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February 13, 2007

Positional Health Reports

Catchers

by Will Carroll

I have been playing along with the joke of "pitchers and Molinas report in X days" for so long that it seems natural. For at least the last decade, the general view of starting catchers has been that they come in two everyday-play sizes: sluggers like Mike Piazza who happen to catch, and guys like Mike Matheny who happen to hit. Honestly, I think the iron man catcher era may be over, and that's a good thing. When the Cubs re-signed Henry Blanco to once again pair up with Michael Barrett, I took a long look at the move and liked what I saw. Less wear and tear on a catcher is a good thing, a lesson football GMs have learned about running backs. Job-sharing is expanding. I still wonder why the good-catch guy doesn't do more on calling pitches, or why the emergency catcher isn’t used more in situations where the "hitting" catcher could be brought in to pinch-hit. But generally, I look at the trends and notice that these offense/defense platoons tend to stay healthier and more productive in both respects. It’s a nice evolution.

Keep in mind that generally speaking, greens aren't listed unless I have something interesting to say about them. For more on the system, please check out the introduction.

Ramon Hernandez : He turned 30 last year and should give HOK a cut of his salary after what he did in his new home. He's about as risky as the average catcher.

Jason Varitek : Tim Wakefield has helped Varitek in recent years by giving him a reason to take regular time off. Tek’s the kind of guy that will overwork to come back from his knee injury and prove everyone wrong. Problem is, I don’t think I am here, as far as his risk. Varitek’s going to need more time off to stay productive, and DH isn’t an open slot for this team.

Jorge Posada : Posada has made us expect a regression for years, but it hasn’t happened yet. He’s aging, has no real backup, and yet the red rating is probably going to be wrong again. I can’t explain the exceptions, folks.