Lazy Sunday: Catching On

by MrNegative1 on Oct 24, 2010 12:58 PM EDT

A quick look back at the Rays behind the plate. For now, John Jaso is more than an adequate catcher and hopefully the defensive lapses behind the plate are mechanical and can be fixed through practice. What's behind Jaso in the organization and if injury was to hit Jaso or Shoppach who would be the next in line to assume the position?

Since the Rays played their first game in 1998, a total of 17 catchers have caught at least 5 games in a season. This list includes John Flaherty (1998 through 2002), Mike Difelice (1998 through 2001, and 2008), Toby Hall (2001 through 2006), Paul Hoover (2002), Javier Valentin (2003) , Brook Fordyce (2004), Charles Johnson (2005), Kevin Cash (2005), Pete Laforest (2005), Dioner Navarro (2006 through 2010), Josh Paul (2006 through 2007), Shawn Riggans (2006, 2008 through 2009), Raul Casanova (2007), John Jaso (2008, 2010), Michel Hernandez (2008 through 2009), Gregg Zaun (2009), and Kelly Shoppach (2010). Of that last, only 4 catchers have caught 100 games and this was accomplished a total of 9 times by John Flaherty (1999 and 2000), Toby Hall (2003, 2004, and 2005), Dioner Navarro (2007, 2008, and 2009), and John Jaso (2010).

One fact that didn’t get by me is that the Rays have had both a Hoover and a Shop-Vac on their roster, you’d figure that catchers in Tampa would clean up. Unfortunately, the catching position in Tampa hasn’t been a source of power for the organization. The Rays all time single season leader in home runs for catchers is John Flaherty (1999) with 14, which ranks 14th among all American League teams since 1998.

Tm	Player	HR	Year
TEX	Ivan Rodriguez	35	1999
NYY	Jorge Posada	30	2003
MIN	Joe Mauer	28	2009
CLE	Victor Martinez	25	2007
BOS	Jason Varitek	25	2003
KCR	Miguel Olivo	23	2009
BAL	Ramon Hernandez	23	2006
OAK	Ramon Hernandez	21	2003
TOR	John Buck	20	2010
LAA	Mike Napoli	20	2009
DET	Ivan Rodriguez	19	2004
SEA	Kenji Johjima	18	2006
CHW	A.J. Pierzynski	18	2005
TBD	John Flaherty	14	1999

A.L. Single Season Home Run Leaders Per Franchise: 1998-2010

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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Comments

He's no Jorge Posada

I root for winners, if you ain't that, you ain't shat.

by YankeesSaintsLakersBlackhawksRedTide!!!! on Oct 24, 2010 1:01 PM EDT reply actions

Man, LaForest.

Answering the question of how well a third baseman can translate to behind the plate.

by R.J. Anderson on Oct 24, 2010 2:52 PM EDT reply actions

i woke up with black grime on my nose and forearms

scratches all over my arms. still cant feel two of my fingers on my left hand, and not sure if i puked or not. feel like shit

by daveh33 on Oct 24, 2010 3:07 PM EDT reply actions

Freeman is the best man, in the fight against his o-line and the Rams he emerged victorious

Mike Williams and Josh Freeman don’t need an offensive line to beat you.

Hell yeah it is.
Any amount of points can be scored week to week. well, besides 1 point. Any number is as likely to be reached as another, since there’s only one of each number, each has the same chance to be hit. IT’s how the syetemof averages works.
by waltermercier on Sep 21, 2010 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions

by Andy Hellicksonstine on Oct 24, 2010 4:11 PM EDT reply actions