Around the Horn: Catcher
01/18/2006
PHOENIX -- Needless to say, the 2005 season did not go according to plan for the Diamondbacks when it came to the catching position.
The club had high hopes heading into Spring Training with Koyie Hill, who had come over in a trade with the Dodgers the year before, and Chris Snyder, who was called up from Double-A in August to replace an injured Hill, set to battle for the starting job.
Both catchers played so well during the spring that manager Bob Melvin elected to keep them both rather than just one, with veteran Kelly Stinnett serving as backup. Stinnett elected free agency rather than report to the Minors and both Snyder and Hill struggled at the plate to start the year.
Snyder eventually got most of the playing time, with Hill being sent to Triple-A Tucson and Stinnett rejoining the organization, but offensively the position was not a strength for the club.
The trio combined to hit .218 with 11 homers and 44 RBIs. Snyder excelled defensively but struggled at the plate, finishing with a .201 mark and five homers and 26 RBIs.
"Admittedly [Snyder] was probably offensively at a level higher than he should have been last year," Melvin said. "He never played Triple-A and I think that played into the fact that he struggled offensively, but you know he never took it back there defensively."
The Diamondbacks bolstered the catching corps at the Winter Meetings in December when they acquired Johnny Estrada from the Braves in exchange for pitchers Lance Cormier and Oscar Villarreal.
Estrada was limited to 105 games last season, missing some time after being involved in a collision at home plate with the Angels' Darin Erstad on June 6. But he's regarded as a good offensive catcher, as evidenced by his performance in 2004, when he hit .314 with 36 doubles, nine homers and 76 RBIs and appeared in the All-Star Game.
A switch-hitter, Estrada hits righties better than lefties. Last year he hit .280 against righties and .214 vs. lefties, and in his career he's hit righties better, .284 to .239.
That would seem to allow the Diamondbacks to give Snyder playing time against lefties. Also, the addition of Estrada buys time for highly-regarded youngster Miguel Montero to continue to develop. Montero started the 2005 season at Class A Lancaster before being promoted to Double-A Tennessee.
"We've been looking at the catching position all offseason, and with Chris Snyder and Koyie Hill in house and Miguel Montero coming we feel like we've got strength for the short term and long term," D-Backs general manager Josh Byrnes said. "It's such a hard position to fill and we feel like we've answered that as best as we can for several years."
Hill is still in the picture, but must have a good spring if he hopes to take the backup role away from Snyder. A highly regarded prospect when he came over from the Dodgers, Hill hit .224 with no homers and six RBIs in 32 games last year.
"I think Koyie would be the first to tell you he wasn't happy with the way his year went," Melvin said. "He expected more from himself and we expected more from him."
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
PHOENIX -- Needless to say, the 2005 season did not go according to plan for the Diamondbacks when it came to the catching position.
The club had high hopes heading into Spring Training with Koyie Hill, who had come over in a trade with the Dodgers the year before, and Chris Snyder, who was called up from Double-A in August to replace an injured Hill, set to battle for the starting job.
Both catchers played so well during the spring that manager Bob Melvin elected to keep them both rather than just one, with veteran Kelly Stinnett serving as backup. Stinnett elected free agency rather than report to the Minors and both Snyder and Hill struggled at the plate to start the year.
Snyder eventually got most of the playing time, with Hill being sent to Triple-A Tucson and Stinnett rejoining the organization, but offensively the position was not a strength for the club.
The trio combined to hit .218 with 11 homers and 44 RBIs. Snyder excelled defensively but struggled at the plate, finishing with a .201 mark and five homers and 26 RBIs.
"Admittedly [Snyder] was probably offensively at a level higher than he should have been last year," Melvin said. "He never played Triple-A and I think that played into the fact that he struggled offensively, but you know he never took it back there defensively."
The Diamondbacks bolstered the catching corps at the Winter Meetings in December when they acquired Johnny Estrada from the Braves in exchange for pitchers Lance Cormier and Oscar Villarreal.
Estrada was limited to 105 games last season, missing some time after being involved in a collision at home plate with the Angels' Darin Erstad on June 6. But he's regarded as a good offensive catcher, as evidenced by his performance in 2004, when he hit .314 with 36 doubles, nine homers and 76 RBIs and appeared in the All-Star Game.
A switch-hitter, Estrada hits righties better than lefties. Last year he hit .280 against righties and .214 vs. lefties, and in his career he's hit righties better, .284 to .239.
That would seem to allow the Diamondbacks to give Snyder playing time against lefties. Also, the addition of Estrada buys time for highly-regarded youngster Miguel Montero to continue to develop. Montero started the 2005 season at Class A Lancaster before being promoted to Double-A Tennessee.
"We've been looking at the catching position all offseason, and with Chris Snyder and Koyie Hill in house and Miguel Montero coming we feel like we've got strength for the short term and long term," D-Backs general manager Josh Byrnes said. "It's such a hard position to fill and we feel like we've answered that as best as we can for several years."
Hill is still in the picture, but must have a good spring if he hopes to take the backup role away from Snyder. A highly regarded prospect when he came over from the Dodgers, Hill hit .224 with no homers and six RBIs in 32 games last year.
"I think Koyie would be the first to tell you he wasn't happy with the way his year went," Melvin said. "He expected more from himself and we expected more from him."
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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