Baltimore Orioles: Pedro Severino Was Better Than We Think in 2019

If baseball gets going again in 2020, it is worth our time to take notice of the Baltimore Orioles catchers and their ability to pop and throw out base runners.

A good catcher is a necessity for any team to move into the playoffs, and the Baltimore Orioles have at least one who’s got the arm to get the team there – eventually.

That one is Pedro Severino.

In a piece from MLB.com, Severino was rated as one of the best arms in the AL East. He was rightfully included in a conversation with powerful outfield arms like Kevin Kiermaier, Aaron Judge, and Jackie Bradley Jr.

In the AL overall in 2019, Severino’s arm strength (which is rated by how fast he can throw a ball to second base) was seventh overall. His fastest throw, according to Statcast, was 83.8 MPH. The fastest throw-down speed to second in 2019 belonged to San Diego Padres catcher Francisco Mejia at 88.6.

Severino also has a relatively speed pop time, which is the time it takes to get the ball from his glove to the second baseman’s glove. On average, he can do that feat in 1.99 seconds. The fastest pop time in the MLB in 2019 belonged to J.T. Realmuto who can do it 1.88 seconds. Severino is tied for 10th. Veteran catcher Yadier Molina has a pop-time of 1.98.

The other Orioles catchers have some work to do to catch Severino. He tops all of the stats when it comes to O’s catching in 2019, which is why he played in 96 games.

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The catcher with the second-most games in 2019 was Chance Sisco. Once touted as a top prospect for the O’s, he was bested by a guy the team picked up off of waivers from the Nationals. Severino excelled with the O’s in 2019 after a pathetic 2018 in Washington. He went from hitting a slash of 168/.254/.247 to a .249/.321/.420.

In 2019, Sisco’s pop time was 2.10 seconds, which places him in 74th out of 78th MLB catchers who were evaluated by Statcast. His arm speed is 79.1 MPH, where he ranks 60th in the MLB. Ironically, form O’s catcher Matt Wieters ranks 59th with an arm speed of 79.3 MPH – at 33 years of age.

The other catchers didn’t see as much time as Sisco and Severino. Keep in mind that the O’s have Adley Rutschman in the wings. According to an article from Jon Taylor with Sports Illustrated, Rutschman has a pop time in the low 1.9 second-range. Fangraphs rates his arm strength as 60/60.

Could a platoon of Rutschman and Severino be in the Orioles future? Possibly. And, it might not be too bad, either.