New Atlanta Braves catcher Kurt Suzuki is entering his 11th year in the bigs. One could argue that Kurt’s had one really good year, and several semi-good/average years. His really good year came in 2014 when he slashed .288/.345/.383 and made the American League All-Star team, and other than 2014, he’s been okay.
Suzuki is certainly not the best defensive backstop in baseball. His 3.8 defensive fWAR ranked 20th out of 24 catchers who caught at least 650 innings 2016. But Kurt Suzuki can hit (at least better than Anthony Recker). And contrary to what many baseball analysts tell you in the year of 2017 – hits are important.