Nov. 04--The Tribune will be doing position-by-position analyses for the 2015 White Sox. Next up is the catchers.
2015 statistics
Tyler Flowers: 112 games, 100 starts; .239 batting average, 12 doubles, nine home runs, 39 RBIs, 21 walks, 104 strikeouts, .652 OPS; five errors, 10 double plays, 15 passed balls, 53 stolen bases against, 18 caught stealing; 0.4 WAR, according to FanGraphs
Geovany Soto: 78 games, 53 starts; .219 batting average, eight doubles, nine home runs, 21 RBIs, 21 walks, 63 strikeouts, .708 OPS; five errors, one double play, five passed balls, 21 stolen bases against, nine caught stealing; 1.1 WAR
Rob Brantly: 14 games, nine starts; .121 batting average, one double, one home run, six RBIs, two walks, eight strikeouts, .409 OPS; 0 errors, one double play, two passed balls, one stolen base, three caught stealing; minus-0.2 WAR
Contract status for 2016
Flowers: Eligible for arbitration
Soto: Free agent
Brantly: Under team control
Breakdown
Catcher continues to be a position that the Sox could stand to upgrade, as Flowers ranked 35th in WAR and Soto 24th among catchers with at least 200 plate appearances this season, according to FanGraphs.
With Soto set to go back on the free-agent market and no standout minor-league prospect, the Sox could look outside for a complement to Flowers in 2016.
Flowers continued to draw praise for his work with the pitchers in 2015, and ace Chris Sale often credited Flowers' pregame preparation and game calling after his successes. After Sale broke the team single-season strikeout record, he went so far as to say there was "no chance I would be sitting here right now without Flowers."
Flowers also received high marks this season for his improvements in pitch framing, as Baseball Prospectus ranked him among the top three in baseball in that category.
Of course, Flowers has other areas that need improving. While offense might not be the Sox's biggest concern with their catchers, he has struck out 357 times over the last three years and hasn't hit above .241 in any season.
He played much of the season through right knee pain that required offseason surgery to remove a baker's cyst and a piece of loose cartilage, but he is expected to be ready for spring training.
Soto was a serviceable backup while mostly catching Jeff Samardzija, and he showcased occasional pop, hitting as many homers as Flowers in about half the starts. Brantly and Kevan Smith were the Sox's top Triple-A catchers in 2015.
Brantly received a call-up and occasional playing time in September, but he didn't put up great numbers in his limited opportunities. He had offseason surgery to remove part of the meniscus in his left knee but is expected to be back to regular training by the beginning of December.
