How do you view Wieters now?

[wildcard]

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)...

Jon Wilt just proved that your expectations are too high. 2.5 catchers per year since 1990. You should realize what he just wrote.

[Sports Guy]

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

How many games did he DH in September?

And that shouldn't matter...He would have already been worn down to begin with.

[Sports Guy]

Jon Wilt just proved that your expectations are too high. 2.5 catchers per year since 1990. You should realize what he just wrote.

My expectations are that Wieters is an elite catcher, both offensively and defensively.

If he's not, then he won't play as much simply because he just isn't that good.

If he isn't all that good, then your plan will be fine...if he is that good, your plan is awful.

[wildcard]

My expectations are that Wieters is an elite catcher, both offensively and defensively.

If he's not, then he won't play as much simply because he just isn't that good.

If he isn't all that good, then your plan will be fine...if he is that good, your plan is awful.

Wieters may grow in the catcher you want him to be. But he was not there last year and the best way to allow him to grow offensively is too make sure he is rested.

[Sports Guy]

Wieters may grow in the catcher you want him to be. But he was not there last year and the best way to allow him to grow offensively is too make sure he is rested.

If this was correct, he would look much better than he does early in the season, when he is coming off of all the rest of the offseason.

His bat looked slow and his swing looked long all season, just as it did in most of his first season.

Improvement in his game has nothing to do with him sitting a few extra games a year...Improvement has to come from him developing into the hitter he needs to be for us...The same development that every young player has to go through.

There is no way that catching 130 games vs 120 games is going to stop that development...This is a Jtrea argument at its finest.

[Malike]

I have been saying since his 2008 MiL monster season to temper enthusiasm about Wieters. I think hes going to be an above average catcher with a couple, two - tree, all-star appearances. I do not now, nor did I ever think he was going to be the .900+ OPS monster that everyone had hoped he'd be.

Hes still going to be good for a long time, he was over-hyped a bit and expectations went through the roof.

[Bosibus]

According to BR, it appears he did not DH at all in September...Link

[Sports Guy]

According to BR, it appears he did not DH at all in September...Link

I think he was talking about the September of 2009, his rookie season.

[Bosibus]

I think he was talking about the September of 2009, his rookie season.

Sorry, in his 2009 rookie season he DH'd 7 out of 29 games and batted .333/.395/.486/.882.

Link

[wildcard]

If this was correct, he would look much better than he does early in the season, when he is coming off of all the rest of the offseason.

His bat looked slow and his swing looked long all season, just as it did in most of his first season.

Improvement in his game has nothing to do with him sitting a few extra games a year...Improvement has to come from him developing into the hitter he needs to be for us...The same development that every young player has to go through.

There is no way that catching 130 games vs 120 games is going to stop that development...This is a Jtrea argument at its finest.

Agree that he has to develop as a hitter at the major league level. Mechanics are probably part of the problem. However rest is a element that should not be ignored.

If he starts 125 games a year and you expect him to hit for an 800 OPS you are are setting the bar way high. If you want he to grow and achieve, lower the bar to 110-115 games and his hitting will probably improve. If it doesn't, that tell everyone a whole lot.

[Sports Guy]

Agree that he has to develop as a hitter at the major league level. Mechanics are probably part of the problem. However rest is a element that should not be ignored.

If he starts 125 games a year and you expect him to hit for an 800 OPS you are are setting the bar way high. If you want he to grow and achieve, lower the bar to 110-115 games and his hitting will probably improve. If it doesn't, that tell everyone a whole lot.

My bar is that he is one of the top 3 catchers in the game. Anything less than that and he will be a disappointment to us for what we needed him to be.

And again, if your theory was right, he should be starting off well and fading down the stretch but he's not..In fact, his September OPS the last 2 seasons have been his best, except for his JUly OPS in 2010, where he missed a lot of games.

[Craig...No Dots]

There is going to be a lot of pressure removed from his shoulders this year. He will have an amazing manager to see over him and perhaps most importantly, will have some other big bats around him in the line-up scoring runs and making him feel more comfortable. I still see him as an occasional all-star type player.

[Ohfan67]

I think Showalter may be able to help Wieters reach his potential. Trembley rode Wieters into the ground early last season and was basically waiting to be fired for most of Wieters sting with the big league team. It's obvious from comments Showalter made to the press and other snippets reported by the media that Showalter is working on Wieters' self confidence.

[Moose Milligan]

I NEVER do this, but did the poster "CompuCoach" just try and neg rep me with a snarky remark about Wieters already being above average.

I might be wrong but a 96 OPS+ is not above average.

[Scrat1]

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.

Although I don't really have a strong opinion on the subject one way or the other, I don't think this is an especially compelling case against Wildcard's argument. What if Wieters just started last season slow and fatigue is what kept him from getting hot later in the season?

Perhaps because of Wieters' body type he needs more days off than most catchers, or some other problem that is unique to him, but even if that is the case, there's no way it was simply fatigue that causes his poor (offensive) seasons. It does make more sense to me, though, to be on the safe side and start with more days off and ease him into a heavier workload than to start with a heavy workload just because other catchers do it. I don't want another Russell Martin situation on our hands. Mauer might be able to do it, but he's also more athletic than Wieters.