Which Angels received passing or failing grades in 2020?

Angels: 2020 Season Grades – Catchers

Max Stassi: C
This was Max Stassi’s first full season with the Angels since coming over from the Houston Astros as he performed subpar in offense due to the fact that the Angels also had Jason Castro until they traded him to the San Diego Padres. Stasis’s offensive numbers don’t really jump out as his line is .278/.352/.533 with an OPS+ 139. However, catchers should be more concerned with how they call a ball game for pitchers, and the Angels pitching staff just couldn’t hold together at the right times this season. While his defensive capabilities are exceptional with a fielding percentage of .996, the Angels brought him on board because of his pitch framing capabilities, that is the ability to make balls look like strikes from the umpire’s view and he did produce in that category as he had a strike rate of 50.3%. Even still, the Angels pitching also relies on the communication of a catcher and the Angels failed in the pitching department this year.

Jason Castro: C+
Jason Castro wasn’t with the Angels the entire season as he was traded at the deadline to the Padres, however, when he was with the Angels, he performed well defensively. Just like Stassi, Castro was also known for his pitch framing capabilities and defensive skills as he had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage which the Padres seemed to like as they pulled the trigger for help behind the plate. His hitting wasn’t too hot as he only had a .192 batting average with the Angels with two home runs and six RBIs, but the Angels knew they were getting him for his skills behind the plate. Even with his defensive skills, his pitch framing is why the Angels got him and he did his job as he had a strike rate of 50.1%, unfortunately, his skills at getting called strikes didn’t help the pitching staff too much as that was the main problem for the team during the season.

Anthony Bemboom: D+
Bemboom was the Angels third catcher and didn’t get a whole lot of playing time due to both Stassi and Castro on the roster for most of the season. He didn’t bat too well having a slash line of .208/.328/.417 and some of that could be due to the lack of playing time, however, these aren’t too impressive regardless. In the twenty games that Bemboom did play, he had a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000 and had 8 assists behind the plate. His strike rate was at 48.4% which shows that he could still work on his pitch-framing skills and he may have with the help of Castro and Stassi as they are known for their strike rates as mentioned before. He is pre-arbitration eligible after the 2020 season, so he’ll still with the team and the Angels can only hope that there is any improvement if it all.