MLB Offseason 2017: Top 50 free agents

46. Chris Iannetta

What a difference a year made for the Arizona Diamondbacks pitching staff. From 2016 to 2017, the D’Backs staff went from one of the worst in the league to one of the best. A healthy Zack Greinke played a big part in that resurgence, but ditching defensively-challenged Welington Castillo in favor of solid pitch framer Chris Iannetta cannot be ignored as a factor in the staff’s marked improvement.

Iannetta split time behind the plate with a pair of defense-first backstops, Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann. The 12-year veteran caught 89 games for the Diamondbacks in 2017 and had one of the best seasons of his career. Iannetta hit .254/.354/.511 with 19 doubles, 17 home runs and 43 RBI.

The differences in performance of the starting rotation from one year to the next points to real value in Iannetta and his fellow catchers’ abilities to frame pitches and handle the staff. Meanwhile, Castillo went to Baltimore and helped guide the Orioles to one of the worst pitching seasons in MLB history.

Realistically, the Diamondbacks don’t need three catchers for next season, but they should attempt to keep Iannetta as the best hitter from their current group of backstops. While his arm plays below league average, he more than makes up for it with the rest of his skills behind the plate.