Are you aware of how good your Detroit Tigers catcher has been this year? No, not that one. I'm talking about this one, who has been even better. I bet you wouldn't even believe me if I told you that he was second in the league in avg for a catcher. You would only believe me if I gave you the below chart, so, chart:
| 1 | Yadier Molina | STL | 148 | 18 | 48 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 15 | .324 | .370 | .480 | .850 |
| 2 | Alex Avila | DET | 130 | 17 | 38 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 37 | .292 | .358 | .562 | .920 |
| 3 | Buster Posey | SF | 157 | 17 | 45 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 29 | .287 | .372 | .395 | .767 |
| 4 | Brian McCann | ATL | 168 | 12 | 46 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 29 | .274 | .340 | .393 | .733 |
| 5 | Miguel Montero | ARI | 143 | 20 | 39 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 25 | .273 | .358 | .434 | .792 |
| Matt Wieters | BAL | 143 | 16 | 39 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 28 | .273 | .340 | .413 | .752 | |
| 7 | Russell Martin | NYY | 139 | 23 | 37 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 24 | .266 | .370 | .504 | .874 |
| 8 | A.J. Pierzynski | CHW | 156 | 10 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 9 | .263 | .301 | .333 | .635 |
| 9 | Kurt Suzuki | OAK | 155 | 17 | 39 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 17 | .252 | .322 | .381 | .702 |
| 10 | Miguel Olivo | SEA | 144 | 20 | 33 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 43 | .229 | .290 | .340 | .630 |
If I sorted that chart by HRs, Big Al would be second only to Russell Martin and J.P. Arencibia, but that's only because ESPN sorts by at bats (in which case, ESPN, shouldn't Alex be first?) and because J.P. is a slightly better dancer. The one thing that J.P. and his dougie (RIP) can't overcome is how well Big Al has handled Detroit's starters so far this year. Alex has caught 39/48 games for a staff with a combined ERA of 3.42. He also throws runners out at a 36% rate, good for 5th in the league. The confluence of evidence suggests that Detroit might just have one of the better catchers in the league. As hard as that would have been to believe at the beginning of the season, Big Al Avila has blossomed into an exceedingly effective major leaguer. I'll be the last one to complain about that development, given the pillowfight that takes place at the plate for Tigers hitters not named Cabrera, Martinez and more recently Peralta.
Oh, and haters, just in case you don't believe that Alex can hit equal well, almost eerily equally well in fact, against lefties and righties, STATS bro:
Alex Avila vs. Lefties: .290, .914 OPS, Alex Avila vs. Righties: .293, 915 OPS
"But Anthony, stats are stupid, I'm a visual learner. I need a funny picture of Alex, potentially next to a hilarious Rick Moranis character from a mid 80's movie:"
