Comments on: Pirates Sign A Minor League Catcher

By: NorCal Buc

NorCal Buc — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:45:29 +0000

I’m retired; what do these “extras” get paid? I could try “hiding” behind a catcher’s mitt, and retrieve a thrown ball. On second thought……..

By: ThePoshOne

ThePoshOne — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 05:18:23 +0000

Sounds like he is the perfect fit. I would think though that catchers are not a dime a dozen and the industry would lack extras. Or maybe it is quite the opposite, but the way I see it, it is a position of non-stop stress and not alot of fanfare.

By: Tim Williams

Tim Williams — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 04:05:03 +0000

If you’ve ever been to minor league camp, then you’d know what I’m saying. Most days they’ll have three games at Pirate City (one of them an intrasquad game). So that’s four catchers, plus 3-4 other catchers to work the second half of the game. They also have 4 bullpen mounds to warm up pitchers for each game. Usually 1-2 catchers take that job, and they might even be the guys who are coming in for the second half of the games. So you’ve got 8-9 catchers there.

Then you’ve also got two teams on the road, complete with about 4-5 catchers for those games and for the bullpens.

In short, you need a lot of catchers for Spring Training.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 03:41:56 +0000

I love the last line in this article. It basically says they need a body that pitchers can throw at. Most importantly, it’s a body that the Pirates can rely on to not be killed in the process of catching a 90 mph fastball…or anything that moves for that matter.