Padres finally have a catcher who brings a bat to the ballpark

Leading up to the trade deadline, the Padres objectively had the worst catching tandem in the league. Elías Díaz and Martín Maldonado, through July 30 had combined for an OPS of .574, and neither showed any signs of heating up.

It was evident to A.J. Preller that if the team wanted to contend, it would need an offensive upgrade at catcher. This led him to acquire Freddy Fermín from Kansas City in exchange for two pitchers, Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek.

At the time of the trade, Fermín wasn’t exactly the best catcher on the market, as he was slashing just .255/.309/.339 with a wRC+ of 78 for the Royals. But ever since suiting up for San Diego, he has absolutely raked. The 30-year-old posted an OPS of 1.000 with a wRC+ of 193 over his first five games with his new team—elite numbers for a catcher.

Padres finally have decent offensive catcher in Freddy Fermín

Fermín is also a better defensive catcher than both Díaz and Maldonado, as his fielding run value sits at league average. On top of that, his pop time ranks in the top 10 percent, meaning he has a quick release when throwing out base stealers—which, yes, is way better than what San Diego has had this year at the position.

While his defense is average, the main upgrade is on offense, as the back end of the lineup now has a somewhat reliable bat.

Obviously, the numbers will start to go back down to earth for him as the season progresses. But if Fermín could be even just average at best, that is still far better than what the team had previously.

Going forward, expect Fermín to start every two-thirds or three-quarters of the games for the Friars, with Elías Díaz occasionally getting the nod for the third or fourth game. It’s a great move for the Padres as they will finally have a solid bat at the bottom of the lineup.