2012 Jesus Montero Performance Thread

[Blazer]

Yet...

But seriously, Felix was pretty upset with him towards the end of that outing. I wonder if he was unhappy with what Jesus was calling.

Felix is probably upset with his 90 mph FB.

[tranquility]

Yet...

But seriously, Felix was pretty upset with him towards the end of that outing. I wonder if he was unhappy with what Jesus was calling.

Yet Seattle fans are hoping for a serious bonding between Felix Hernandez and Jesus Montero, who grew up less than 12 miles apart in Venezuela (Hernandez is only three and a half years older than Montero).

[NewEraYanks2527]

Seems the world doesn't fall apart when he catches.

The world fell apart in Seattle a long time ago...

[Hitman23]

The world fell apart in Seattle a long time ago...

hahaha

[tranquility]

From beat reporter Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times:

Jesus Montero will indeed catch Kevin Millwood again again tomorrow after their communication-plagued outing last Tuesday. The Mariners had to give this one some thought, but eventually the common sense of not starting John Jaso behind the plate against lefty Andy Pettitte eventually won out.

Wedge said there have been plenty of discussions about what went on last Tuesday, especially between Millwood and Montero.

"It's as simple as a young catcher learning to work with a veteran pitcher, call a game, get a feel for all of those things that nobody will ever see,'' Wedge said. "Just the intangibles of catching, which are so important. Arguably as important as anything.''

Despite some solid hitting for Montero so far, his catching remains a work in progress. The team has been easing him in there, avoiding multiple games in a row. But he remains raw in a lot of the intangibles of catching, which the team, again, is working with him on behind the scenes.

"Jesus needs to call what he feels like he needs to call and work with Kevin throughout the process,'' Wedge said. "He's not just going to be a robot back there. He's got to learn to call his own game. With the according pitcher. That's just the way it has to be.''

Wedge added: "I could sit here and talk to you for 24 hours on this and you still wouldn't understand. It's just, when you get back there, with the flow of the game, it's a combination of what you're seeing, what you're feeling, the pitcher on the mound, the situation. It's just too deep to go into. There are just so many variables involved. Hence, why most people will never understand in a thousand years why it's so hard to be a major league starting catcher.''

Wedge said that for him, hitting will always remain "a distant second" in the catching equation. He noted that he was asked about catching in a radio interview yesterday by somebody who had also spoken with Yankees manager Joe Girardi -- a former catcher who teamed with Wedge in Colorado.

Wedge paraphrased Girardi's quotes and said he agreed completely.

"It's hard to understand how any catcher hits,'' Wedge said. "Because there's so much going on behind home plate. He said it better than that. I don't know what the actual quote was...because there's just so much responsibility, so much thought process.''

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...ndan_ryan.html

[jcarey]

lots of people on various blogs

Ridic. The potential is obvious. Should expect a bump or two along the way.

[Donnybaseball72]

The fact that The Mariners need a hasbeen like Kevin Millwood in their rotation is making me wonder why they felt they were so pitching rich that they could trade away a healthy Pineda.

[Huktonfonix]

The fact that The Mariners need a hasbeen like Kevin Millwood in their rotation is making me wonder why they felt they were so pitching rich that they could trade away a healthy Pineda.

Probably because they weren't ready to compete with the Rangers and Angels (lol) this year and they need some veteran stopgaps as they bring their prospects along.

[tranquility]

The fact that The Mariners need a hasbeen like Kevin Millwood in their rotation is making me wonder why they felt they were so pitching rich that they could trade away a healthy Pineda.

The Seattle Mariners did not expect the contend in 2012 awaiting the arrivals of pitchers Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen and James Paxton, whom Baseball America ranked 20th, 21st and 52nd on its annual Top 100 prospect list.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...2/2612998.html

Jason Vargas ranks 22nd in WAR* among American League starters in 71 starts since the begining of the 2010 season, 23-year-old Blake Beavan made his MLB debut last season with six straight quality starts and Hector Noesi can keep a seat warm.

And the Mariners have Felix Hernandez.

And the M's have Oliver Perez pitching long relief down at Tacoma (OK, I added that for humor).

* Wins Above Replacement as reported at FanGraphs

[nhyankeefan]

From beat reporter Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times:



http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...ndan_ryan.html

It's been said here many times before, but considering all that why not just switch Montero to 1B? I know that catchers with his offensive potential are extremely rare but I don't think the reward is worth the risk.

[Yankees1962]

The fact that The Mariners need a hasbeen like Kevin Millwood in their rotation is making me wonder why they felt they were so pitching rich that they could trade away a healthy Pineda.

Because they realized they're in the rebuild mode this season so Millwood is a stopgap until Hultzen, Paxton and Walker are major league ready. All three of those guys are stud pitchers.

[tranquility]

It's been said here many times before, but considering all that why not just switch Montero to 1B? I know that catchers with his offensive potential are extremely rare but I don't think the reward is worth the risk.

The risk is low this year because Jesus Montero's defense won't be costing the rebuilding Mariners a postseason berth this season. If Montero works out at catcher, fine ... if not, not much was lost.

[NelsonMuntz]

The fact that The Mariners need a hasbeen like Kevin Millwood in their rotation is making me wonder why they felt they were so pitching rich that they could trade away a healthy Pineda.

I'm wondering the same thing. I know they supposedly have some super duper pitching prospects in the minors but a bird in the hand...

[tranquility]

I'm wondering the same thing. I know they supposedly have some super duper pitching prospects in the minors but a bird in the hand...

What the Mariners lacked was a young "bird in the hand" who could hit.

In 2011 Seattle scored only 556 runs (311 runs fewer than the Yankees) with an on-base percentage of only .292 (.51 points lower than the Yanks).

It only made sense to trade a valuable pitching asset for a valuable hitting asset.

[Black Sabbathia]

Baserunners are 8/9 stealing off him and he's clearly having issues with his pitchers. 3 passed balls already too.

[Yankees1962]

Baserunners are 8/9 stealing off him and he's clearly having issues with his pitchers. 3 passed balls already too.

Those are defensive issues the Mariners can afford to give him time to work on while catching some games, but a team like the Yankees with their stated goal of winning a WS every year cannot afford that luxury. Hell, they sent down their utility guy because he can't field his position.

[Axon]

The fact that The Mariners need a hasbeen like Kevin Millwood in their rotation is making me wonder why they felt they were so pitching rich that they could trade away a healthy Pineda.

Pineda's performance fell off late in the year, and so they took a risk. Yanks had a catcher who can rake, but is likely to be a career DH. It made sense for both sides. I'm not sure Montero will ever grow defensively beyond what he's doing for Seattle. Catcher is a very difficult position that requires a lot of differing skills, and Montero is probably better suited as a first baseman.

Remember, even Jorge couldn't handle certain dominant personalities as a catcher. Varitek was so baffled by the knuckler that he had to sit during Wakefield's outings. Et cetera. Catcher is no joke.

[dave8274]

Watching this series, Montero seems to be a perfectly adequate Catcher. Don't see why he needs to be a DH at all.

[False1]

Watching this series, Montero seems to be a perfectly adequate Catcher. Don't see why he needs to be a DH at all.

Meaning he can catch the ball when it's thrown right at him? It's a shame the Yankees didn't rough up Millwood today and just run at will. If Gardner wasn't hurt he'd probably have 4 bunt singles and 4 SB.

[teknetic]

Probably because they weren't ready to compete with the Rangers and Angels (lol) this year and they need some veteran stopgaps as they bring their prospects along.

+ the fact they play in Safeco and usually have a good defensive club that makes mediocre pitchers into fairly good ones (Washburn comes to mind).

[Yanksfanintoronto]

The fact that The Mariners need a hasbeen like Kevin Millwood in their rotation is making me wonder why they felt they were so pitching rich that they could trade away a healthy Pineda.

Conspiracy Theories??? They were pitching rich but offensively poor.

[1970cs]

The fact that The Mariners need a hasbeen like Kevin Millwood in their rotation is making me wonder why they felt they were so pitching rich that they could trade away a healthy Pineda.

The Mariners scored 556 runs in 2011, the Yankees by comparison scored 867, that is more than park factors.

[tranquility]

Jesus Montero threw out Marlon Byrd attempting to steal Monday evening, raising his caught-stealing rate to 20 percent.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp...eamlb_bosmlb_1

[tranquility]

ESPN columnist David Schoenfield offers his less-than-flattering take:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...-to-mike-trout

Scroll down.

[tranquility]

The Cleveland Indians scored their first run Wednesday evening on a Jesus Montero passed ball with the bases loaded:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index...1&mode=classic

The Indians scored their third first-inning run when Montero's throw on an stolen base sailed into the outfield (where leftfielder Chone Figgins' error led to the fourth run of the inning).

From a Mariner message board:

Re: Tribe vs. Mariners 5/16/2012 lineup, game thread
by Billy Heywood on Wed May 16, 2012 4:39 pm

Oh so that's the horrible defense they were talking about. Cool.Billy Heywood

Posts: 22420
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:50 pm
Location: Seattle, WA

http://forums.seattletimes.nwsource....2ed5c&start=40