Catchers with 2,000 + Hits

Making it to the major leagues as a catcher is incredibly difficult to do. Only a fraction of those who have ever put on catcher's gear have made it to the top of the professional level. 

Of those that do reach the big leagues, even a smaller percentage actually stay there and turn it into a long career. 

Among these multi-season MLB veteran catchers, a select few have been good enough and healthy enough (for long enough) to amass 2,000 or more career hits. 

In fact, since professional baseball first began in 1869, only 13 catchers have collected 2,000 or more hits! 

List of Catchers With 2,000 Hits

For this list, we took into consideration all current and former MLB players who appeared in a minimum of 800 defensive games as a catcher. Statistics are current through the date of publication.

The player with the most hits by a catcher in a career is none other than Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez.

Other catchers with 2,000 hits are listed below:

1. Ivan Rodriguez - 2,844 hits

2. Ted Simmons - 2,472 hits

3. Carlton Fisk - 2,356 hits

4. Joe Torre - 2,342 hits

5. Jason Kendall - 2,195 hits

6. Yadier Molina - 2,168 hits

7. Victor Martinez - 2,153 hits

8. Yogi Berra - 2,150 hits

9. Mike Piazza - 2,127 hits

10. Joe Mauer - 2,123 hits

11. Gary Carter - 2,092 hits

12. Johnny Bench - 2,048 hits

13. A.J. Pierzynski - 2,043 hits

 

None of the 13 catchers appearing in the above list are still playing today. The most recent to play retired after the 2022 season. Any guesses who that may be?

Yadier Molina, of course!

Also, no career catchers have ever reached 3,000 career hits. For more background on this topic, see our article discussing catchers and the 3,000 hit mark. 

HOF Catchers Without 2,000 Hits

Of the 13 former catchers on the above list, approximately eight are in the baseball Hall of Fame. Those eight are Pudge Rodriguez, Ted Simmons, Carlton Fisk, Joe Torre (elected as a manager), Yogi Berra, Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, and Johnny Bench.

Of note, a number of catchers in the Hall of Fame have less than 2000 hits. These former catchers include:

• Bill Dickey - 1,969 hits
• Gabby Hartnett - 1,912 hits
• Ernie Lombardi - 1,792 hits
• Rick Ferrell - 1,692 hits
• Mickey Cochrane - 1,652 hits 
• Buck Ewing - 1,625 hits
• Roy Campanella - 1,401 hits
• Ray Schalk - 1,345 hits
• Roger Bresnahan - 1,252 hits

 

Of those HOF catchers on the above list, Roy Campanella would have almost certainly compiled many more career hits had it not been for his tragic, career-ending car accident in 1958.

(Quick side note: Campy collected 261 hits in the Negro Leagues, so his combined hits total between the Negro Leagues and the MLB is 1,422). 

Active MLB Catchers Closest to 2,000 Career Hits

Out of the many catchers currently playing in the major leagues, only two at this time have exceeded 1,000 career hits. 

Now that Yadi is no longer playing, the two active MLB catchers with 1,000 or more career hits include the following:

• Salvador Perez - 1,317 hits
• J.T. Realmuto - 1,051 hits

 

Other active big league catchers to have less than 1,000 hits, but who may cross that threshold in the near future, include guys like:

• Yasmani Grandal - 874 hits
• Yan Gomes - 831 hits
• Willson Contreras - 672 hits

 

Thank You for Reading

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Sources Used For This Article

• Baseball Reference
• Retrosheet
• Sean Lahman's Database