trust and respect of his coaches and teammates.

“I think he’s done a nice job. Not only is he helping those pitchers grow, but I think we’re seeing him grow,” Shelton said on Sept. 22. “There’s a guy there that’s an elite receiver, an elite thrower and, again, in my mind, a guy that should win the Gold Glove.”