In Defense Of Defense

This post is for those who feel the need to rag on our catchers.

Ronny Leonel Paulino finally made the big leagues last season at the age of 25. No, he isn't a wet-eared prospect of 22 or so, but there are very few players who make the majors prior to age 24 unless either a) they are a phenom or b) their organization has noone else and rushed them through the system. So playing almost a full season at 25 is pretty good, especially considering that up until 2002 he was trapped behind Kendall, Cota, and Doumit on the depth chart and was therefore brought along slowly until Doumit started getting hurt.

Paulino had, IMO, a great season offensively. He finished the year with .310/.360/.754 (avg/obp/ops) including 6 HR and 55 RBI. That would be considered a slightly above average season for any catcher, let alone a rookie. Add into that the fact that he did that while trying to learn everything on the fly (since his defensive game was far from polished coming into the year) and I'd give that offensive year a solid B-. His minor league track record would suggest that as a line he is capable of maintaining, though a dip in average to go along with a slight bump in HR (and consequently SLG and OPS) wouldn't be a surprise. That to me qualifies as an everyday bat at the major league level.

Paulino had a very average defensive year, but I consider that very pleasing, again considering everything else he had to worry about, but also because that was pretty much projected as close to his ceiling. His passed balls were high (9) and probably should have been higher if not for some generous scorekeeping, but he got better in chunks as the year went by, and more experience with the pitching staff will only make him better. Same goes for throwing out baserunners. It's hard to anticipate well enough to throw a guy out when you've never faced him in a game. A year under his belt will get him better at that as well. Also, now that he has a year of rapport with the pitchers and umpires (and doesn't press so hard to frame pitches) he'll get more calls, which will improve the pitching numbers.

I think Ronny definitely has room to turn into...I'll be safe and say one of the 5 best catchers in the NL.