.629.
The number above is all we should need to know about the Yankees catching situation in 2013. The number represents the team's OPS at that position this year, which ranks them 27th in baseball. It would obviously be even worse if not for Francisco Cervelli's .877 number in 17 games earlier this season.
The Yankees have been spending the past month or so looking for offensive upgrades anywhere they can find them. Alfonso Soriano represented an upgrade to the lineup, so they went and traded for him (Of course, he didn't replace Vernon Wells, which would have made it an even bigger upgrade. The fact that Wells is in the same lineup as Soriano shows you that more work needs to be done).
One of the places they may have a built-in, cheap upgrade is in the catcher spot - notably, JR Murphy. I understand the hesitation of rushing any prospect to the show just for the sake of trying to squeeze out some offense, but it is my opinion that Murphy's situation is different. This wouldn't be the Yankees rushing him - he is actually forcing their hand.
Entering today's action in Scranton (a day in which Murphy added two more hits to his ledger), Murphy was hitting .288/.366/.456 in 125 AB since joining Scranton and .276/.358/.435 when you factor in his stint in Trenton. He has struck out 55 times in 308 AB with 39 walks. This doesn't scream of a player that would be rushed - this screams of a player who is consistently answering every challenge the Yankees throw at him.
That doesn't mean he will instantly respond to the challenge of hitting in the major leagues. However, I think you accomplish a few things here:
1. If he comes up and hits, he instantly bolsters your lineup going forward - a lineup that should have Curtis Granderson in it down the stretch.
2. If he comes up and struggles, you at least accomplish allowing him to get his feet wet now at the major league level instead of waiting until April, 2014. Also, it could give the Yankees a feel for how they should approach the position for 2014.
There are a few ways to approach such a move - the easiest way from the organization's standpoint would be to simply swap Austin Romine for Murphy, put Murphy in the starting role, and letting Chris Stewart back him up. One of the biggest pros of this approach is that Murphy can learn at the major league level from the grizzled veteran - a veteran who is used to being a bench player, which would make the transition easier. For all of his faults (and he has many), Stewart truly is a solid defensive catcher with a good reputation for pitch framing. If he can teach JR Murphy some of the finer points of framing pitches, it will enhance Murphy's value even more. Also, this allows Romine to go to the minor leagues for a month to get consistent at-bats before rejoining the club in September.
Another approach (which I initially thought I would favor; but now I am not so sure) would be to shop Stewart around. One may think that is a silly thought - who in their right minds would trade anything of value for Stewart? In all likelihood, you are right about that - he is not very good at the stuff that is commonly measured, while he is very good at doing things that are less commonly thought of. However, the Yankees value the part of the game that Stewart brings to the table, and one would have to assume that other teams would value it as well. At the end of the day, the return would seem to be quite minimal. There is likely more value in Murphy learning from Stewart than there is in trading Stewart for a Grade-C prospect.
Of course, Murphy is not on the 40-man roster, so you have that consideration to think about. But at this point, the 40-man roster isn't exactly overflowing with greatness. Moves can be made to accommodate Murphy.
Sometimes, it pays to roll the dice to see what comes up. In the case of Murphy, you aren't asking him to do much to be an upgrade. I suggest giving him the job now and letting him run with it. It is one of those situations where I think the pros greatly outweigh the cons.
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