Matt Thaiss

27-Year-Old CatcherC

Los Angeles Angels

2022 Stats

AVG

.217

RBI

2023 Projections

AVG

RBI

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2023 Fantasy Outlook

Thaiss has yet to get a real shot at big-league success despite a series of solid minor-league seasons and the ability to work behind the plate as well as at the corner-infield spots. He has good enough power to consistently hit 20-plus homers in the majors and has always been willing to take a walk, though holes in his swing have resulted in a 30.6% strikeout rate through 278 career big-league plate appearances. In his initial three stints with the Angels, Thaiss worked exclusively in the infield, but he got a look at catcher last season, logging 11 starts at the position. With Max Stassi coming off a down year and Kurt Suzuki retiring, 2023 could have presented a prime opportunity for Thaiss to audition for a more prominent role, but the emergence of rookie Logan O'Hoppe presents a substantial roadblock to that possibility. Stassi and O'Hoppe figure to work as the team's top two options behind the plate, and the offseason addition of Gio Urshela further impedes Thaiss's path to playing time in the infield. If he remains on the roster, he'll likely have a hard time finding at-bats as no better than a third option at any position. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

#599

ADP

League Majors

Bats L

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'0"

Weight 215

DOB 5/6/1995

Born Jackson, NJ

College Virginia

Drafted 1st Rd 2016 LAA

Slight favorite to win roster spot

CLos Angeles Angels

March 18, 2023

Thaiss appears as a slight favorite to begin the season in the majors over Logan O'Hoppe, MLB.com reports.

ANALYSIS
Thaiss is hitting .389 with a 1.060 OPS in 18 at-bats this spring. He's competing with Logan O'Hoppe for the backup role to Max Stassi. O'Hoppe is a top prospect and the Angels may want him to play every day in the minors initially. Still, this job battle may come down to the final days of spring training.

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Batting Stats

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2022

2021

2020

2019

2022 MLB Game Log

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2021 MLB Game Log

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2020 MLB Game Log

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2019 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2020

+10%

OPS vs LHP

2022

+375%

OPS vs RHP

2021

-100%

OPS vs LHP

2020

+449%

OPS vs LHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2020vs Left	.652	22	2	1	1	0	.167	.318	.333
Since 2020vs Right	.595	92	11	2	8	1	.203	.304	.291
2022vs Left	.154	13	0	0	0	0	.000	.154	.000
2022vs Right	.732	68	9	2	8	1	.259	.353	.379
2021vs Left	1.167	3	1	0	0	0	.500	.667	.500
2021vs Right	.000	5	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
2020vs Left	1.500	6	1	1	1	0	.400	.500	1.000
2020vs Right	.273	19	2	0	0	0	.063	.211	.063
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Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2020

+11%

OPS at Home

2022

+14%

OPS at Home

2021

-100%

OPS at Home

2020

+4%

OPS at Home

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2020Home	.636	58	8	1	6	1	.229	.345	.292
Since 2020Away	.574	56	5	2	3	0	.163	.268	.306
2022Home	.681	42	5	1	6	1	.235	.357	.324
2022Away	.596	39	4	1	2	0	.200	.282	.314
2021Home	.452	7	1	0	0	0	.167	.286	.167
2021Away	.000	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
2020Home	.583	9	2	0	0	0	.250	.333	.250
2020Away	.558	16	1	1	1	0	.077	.250	.308
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Stat Review

How does Matt Thaiss compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.46

BB Rate

13.6%

K Rate

29.6%

BABIP

.295

ISO

.101

AVG

.217

OBP

.321

SLG

.319

OPS

.640

wOBA

.288

Exit Velocity

88.5 mph

Hard Hit Rate

21.7%

Barrels/PA

3.7%

Expected BA

.212

Expected SLG

.325

Sprint Speed

22.5 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

56.5%

Line Drive %

13.0%

Fly Ball %

30.4%

Prospect Rankings History

View Complete Matt Thaiss Prospect Ranking History

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Matt Thaiss See More

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18 days ago

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160 days ago

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205 days ago

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

Thaiss was a late arrival to summer camp and later told reporters the delay was due to a positive COVID test in June. While Thaiss said he was asymptomatic throughout the subsequent quarantine period, it took several weeks for him to get the requisite two negative tests in 24 hours. Thaiss was on the expanded Opening Day roster regardless, but he hardly played and was optioned Aug. 6. He was brought back a month later and ran into a homer shortly thereafter, but then was hardly heard from again the rest of the year. Draw a line through his 2020 stat line as it means nothing, but plenty of holes in his swing were exposed in his 2019 sample (164 PA). Shohei Ohtani and Justin Upton need to DH, Anthony Rendon was brought in last winter and Jared Walsh has leapfrogged Thaiss at the other corner-infield spot, at least for now. Thaiss was a first-round pick in 2016 and will be given more chances to succeed.

Thaiss made his major-league debut in July and saw a couple stretches of semi-consistent playing time in the second half, but overall he struggled with a .211/.293/.422 slash line in 53 games. He enjoyed a much more productive season at Triple-A with an .867 OPS, 14 home runs and a 59:64 BB:K. Strikeouts haven't been a significant problem throughout his minor-league career, so there should be room for improvement in the 31.7 K% he posted during his first taste of the big leagues. Thaiss can play both corner infield spots and had a .211 ISO and 10.8 BB% last season, but with Albert Pujols still owed big money and Tommy La Stella and David Fletcher both coming off quality seasons, he may be hard-pressed to find significant major-league opportunities in 2020.

Thaiss reached Triple-A for the first time last season, but his .277/.328/.457 line (good for a 102 wRC+) in 85 games was underwhelming for a first-base prospect. If he were still a catcher like he was in college, those would be promising numbers, but he's played nowhere but first in his professional career. He could possibly provide competent enough performances in a pinch for the Angels this season, but with Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols and Justin Bour already on the roster, it's hard to see Thaiss getting much of a look. Hope for improvement stems mostly from his patience in the batter's box. He walked an impressive 16.7% of the time in a 49-game sample at Double-A in 2017, and while that number cratered with the jump to Triple-A, he's had near-double-digit marks at every other full-season stop.

Thaiss is a catcher turned first baseman who turns 23 in May and has hit 15 home runs in 200 pro games. That wouldn't be an encouraging sign if he were a third baseman or corner outfielder, but as a first baseman or designated hitter, the bar is even higher. He walked at a 16.7 percent clip at Double-A last year, which is awesome, but he also posted a .096 ISO at that stop. There is no denying that he projects to get on base at a pretty solid clip, but that might be his only above-average offensive skill. Scouts have put 60s on his hit tool in the past, but his production in full-season ball has not matched that outlook. He is also not a defensive asset, so his glove won't be able to buy his bat developmental time. If he overhauled his swing with an emphasis on lofting the ball more, he could potentially tap into 20-homer power. Even in that optimistic scenario, he would struggle to ever finish as a top-15 fantasy first baseman.

Thaiss was an offensive-minded catcher at Virginia and the Angels thought enough of his bat that they drafted him with the 16th overall pick and immediately transitioned him to first base. Their evaluation appears to have been accurate, as he quickly earned a promotion from the Pioneer League to the Midwest League, posting a 129 wRC+ and 28:22 K:BB in 226 plate appearances against Low-A pitching. Thaiss will not offer light tower power, but he has enough pop to profile as a 25-homer threat in his prime years. A plus hitter who makes excellent contact and showed more of a willingness to work the count after his promotion, Thaiss could be a .300 hitter who walks at a 10 percent clip. That hit tool will be his money maker. If it reaches its plus projection, the game power will play to plus. If his hit tool falls short, he probably won't do enough with the bat to profile as a regular at first base.

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