The problem that I had with Brian Schneider in 2008 and 2009 was that he was an automatic out. Now, I’m starting to long for the days of Schneider hitting .218. After watching Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco over the last three weeks, I’m wishing we had a .218 hitter behind the plate.
Mike Pelfrey has been astounding so far this season and he’s given credit to his personal catcher, Henry Blanco. And everyone seems to like what Barajas is doing in the field as well. But let’s not forget that catchers have to bat! Barajas and Blanco are rally killers.
I wrote last October that the Mets needed a youth movement at catcher. As it turns out, I was right. Although Omir Santos and Josh Thole haven’t done much hitting at Buffalo in the early season. But they aren’t doing any worse than Barajas and Blanco.
The Mets should have gone with Santos and Thole. There’s too much emphasis put on the fact that the pitchers are more comfortable with Barajas and Blanco. And too little emphasis put on the fact that they can’t hit. You can teach Thole and Santos to work better with pitchers. You’re not going to teach middle-aged catchers how to hit.
Santos hit .260 with 7 HR’s in 300 at-bats in 2009 and he did that in an awful lineup for a terrible team. Thole hit .321 in 53 at-bats when he was called up in September. It’s a small sample size but I’d like to see more of what he can do. Neither catcher was a problem offensively and they should have been given a chance this year.
The Mets made a mistake by bringing in Barajas and Blanco. Everyone makes mistakes and I’m okay with that. The problem is that it’s the same mistake they made when they brought in Brian Schneider in a trade after the 2007 season. The difference now is that the Mets have two viable catchers that can hit and would have made a great platoon.
The Mets Report 
At least Blanco has been throwing out runners… But yeah, the hitting is horrible. He went 1 for 2 today and raised his average to .143.
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Yeah. The defense is good. I can't complain about that. As a matter of fact, I always thought Brian Schneider's defense was overrated. I'm not asking for another Mike Piazza. But can we get someone in here that can hit over .250?
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Defense is too important at C, the .200 Barajas and .100 Blanco is batting doesnt matter much to me seeing as how they've worked with Niese and Pelfreyy… Niese and Pelfrey are going to be around for a while, and Perez for atleast next year… and if they spend this year learning HOW to pitch to win, then next year we can use Thole and have a win-win
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I think that's the position the Mets organization is taking too. Based on the breakthrough that Pelfrey's made this season, it's hard to argue against that. I just find it hard to believe that they can't teach Santos how to call a game. He hit .260 last season and had some really clutch hits for a team that was awful. They could use his bat in the lineup. And I like what I saw from Thole too… It's just hard to watch automatic outs in the lineup everyday. I hated that about Schneider last season.
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Dave, I think the catcher’s have been reading metsreport.com.
Two days with walk off homers by the catching position? 9 homers for Barajas?
Please write some articles similar to how Wright, Reyes and Bay aren’t cutting it! Maybe they will also respond on the field!
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I think I jumped the gun on that post… I need to keep myself in check.
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