How do you view Wieters now?

[Moose Milligan]

I am not sure if this will be true or not but I am hoping Crow being gone will help Wieters.

Ah, yes...the absence of Crow. Any great season this year will automatically be attributed to Crow being gone.

[Sports Guy]

Ah, yes...the absence of Crow. Any great season this year will automatically be attributed to Crow being gone.

I just hope that maybe Pressley sees or does something with Wieters that Crow wasn't seeing or doing.

[Moose Milligan]

Shouldn't soph slump be preceeded by a good freshman year?

So far, all he has done is slump.

I don't see how anyone can view Wieters as anything but a major disappointment thus far, at least compared to what we thought, hoped and needed him to be.

If all he ends up being is a 2-3 WAR catcher, he will be valuable but not nearly the player we needed him to be.

These are great points. Some people are saying "Well, I didn't get caught up in the hype," which is fine...but that doesn't take away from the fact that we need Wieters to be great.

[DuffMan]

I blame last year on the SI Cover Jinx. I don't think he will be on the cover heading into this season and should reap the benefits of avoiding the jinx for a second straight year.

[wildcard]

The top catchers in the sport, if they stay healthy, do not sit and/or DH for 42-50 games a year. It just doesn't happen. Why would you think Wieters will be treated any different than everyone else?

And why should he be treated any different?

And what evidence is there that more play has worn him down thus far?

This is a guy that is supposed to be our franchise guy...He is supposed to be a superstar, HOF caliber catcher. He has already shown that he is at a GG level defensively and despite all of this, you want him to sit more? It just makes no sense.

A workload behind the plate of 125-135 games should and will happen..assuming he is healthy.

And then he should maybe DH another 5-10 games.

You are expecting Wieters to do what almost no one in baseball did last year. Start 125 games as a catcher, get at least 450 at bats and hit for over an 800 OPS. One catcher did that. Brian McCann. That's it, one.

Three catchers had 450 at bats and hit for at least an 800 OPS. Mauer who started 107 games at catcher, and Victor Martinez who started 106 games at catcher. Neither player started 125 games as you expect Wieters to do.

Your expectations are way to high. Wieters has catch 125-135 games if you are happy with him batting for a 750 OPS but if you want him to be a plus hitter and catch he should be limited to 110-115 games started. The stats are clear if just look at them.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/position/c/sort/OPS/order/true

Maybe Wieters can build himself up to the kind a player you are talking about over time. But why ask him to catch that much and make a jump in offense when almost no one else is doing it. Manage him right and at the peak of his career maybe is the kind of player you are talking about.

You want facts. There are the facts. He needs the rest to be a plus hitter at this stage of his career.

[Sports Guy]

You are expecting Wieters to do what almost no one in baseball did last year. Start 125 games as a catcher, get at least 450 at bats and hit for over an 800 OPS. One catcher did that. Brian McCann. That's it, one.

Three catchers had 450 at bats and hit for at least an 800 OPS. Mauer who started 107 games at catcher, and Victor Martinez who started 106 games at catcher. Neither player started 125 games as you expect Wieters to do.

Your expectations are way to high. Wieters has catch 125-135 games if you are happy with him batting for a 750 OPS but if you want him to be a plus hitter and catch he should be limited to 110-115 games started. The stats are clear if just look at them.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/position/c/sort/OPS/order/true

Maybe Wieters can build himself up to the kind a player you are talking about over time. But why ask him to catch that much and make a jump in offense when almost no one else is doing it. Manage him right and at the peak of his career maybe is the kind of player you are talking about.

You want facts. There are the facts. He needs the rest to be a plus hitter at this stage of his career.

This is your post to back you up? Really?

First of all, VMart isn't and wasn't just a catcher...Since he isn't good defensively, teams play him at first, so that's an awful example.

Mauer missed time due to injury and DH'ed more because of it.

Both of them are poor examples to prove your point...As I pointed out, Buck handled him by sitting him 17% of the games...I see him being right around the same number.

BTW, correction on an earlier post..Matt DH'ed twice last year(ESPN didn't show that).

I am expecting Wieters to catch the amount of games that an elite catcher catches when healthy.

[OldNewGuy]

What I’ve seen so far is a 6'5" Gregg Zaun. Good D, avg power, and the speed to turn doubles into singles. I was hoping for more. History will prove me wrong, I think.

[ShaneDawg85]

You are expecting Wieters to do what almost no one in baseball did last year. Start 125 games as a catcher, get at least 450 at bats and hit for over an 800 OPS. One catcher did that. Brian McCann. That's it, one.

Three catchers had 450 at bats and hit for at least an 800 OPS. Mauer who started 107 games at catcher, and Victor Martinez who started 106 games at catcher. Neither player started 125 games as you expect Wieters to do.

Your expectations are way to high. Wieters has catch 125-135 games if you are happy with him batting for a 750 OPS but if you want him to be a plus hitter and catch he should be limited to 110-115 games started. The stats are clear if just look at them.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/position/c/sort/OPS/order/true

Maybe Wieters can build himself up to the kind a player you are talking about over time. But why ask him to catch that much and make a jump in offense when almost no one else is doing it. Manage him right and at the peak of his career maybe is the kind of player you are talking about.

You want facts. There are the facts. He needs the rest to be a plus hitter at this stage of his career.

A significant problem with the list you showed:

1. Joe Mauer was hurt last season, hence why he didn't start that many games.

2. Victor Martinez was hurt last season as well, hence why he didn't play that many games at catcher. Also, he's not a good defensive catcher, so that's a factor as well.

3. Brian McCann is the best catcher in baseball. He should be out there all the time, and he doesn't have the luxury of DH.

4. All the rest on that list are either old, platoon types to begin with, or really not that good and so no amount of rest makes a difference.

It really isn't relevant what other teams do with their catchers. They don't have Matt Wieters, we do. The Orioles coaching staff and Matt Wieters know his situation better than anyone else, so what other teams do has no bearing, and shouldn't.

[wildcard]

This is your post to back you up? Really?

First of all, VMart isn't and wasn't just a catcher...Since he isn't good defensively, teams play him at first, so that's an awful example.

Mauer missed time due to injury and DH'ed more because of it.

Both of them are poor examples to prove your point...As I pointed out, Buck handled him by sitting him 17% of the games...I see him being right around the same number.

BTW, correction on an earlier post..Matt DH'ed twice last year(ESPN didn't show that).

I am expecting Wieters to catch the amount of games that an elite catcher catches when healthy.

Only one catcher last year did what you are asking Wieters to do. You can try to squirm your way around that but there is no other explanation for that fact. 30 teams. One catcher did it.

[DrungoHazewood]

You are expecting Wieters to do what almost no one in baseball did last year. Start 125 games as a catcher, get at least 450 at bats and hit for over an 800 OPS. One catcher did that. Brian McCann. That's it, one.

Three catchers had 450 at bats and hit for at least an 800 OPS. Mauer who started 107 games at catcher, and Victor Martinez who started 106 games at catcher. Neither player started 125 games as you expect Wieters to do.

Your expectations are way to high. Wieters has catch 125-135 games if you are happy with him batting for a 750 OPS but if you want him to be a plus hitter and catch he should be limited to 110-115 games started. The stats are clear if just look at them.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/position/c/sort/OPS/order/true

Maybe Wieters can build himself up to the kind a player you are talking about over time. But why ask him to catch that much and make a jump in offense when almost no one else is doing it. Manage him right and at the peak of his career maybe is the kind of player you are talking about.

You want facts. There are the facts. He needs the rest to be a plus hitter at this stage of his career.

Your sample size is one year. You might want to look a little farther back than that. There have been 148 catchers-seasons where someone caught 125+ games with an OPS over .800, and 189 catcher-seasons where someone had an OPS+ of 110 in 125+ games.

Since 1990 there have been 53, or 2 1/2 catchers per year.

[Sports Guy]

Only one catcher last year did what you are asking Wieters to do. You can try to squirm your way around that but there is no other explanation for that fact. 30 teams. One catcher did it.

Yes, I am trying to squirm away from your awful argument. LOL...BTW, thank you Drungo for saving me the time to respond(was just going to bring up the sample size)...

Your sample size is one year. You might want to look a little farther back than that. There have been 148 catchers-seasons where someone caught 125+ games with an OPS over .800, and 189 catcher-seasons where someone had an OPS+ of 110 in 125+ games.

Since 1990 there have been 53, or 2 1/2 catchers per year.

[QBsILLEST1]

What I’ve seen so far is a 6'5" Gregg Zaun. Good D, avg power, and the speed to turn doubles into singles. I was hoping for more. History will prove me wrong, I think.

Really? Could be wrong, but I am not quite sure Zaun ever had the same kinda arm Wieters does. He is a weapon behind the dish. Wieters' power is above average, the production just hasn't been yet.......

[Moose Milligan]

Really? Could be wrong, but I am not quite sure Zaun ever had the same kinda arm Wieters does. He is a weapon behind the dish. Wieters' power is above average, the production just hasn't been yet.......

I thought Zaun's arm was pretty good in his prime. Not as good as Wieters, but nothing to sneeze at.

At any rate, at least Wieters is a stud behind the dish and the pitchers seem to like throwing to him. That counts for a lot and we should be thankful for that but let's be honest...his bat is the most important thing.

[Oriolidae85]

This would have a tiny bit of validity if he started off great and faded down the stretch but that's not what has happened..In fact, his best month in his career was September of his rookie year.

Since he was DHing a lot more in that September, I'd say it is a great point that counters your argument.

[wildcard]

Your sample size is one year. You might want to look a little farther back than that. There have been 148 catchers-seasons where someone caught 125+ games with an OPS over .800, and 189 catcher-seasons where someone had an OPS+ of 110 in 125+ games.

Since 1990 there have been 53, or 2 1/2 catchers per year.

Right 2.5 per year. That is it. No more. And they may not be the same catchers every year do to expect Wieters to do in year after year is expecting too much.

Mauer has started 125 games once in six years.

VMart has done it 3 times in seven years.

MaCann has hit for an 800 OPS and started 125 games twice in 5 years.

Soto did it in 2008, but hasn't done it since.