Most Important Player On a Team in the MLB

How would one person determine the most important player on a team? The most times he touches the ball? The highest batting average? Best defense? There is no real test to show the most importance to a team because it differs from year to year. In the article, Ranking baseball’s Most Important Positions By Andrew Kneeland, a sports writer for the Grand Valley Journal, goes on to explain what he thinks the most important positions are to a baseball team. He ranks them from the pitcher as the third most important, middle infielders and the second most important, and then the catcher as the most important player on the team.

It all depends on how you look at the most important player on a team. Someone could make an argument for the pitcher because “ In terms of skills and abilities, the pitcher would be the toughest position to do without on any given day”. Because pitching in baseball is the most explosive thing that a human body can do, that is the hardest position to play and therefore the most important to have a good pitcher. I pitcher can throw up to 100 MPH sometimes and makes the hitters swing and miss a lot, which then makes them not score any runs and you would win the game. But it isn’t as easy as it sounds because these are professional hitters and they have been doing it all of their life.

Then the author comes back with an argument that supports that the catcher is the most important position on the field. He touches the ball on every play and can make a huge difference on strike and ball calls. It is also a very important position because “There is a shortage of decent catchers in the league today, and replacing a superstar backstop is virtually an impossible task.” This makes it that more important that you need to find a good catcher to anchor your team, because without a good catcher, your pitchers aren't going to do as well and that's the next most important thing. Overall “Considering how difficult it is to find an above-average backstop, and because of its importance to the team’s success and, catchers should be any team’s first priority.” When it comes down to the most important position, I think the catcher takes lead on that because he plays every game and he touches the ball every play every game.