The worry was that neither Saltalamacchia and Varitek could hit well enough. In April that was true. In May and June, Boston catching has been behind only Detroit, led by Alex Avila, in the American League.
This year more than any other I can recall, it seems no one knows anything about catchers. Avila is the second best catcher in the MLB this year, and coming into the year there was no certainty he was going to have a job at all.
If you'd asked the average baseball fan to name the three best catchers in baseball six months ago, he'd have probably have named Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana, and Buster Posey in some order. Even ignoring the injuries, those three players have combined to hit a robust .248 this year. And there's some question whether Posey and Mauer will ever really be able to play catcher again.
This year more than any other I can recall, it seems no one knows anything about catchers. Avila is the second best catcher in the MLB this year, and coming into the year there was no certainty he was going to have a job at all.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd asked the average baseball fan to name the three best catchers in baseball six months ago, he'd have probably have named Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana, and Buster Posey in some order. Even ignoring the injuries, those three players have combined to hit a robust .248 this year. And there's some question whether Posey and Mauer will ever really be able to play catcher again.