After a down year in 2024, the Texas Rangers are hoping for a rebound year from Jonah Heim at catcher while also bringing in some help at the position this winter.
ARLINGTON, Texas — To say that the production level, as a whole, from the catcher spot underwhelmed for the Texas Rangers in 2024 would be an understatement. With Jonah Heim coming off arguably a team MVP quality year in which the Rangers won the World Series, he started the All-Star game, and won his first Gold Glove, the organization felt comfortable parting ways with offensive threat Mitch Garver, who backed Heim up behind the dish.
Going into 2024, Heim was seen as a stable, consistent, and key part of the core behind the plate – a welcome sight until it wasn’t. And when it wasn’t, Heim’s fall from grace mirrored that of the team, which failed to reach the postseason after their October glory the year prior.
2024 Opening Day catchers: Jonah Heim, Andrew Knizner
2025 Projected Opening Day catchers: Jonah Heim, Kyle Higashioka
Talks of “extension” and “long-term solution” were thrown around after Heim’s outstanding 2023. Behind the plate, Heim was considered an above-average framer, thrower, blocker, and game-caller, which landed him the nod as the American League’s top defensive catcher.
Offensively, Heim slashed .258/.317/.438 with a career-high 18 homers, 95 RBI, and 118 hits while playing in 131 games. He earned an All-Star nod, along with practically the entirety of the starting lineup for the Rangers. Things were good and got even better in the playoffs where Heim played in every inning except one during Texas’ run to the title.
Heim looked like a unicorn, especially as he was about to enter his age-29 season. For a guy who was traded from Oakland in exchange for Elvis Andrus, everything looked like it was aligned for Heim to be the catcher of the future for the Rangers.
The 2024 victory lap didn’t go as planned, however. In response to losing Garver, the Rangers signed Knizner, a former member of the St. Louis Cardinals who had worked with pitching coach Mike Maddux’s staff during their time together in St. Louis.
Unfortunately, already lesser with the bat, Knizner proved to be a steep drop-off from Garver, sinking even below his meager career averages, but Texas had figured that Heim would be the primary catcher and provide enough production so that Knizner would be a fill-in at best. That proved disastrous as Heim, who added 17 playoff games to his career-high 131 games, seemed to wilt under the increased load.
Knizner would turn out to be an afterthought at best and hindrance at worst, going for lengthy stretches of not playing until he was finally designated for assignment at the end of July. During his active tenure with Texas, Knizner was as close to a black hole at the plate as you’ll find (.167/.183/.211 with just two total extra base hits in 35 games) and never seemed to mesh well with the pitching staff behind the plate, either.
One would think then that, during that stretch, Heim was thriving at the plate and keeping Knizner on the bench. Heim started the year fine, perhaps leading to manager Bruce Bochy riding him a little harder than expected with Knizner not producing, but his offensive numbers started to take a downward turn in May and bottomed out in June, with the catcher slashing .186/.260/.286.
The rest of the way, Heim’s numbers didn’t get much better, prompting the Rangers to trade for Carson Kelly from the Detroit Tigers. Kelly’s addition was a welcome presence for a struggling lineup. As the Rangers fell out of contention, however, it became a moot point, with more of the concern going toward Heim’s precipitous drop off.
In response, the Rangers’ first big move of the 2024 offseason was signing eight-year veteran catcher Kyle Higashioka. Higashioka spent the first seven years of his career as a backup catcher for the New York Yankees before being traded to the San Diego Padres where he ended the year as San Diego’s primary catcher.
The 34-year-old might not take over the primary catching spot from Heim, but the veteran can help lighten the load and allow Heim more days of rest to stay fresher throughout the season.
Higashioka is a solid defensive backup, and while his offensive production keeps him as an understudy, he is coming off a career year where he slugged 17 home runs for the Padres after three consecutive years of hitting ten apiece for New York.
Signed to a two-year deal, Higashioka provides a sturdy, veteran presence who can be reliably inserted into the lineup without worrying about a massive drop-off in production, which appears to be more in line with how Heim should be handled rather than asking him to shoulder the whole load.
2025 needs to be a rebound year for the Rangers all around, but specifically at the catcher position, with Heim still in the prime years of his career and with much to look forward to. While his luster was diminished from a subpar 2024 campaign, Heim does still represent the future at the position for Texas, as there are no upper-level minor league prospects beating down the door at the position, especially with former top prospect Sam Huff being designated for assignment this winter.
Heim is still regarded favorably with a starting pitching staff that is bringing several arms back from injury, and Higashioka has a good reputation from his time with the Yankees and Padres. Now with a better backup option, the Rangers are counting on Heim to look more like his 2023 self.
Do you think the Rangers will get more production from their catchers in 2025? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.