Milwaukee Brewers Add to Catcher Depth, Signing Pedro Severino
By Paul Bretl
Luke Maile elected free agency while Manny Pina is now an Atlanta Brave. It wasn’t a matter of if the Milwaukee Brewers were going to add another catcher, but rather, a matter of when.
Well, reportedly, that time has come. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the Milwaukee Brewers signed Pedro Severino to a one-year $1.9 million deal. The contract also comes with up to $400,000 in incentives.
Catcher Pedro Severino and the Milwaukee Brewers are in agreement on a one-year, $1.9 million contract, pending physical, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Severino, 28, will join Omar Narvaez at catcher and has incentives in the deal that can earn him another $400,000.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 21, 2021
The 28-year-old Severino made his big league debut with Washington in 2015, appearing in two games that season. He would appear in 33 games over the next two seasons and 70 games in 2018. However, the bulk of his big league action would occur with Baltimore over these last three years.
During that span, Severino slashed .249/.315/.712 with 29 home runs and an OPS+ of 91 over 938 plate appearances. He has a career walk rate of 8.5 percent and a career strikeout rate of 23.2 percent, according to Fangraphs.
In 2021 specifically, Severino would appear in a career-high 113 games and posted a .248 average, a .690 OPS, 11 home runs, and an OPS+ of 87. His walk rate was on par with his career average, but he did strikeout at a bit of a higher clip (26.0%).
As a right-handed batter, Severino has a career OPS of .765 against left-handed pitching and will provide the Milwaukee Brewers with a platoon option alongside the left-handed-hitting Omar Narvaez.
However, as a defender, Severino has really struggled. According to Fangraphs, he has -20 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) over the last three seasons combined, including -12 in 2019 and -9 in 2021. As a pitch framer, he has also finished in the bottom 20 percent each of the last three seasons–including in the 3rd percentile in 2021, according to Baseball Savant.
But if you’re looking for a silver lining, I’m sure you recall that Omar Narvaez had his own defensive issues before joining the Milwaukee Brewers. This past season, Narvaez was +3 by DRS and in the 74th percentile for framing.
In addition to the newly added Severino, the Milwaukee Brewers also have catcher Mario Feliciano on the 40-man roster.