Another position of significance for Spring Training for the Arizona Diamondbacks will be the backup catcher job. The position has been held by Jose Herrera for much of the past three seasons, but the team has been looking to upgrade over that time as well.
Gabriel Moreno is currently entrenched as the starting catcher, but will likely see 100 games behind the plate. That leaves another 50-60 starts for the backups to keep Moreno fresh as well as injury protection. Who they choose could determine how their season goes, as their starter has seen a short stint on the injured list in each of the past two seasons.
The team will want a strong defender behind the plate, someone who doesn't cause them to fall backward when it comes to the running game, framing, and blocking pitches. Herrera is a good thrower and framer, but a below-average blocker. He serves as a baseline for the battle, as the team has shown to be comfortable with him if necessary.
The other two catchers on the 40-man roster include Rene PInto and Adrian Del Castillo. Pinto, like Herrera, is out of options and would have to be designated for assignment to be removed from the active roster. Both Pinto and Del Castillo are offensive-minded catchers.
The key to this battle will be how far along Del Castillo comes along defensively. He struggled in all areas defensively, especially throwing out basestealers. He has one of the weakest throwing arms amongst catchers who had five attempts at second base on Statcast, and one of the slowest pop times to second at 2.04 seconds. He'll need to improve as a blocker and framer in order to overcome that weakness.
That brings up to Pinto, who is a better defender than Del Castillo and better hitter than Herrera, but not great at both. He is a .231 career hitter with a .263 on-base percentage and 10 home runs. While there is more juice in the bat, he is another out of options catcher who doesn't excel at any area of the game.
Given the current options, it will come down to Del Castillo and Herrera for the backup job. The job is still Herrera's to lose, if the Diamondbacks still value defense first at that spot.