The Pirates' Catchers

Ryan Doumit is firmly ensconced as the Pittsburgh Pirates' starting catcher for 2009 and beyond. There is no doubt there. The battle for the backup spot, however, is less clear. Jason Jaramillo (age 26) and Ronbinzon Diaz (25) are fighting for that honor this spring. Both were acquired in trades last year; Jaramillo from the Phillies for Ronny Paulino and Diaz from the Blue Jays for Jose Bautista. Both players are inexperienced at the major league level; Jaramillo having never appeared in a game and Diaz having recorded a mere 10 at-bats last year. In the minors last year, Jaramillo hit .266 with 8 home runs and 39 RBIs in 421 at-bats with the awesomely named AAA club of the Phillies, the LeHigh Valley Iron Pigs. Combining his totals from '08 with both the Blue Jays' and Pirates' AAA clubs, Diaz hit .255 with 1 home run and 16 RBIs in 145 at bats. So, clearly neither player projects to be much of an offensive force, though they both seem capable of holding their own against major league pitching, based on their Spring performances so far this year. They do look a little more formidable on defense though. Last year, Diaz threw out 39% of would-be base-stealers and did not commit an error. Jaramillo threw out 36%, though he did commit 16 errors. By comparison, last year Doumit threw out only 27% and committed 8 errors. Average numbers there. Since the starter is an offensive threat and is expected to play 80% of the games, a competent defensive catcher is needed to back him up, and the Pirates appear to have two options there.

Since both Jaramillo and Diaz are relatively young and capable choices, I'm of the opinion that it does not really matter who makes the team to start the year. The Pirates will choose one and send the other to AAA. If the one in the majors struggles, they can, and will, send him down and call the other up. What this does mean for the Pirates though is that they have some solid catching depth at the upper levels of their system. As we witnessed last year with the team's inability to fill out a starting rotation, depth is crucial. If Doumit gets hurt (it's happened before, a lot), the Pirates have two capable catchers available to fill the major league roster. Neither provides as much as Doumit, but, at the very least, there won't be a drop off in the quality of the catching. With all that being said, I would expect Jaramillo to make the Opening Day roster.

Game News: In Grapefruit League action, the Pirates lost today to the Yankees 13-10. Ross Ohlendorf started things off with 4 perfect innings, but the bullpen gave the game away, allowing all 13 runs in their 5 innings, with Craig Hansen the biggest culprit, allowing 5 in just a third of an inning. Yet again, the resilient Pirates battled back, scoring 7 runs in the final two innings. Nyjer Morgan, Ryan Doumit, Garrett Jones and Jeff Salazar all homered for Pittsburgh, and youngsters Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez each had 2 hits. The Pirates play the Rays on Sunday.

There are a couple of interesting pieces on the Pirates' Official site about the organization's youngsters. One on the top ten prospects in the system (don't freak out; they're listed in alphabetical order) and the other just more of a general minor league/young player preview for the year.