Wieters' playing time is the wildcard for 2015

[mdbdotcom]

With apologies to our resident roster guru, wildcard, how many games Wieters can be expected to catch is the wildcard that will impact the roster in 2015.

Experience of pitchers recovering from Tommy John Surgery has shown that pitchers can be expected to pitch competitively after 12 months, though it is likely that it will take them an additional two or three months of competitive pitching to start to feel "normal."

It is believed that position players can recover more quickly than pitchers, because their throws don't place as much stress on the arm. But catchers face an additional obstacle. With the exception of the now rare complete game, no player on a team makes more throws during a game than the catcher. The vast majority of those throws aren't nearly as stressful as those made by the pitcher, but there are a lot of them.

To figure out how many, I first looked at how many pitches O's starters average per inning in 2014.

Chen - 16.0

Gonzalez - 16.1

Tillman - 16.5

Norris - 16.6

Gausman - 17.2

Jimenez - 18.4

Best case scenario, Orioles catchers have to be expected to make at least 216 throws in any 9-inning game. That's taking into account 8 warm-ups and 16 pitches per inning.

Since a catcher who plays as many innings as Wieters has never tried to recover from TJS before, it likely will be spring training before the O's have a feel for how much he will be able to catch.

If Wieters can play at least 2/3 of the season (108 games) behind the plate, they should be able to do fine with one backup. But if he needs more time off than 1/3 of the season, they likely will want to carry three catchers. No wonder they're looking to sign another catcher.

Complicating roster management a little more is this wildcard: will Wieters be able to DH when he's not catching? If so, it's possible that he will end up being the primary DH and part-time catcher in 2015.

All of this factors into finding the last two position players (of 13) to fill out the 25-man roster (after Davis completes his suspension on opening day).

I would think that one player would be a catcher. Should the other player be a DH or an outfielder or an outfielder/dh? Should he bat LH or RH? Should they focus on a possible everyday player or add role players with options who provide the most flexibility depending how the Wieters question is answered?

What would your approach be?

[wildcard]

For me, Wieters is either well enough to catch 4 days a week or he is on the DL. His three year numbers which may be the best number I have to project how he hits are not good enough for him to be a DH on any regular basis. Hopefully the O's will have other players on the roster that are better DH's.

I don't see the O's carrying three catchers. Joseph has options and can be called up or sent down at needed through out the season. Joseph and Hundley (if the O's re-sign him) have already proven that they can cover the catching.

As Buck says repeatedly, catching and calling a good game is way more important to the team than the offense that comes from the catcher. So, I don't see Wieters' offense as being as important as whether he calls a good game and can control the other teams running game.

[mdbdotcom]

For me, Wieters is either well enough to catch 4 days a week or he is on the DL. His three year numbers which may be the best number I have to project how he hits are not good enough for him to be a DH on any regular basis. Hopefully the O's will have other players on the roster that are better DH's.

I don't see the O's carrying three catchers. Joseph has options and can be called up or sent down at needed through out the season. Joseph and Hundley (if the O's re-sign him) have already proven that they can cover the catching.

As Buck says repeatedly, catching and calling a good game is way more important to the team than the offense that comes from the catcher. So, I don't see Wieters' offense as being as important as whether he calls a good game and can control the other teams running game.

I think Scott Boras just removed you from his Christmas list.

[LoyalBirdFan]

For me, Wieters is either well enough to catch 4 days a week or he is on the DL. His three year numbers which may be the best number I have to project how he hits are not good enough for him to be a DH on any regular basis. Hopefully the O's will have other players on the roster that are better DH's.

I don't see the O's carrying three catchers. Joseph has options and can be called up or sent down at needed through out the season. Joseph and Hundley (if the O's re-sign him) have already proven that they can cover the catching.

As Buck says repeatedly, catching and calling a good game is way more important to the team than the offense that comes from the catcher. So, I don't see Wieters' offense as being as important as whether he calls a good game and can control the other teams running game.

I agree with this for the most part.

[wildcard]

I think Scott Boras just removed you from his Christmas list.

That's OK. He didn't make my either.

[UpstateNYfan]

His role is certainly one to be discussed. My guess is that the most the O's can expect is about 100 or so games catching. Although pitchers do have more stress on their arms overall than a catcher, their delivery is more deliberate and controlled than a catcher. I suspect a catcher has a more violent, explosive release from various angles both with and without use of their lower body. Hence, a potential to re-injure his arm or slow his recovery from the surgery.

The question I ask is, can he hit before he is ready for stints behind the plate?Does it put too much stress on the right arm, is it different if he is batting right handed or left handed?

As I have stated before, I believe one of the reasons DD is not seemingly willing to spend too much money on a DH is because he may already have one for close to 50% of the time with Wieters at 8 or so million. You certainly could not add another 12-15 million more for the same role.

[Aristotelian]

My approach is that he is our lefty DH until he proves he can throw. Any innings he plays at C are bonus.

[Can_of_corn]

If DHing does not interfere with his timetable to return to catching then I have no problems with him being a DH.

[panick]

I agree with wildcard.

I've been saying all along that Wieters is not nearly good enough offensively to be a DH.

The bad thing is that I doubt the O's would go this route. And since Showalter loves Wieters I'm sure Wieters would be the full-time DH.

[weams]

I think Scott Boras just removed you from his Christmas list.

I promise if he can hit, he will play. I promise. This is his final year with the club, we will get some dividend from the nice contract he has for it.

[weams]

If DHing does not interfere with his timetable to return to catching then I have no problems with him being a DH.

I agree with wildcard.

I've been saying all along that Wieters is not nearly good enough offensively to be a DH.

The bad thing is that I doubt the O's would go this route. And since Showalter loves Wieters I'm sure Wieters would be the full-time DH.

It doesn't really matter how good he is. We own it, we work it.

[srock]

Wait 216 throws a game? What's that have todo with anything? He just tosses the ball back to the pitcher. My wife can do that. No stress at all.

The question marks for Wieters are:

1 pop time, Is his technic and arm strength back

2 can he hit. Same as always.

As for roster management, if he can't catch at all he goes to DL.

If he can catch but shouldn't all the time the he splits it with Joseph and be can DH and pinch hit as needed.

No mater what, a competent catcher is needed in AAA just in case.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zweem]

Wait 216 throws a game? What's that have todo with anything? He just tosses the ball back to the pitcher. My wife can do that. No stress at all.

The question marks for Wieters are:

1 pop time, Is his technic and arm strength back

2 can he hit. Same as always.

As for roster management, if he can't catch at all he goes to DL.

If he can catch but shouldn't all the time the he splits it with Joseph and be can DH and pinch hit as needed.

No mater what, a competent catcher is needed in AAA just in case.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

agreed---great difference between return tosses and full exertation throws on steal attempts.