The San Diego Padres' Derek Norris doesn’t fit the profile to be our Defensive Player of the Month Award winner. He’s a big-bearded, lumbering, 6-foot, 230-pound catcher. He's not rangy and swift afoot like Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain, nor quick in any direction like Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford.

But Norris is our choice to take the award for June.

Most Defensive Runs Saved June 2016 Lorenzo Cain KC CF 9 Derek Norris SD C 7 Shane Robinson LAA LF 7 Jonathan Villar MIL SS 7 Jarrod Dyson KC OF 7 Adrian Beltre TEX 3B 7

Norris had seven defensive runs saved for the month, tied for second most behind Cain. Norris leads all catchers with 14 defensive runs saved this season.

When you think of the game’s top defensive catchers, Norris is far from the first that comes to mind. Yadier Molina, Salvador Perez, Buster Posey, David Ross and others probably top your list. But what Norris is doing for a struggling Padres team is making a big difference. Consider the following:

Through the end of June, the Padres were 31-29 when Norris started at catcher. When he didn’t, the Padres were 2-17. And we can rule out Norris’ bat as being high-impact, as he ended the month hitting .211 with a .265 on-base percentage and a .390 slugging percentage.

At month’s end, Padres pitchers had a 4.40 ERA in the 519 1/3 innings Norris caught. They had a 5.21 ERA in the 190 innings others caught. Opponents were hitting .251 and averaging 0.9 home runs per nine innings when Norris caught. They hit .279 and averaged 1.6 home runs per nine when others caught.

Among those for whom Norris made the biggest difference is former Padres and current White Sox starter James Shields. In seven games with Norris catching, Shields had a 3.00 ERA. In five games with Padres backup Christian Bethancourt catching, Shields’ ERA was 6.04. (And Shields has allowed 25 runs in 20 1/3 innings with the White Sox.)

Want another example?

Look at Drew Pomeranz, who has turned into a pretty good pitcher this season.

Pomeranz with Norris: 1.75 ERA, .165 opponents’ batting average, .524 opponents’ OPS in 11 starts

Pomeranz with Bethancourt: 6.00 ERA, .262 opponents’ batting average, .738 opponents’ OPS in four starts.

What is it that Norris does well? The different components that make up defensive runs saved provide a few looks.

This season, Norris gets five runs saved for his pitch-framing work (the fourth-highest total in the majors), four for good fielding plays and defensive misplay avoidance (this primarily incorporates blocking pitches in the dirt), three for the ERA difference between himself and other Padres catchers, one run for stolen-base rate (he's thrown out 29 percent of baserunners; the major league average is 26 percent) and one run for bunt defense.

This month was a good one for Norris when it came to pitch-blocking. Norris successfully blocked 99 pitches in the dirt and had only three wild pitches from his pitchers. His 97 percent block rate was fourth highest in the majors for the month.

Though Norris might not be the best in the game at any particular skill, he brings a little bit of everything to the table. And look at it this way: Imagine how much worse the Padres would be without him.