Veteran Kratz has caught on quickly
There’s no question the Milwaukee Brewers have missed the on-field presence of catcher Stephen Vogt, who was lost for the season in May after he underwent shoulder surgery.
But the team pivoted nicely in the wake of that setback, and its acquisition of Erik Kratz a few weeks later has worked out probably better than anyone could have imagined.
Kratz started his 46th game behind the plate on Sunday as the Brewers completed their series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park, going 2 for 4 with a double while being paired once again with starter Jhoulys Chacín.
“We acquired him because we thought he was capable of this,” manager
Craig Counsell said. “He’s done everything we’ve expected of him defensively. I think he’s done a little bit more offensively is probably the right way to put it. His experience has been helpful, for sure.
“He’s done a nice job. You trade for a guy that’s in Triple-A with another organization and this is a good result from it, for sure. What we could have hoped for we’ve definitely gotten from Erik.”
Vogt’s shoulder issue cropped up during spring training, so the Brewers opened the season with Manny Piña and Jett Bandy behind the plate. Two weeks in, Piña landed on the disabled list with a calf strain and rookie Jacob Nottingham was brought up from Class AAA Colorado Springs for his first taste of the major leagues.
Piña returned from his injury and assumed his duties as the team’s primary catcher by late April. But with Bandy contributing little offensively over the next month the move was made on May 25 to bring in Kratz, who was toiling at Class AAA Scranton in the New York Yankees’ organization.
The Brewers sent minor-league infielder Wendell Rijo to the Yankees in exchange for Kratz -- a well-traveled veteran who’d previously played parts of eight seasons for six major-league teams but not in a regular backup capacity since 2013 with Philadelphia.
Kratz started his Brewers tenure with a bang, homering three times in his first six games. He’s come back to earth since then, hitting .249 with five homers and 20 runs batted in -- numbers that are more than sufficient for a No. 2 catcher.
It’s been Kratz’s receiving skills, as Counsell has repeatedly referred to them, and his game-calling ability that have earned him more playing time than the usual backup who plays every fourth or fifth day.
Counsell is loathe to label his players, but of late Kratz’s playing time has at least been equal to Piña’s. Milwaukee pitchers have a collective 3.55 earned run average with the 38-year-old Kratz catching compared to a 4.09 ERA when Piña dons the gear.
“While neither one of us plays every day, you expect that when you come in you’re going to work off each other so together we’re putting the best out there for the pitchers day in and day out,” said Kratz. “That’s what you expect when you come in (to an organization) to work with a guy.”
Waiting for the call: With 14 pitchers in the bullpen at present, Counsell has a wide variety of choices, depending on how games evolve. But the same subset of high-leverage pitchers, specifically Corbin Burnes, Corey Knebel, Jeremy Jeffress and Josh Hader, are going to be used in close games with leads, leaving others to wait for action.
One of those pitchers, Junior Guerra, who was removed from the starting rotation after a rough August, covered 21⁄3 innings Saturday night in the 3-1 loss to the Pirates. Guerra threw the ball well, allowing only one hit with no walks and three strikeouts in what proved to be a longer outing than originally expected.
“You don’t go in with any plan for ‘this guy to be pitching tonight,’” Counsell said. “The game situation dictated it. Junior and (Brandon Woodruff) have been starters, and add length to it.
“We had made the last out in the No. 9 spot (in the bottom of the fifth, with Tyler Saladino batting for starter Zach Davies). We were looking for length there, so (Guerra) made sense. I was hoping to get through that inning with Dan (Jennings) and Jacob (Barnes), but when it didn’t work, Junior was the guy that made perfect sense.
“That’s a function of the game. He was definitely going to pitch the seventh. We didn’t get to his spot (in the lineup), so he went out for the eighth. Junior, Woody, Corbin Burnes, to me they have a little more length in them. Jordan
(Lyles) is capable of going longer, too. So that’s how we’ll treat it.”
As for the excess of relievers available to him, Counsell said, “It helps to get them in games, for sure. That was the purpose in getting Junior in that game in Chicago (one-third of an inning Tuesday), to get him on the mound in a game.”