Best Young Catchers for 2011 - MLB's Best Catchers Under Age 26

Catchers have a difficult task and are arguably the smartest players on the field. They must keep control of the pitching staff, relay signals from the dugout, and yeah, take their turn at the plate ever 9 batters. Young catchers are hard to find for a couple of reasons.

Most catchers aren’t going to put up eye popping numbers. Mike Piazza is for all intents and purposes, the best offensive catcher ever and he hit .308 lifetime with 427 homers and 1,335 RBI. Those are decent numbers, but hardly what you would expect from the best offensive player at a position.
Because catchers aren’t really known for their offense the ability to master a pitching staff becomes more valuable than ever. This is usually a skill that is acquired over many seasons behind the plate.

Putting together an extensive list of young catchers is difficult, especially considering that only two under-25 catchers in all of Major League Baseball had more than 400 at bats last season. At the top of the list is Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants. Buster Posey took home the National League Rookie of the Year award for 2010 and deservedly so. His performance in the second half of the 2010 season was better than just about anyone in the Majors. In other words, Buster Posey is the entire list of Best Catchers under the Age of 25. But, in case you were wondering if there were any other names to watch out for, here you go. Matt Wieters of Baltimore is a distant second in terms of stats, but he’s all we got right now. He should see more playing time this season and his 2010 campaign was impressive enough to turn some heads. If he can stay healthy, this kid might turn into a pretty good backstop.

2010 Stats for Catchers Under Age 25

Player	Team	Age	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Buster Posey	SF	23	406	58	124	18	67	0	0.305	0.357	0.505	0.862
Matt Wieters	BAL	24	446	37	111	11	55	0	0.249	0.319	0.377	0.695