REDS SPRING TRAINING PREVIEW PART 2: CATCHERS

This season seems to look different from years past. The Reds have two guys this season competing for the starting catcher role and really not another catcher that is worthy of the team carrying three catchers like they did most of last season. If Ross can get his bat going again then he is clearly the everyday catcher but if he struggles look for Javier Valentin to get his shot at the starting position.

* There is another catcher listed on the depth chart, Ryan Hanigan, but he has almost no experiance on the ML level. I will keep you up on his spring and let you know if they look to be entertaining he thought of bringing him on board with the big league team.

Here is a look at the two catchers as they head into spring training:

David Ross #26

Last season David Ross saw a dip in his offensive output after his first full season in 2006 that had him as rather productive offensive bat for a catcher. Although he struggled last season hitting, he was one of the top defensive catchers.

Here is his stats:

Games 112 AB 311 Runs 32 Hits 63 2B 10 3B 0 HR 17 RBI 39 TB 124 BB 30 SO 92

AVERAGE: .203
OBP: .271
SLG: .399


Defensively:

SB: 35
CS: 25
ER: 5
FPCT: .993


Javier Valentin #17

Last season was Javier Valentin’s best year a ML catcher. He put up great offensive numbers and his defense improved. The second half of the season he saw much more playing time under the interim Manager because of David Ross’ struggles at the plate. If he continues to hit well and his defense continues to improve he will definitely put pressure on David Ross to perform or take a seat. It seems pretty reasonable to assume that at the start of the season he will stay on the bench as pinch hitter because he is one of the Reds best coming off the bench.

Here is his stats:

Games 97 AB 243 Runs 19 Hits 67 2B 21 3B 0 HR 2 RBI 34 TB 94 BB 19 SO 25

Average: .276
OBP: .328
SLG: .387

Defensively:

SB: 40
CS: 5
ER: 1
FPCT: .997