Stassi, one of the only catchers in the majors sticking to the traditional squatting stance, has switched to one knee down and is hopeful for better results
TEMPE, Ariz. — For the past few years, the Angels’ Max Stassi had rejected the evolution of his position.
After he played three innings Sunday with his new technique, he said was eager to see how the change makes him better at framing and blocking, and even better at hitting if his legs are fresher. Over the past five or six years, it became standard for catchers to get on one knee with the bases empty. It’s only been within the past year or two that more and more catchers have gone to the one-knee stance even with runners on base.
Stassi admitted that the optics are bad when a catcher is down on one knee and he is unable to move laterally get his chest protector on a wide pitch, but he said many of those pitches would have gotten past the catcher anyway. Stassi said improving his framing was one of the motivations for making the change. In 2019, Stassi ranked ninth among 64 qualified catchers in framing, according to StatCast. Last season,Although it would seem that throwing might be tougher from a knee, Stassi said it’s actually a pretty natural movement to pop up from a knee to throw.
O’Hoppe, 23, said he’s still planning to just use the one-knee stance with the bases empty and before there are two strikes. Stassi and Chad Wallach are each 31 and Matt Thaiss is 27; they all plan to use the one-knee stance most of the time.
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