The veteran backstop couldn’t hold off the youth movement.
Overview
- Rating: 3.44
- 2024 stats: 31 G, 96 PA, .173/.287/.210, 42 OPS+, 0.3 bWAR
- Date of birth: January 7, 1991 (age 33 season)
- 2024 earnings: $740,000 (was also being paid $3.25m from 2023 deal with Cubs)
- 2025 status: Free Agent
Voting overview
2024 review
Tucker Barnhart was still being paid by the Cubs in 2024 as he was in the second year of a 2 year deal he signed with them in the previous offseason, but the Cubbies released him late in the 2023 season and he was a free agent to sign with whoever he wished during the 2023-24 offseason. In January, he decided to take a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks and fight for the backup catcher slot with Jose Herrera behind Gabriel Moreno.
Barnhart didn’t have an earth shaking Spring Training at the plate (.635 OPS in 31 PA), but signing Barnhart was never about his bat, which had never been better than 10% below average per wRC+ in his 10 year career. If Barnhart was going to make the 26-man roster, it was going to be on the strength of his veteran leadership and ability to work with the pitching staff. With the lack of many viable options to play catcher in the Major Leagues at the outset of the 2024 campaign, it made sense when the Diamondbacks officially selected the contract of Barnhart and sent Herrera to Reno for Opening Day.
As expected, Barnhart’s playing time was limited to about one game per series through the first two and a half months of play. The bat wasn’t a factor which is a feature, not a bug, of the Barnhart experience. Through June 19th, he was slashing .164/.301/.197 with 3 RBI and 11 R in 75 PA. He was walking a fair bit, but that’s about all you could say for his offensive production.
More concerningly, on the defensive side, which is what was supposed to be Mr. Barnhart’s calling card, he just didn’t really move the needle. At the end of the season, his Fielding Run Value, per Baseball Savant, was the lowest of the 4 catchers who played for the Diamondbacks last season at -3 in only 248 innings caught.
The overall package wasn’t thrilling, but he likely would’ve been safe as a veteran backup catcher without two crucial developments. First, on June 20th, Gabriel Moreno was sidelined with a sprained thumb and Barnhart stepped into the everyday catcher role. Over the next 8 games as the primary catcher, his batting production stayed fairly static when looking at OPS (still putrid at sub-.500), but that was because he was able to paper over his evaporated walk rate by getting more hits thanks to a luckier BABIP than early in the year. It became much more apparent that if Gabi was going to be dinged up at any point further in the season, the offensive black hole that was Barnhart and Herrera could suck the Diamondbacks lineup out of contention. The second development that likely shooed Barnhart out the door was a young man by the name of Adrian Del Castillo blistering baseballs in Reno. With it becoming more and more clear that ADC had earned at bats with the big league club, Tucker Barnhart became expendable once Gabriel Moreno returned from the IL.
On June 30th, Tucker Barnhart played his last game with the Diamondbacks, a 5-1 home win against Oakland. On July 2nd, Moreno was activated from the IL and Barnhart was DFA’d as the corresponding roster move. Barnhart eventually signed back with the team he spent most of his career with, the Cincinnati Reds, playing the balance of the 2024 season with their AAA club in Louisville.
Instead of ending this section on a somber note, I’d like to add that Tucker did get to pitch an inning of relief for the Diamondbacks this season. The final line wasn’t good, but he did throw this eephus to Bryce Harper, clocked as the second slowest pitch to be a called strike in MLB last season!
He looked closer to the guys in my base intramural softball league, complete with quickly backing off in self defense at the pitch, but it made a beat down more entertaining.
2025 outlook
Tucker Barnhart will be in his age-34 season next year. There were only 11 catchers who logged at least 1 Plate Appearance in their age-34-or-older season in 2024, and 9 of those 11 were part-time players with less than 85 games played. In addition to being at the back end of the aging curve, his bat is woefully bad, even for older, part-time catchers. Of the 11 catchers who were at least 34 in 2024, only 3 had an OPS lower than Barnhart’s mark of .497.
There will probably be a market for Barnhart this offseason, but it will most likely be limited to minor league deals similar to the one he played under with the Diamondbacks and Reds this season. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him latch on somewhere and get Major League appearances as he can still somewhat handle the defensive demands of the position and provide a heavy dose of “veteran presence” to clubhouses, but this upcoming season very well could be his last hurrah.