I loathe watching Ausmus bat. He's so one dimensional and he's batting second. Besides for Pudge and Charles Johnson, there really isn't a catcher I'd want that I can think off of the top of my head. That S.D. catcher that broke up the no no with a bunt was looking okay....don't know if he ever developed though. Piazza is more of a hitter than a catcher. He might have improved some in the last few years defensively, but it was a horrible sight to see in LA, that I never bothered to watch him since. He looked like a T-ball catcher which is just one step ahead of t ball right fielder. Just lost. Any good young defensive catchers that can actually hold up a bat and not fight with teammates? If we could DH for Ausmus, he'd be perfect. I hope he keeps up what he did late last year and early this year.
What was so one-dimension about that blast to left field Wednesday night? He rocked that ball out of the park.
Ausmus isn't that bad of a hitter! I don't have his career numbers in front of me, but I'd bet he's about a career .260 (or so) hitter. Not much can be done about this...these guys spend far more time working behind the plate than they do working at hitting. Same thing for pitchers. Their other job takes priority.
Before last year, Ausmus actually had a pretty decent OBP. If he can get on base 37% of the time, or so, he'll be fine in the 2 spot, where power isn't so important. Ausmus knows how to walk . EDIT: For some reason, I thought Ausmus' OBP had been higher. He topped out at .365, which isn't actually bad. Certainly respectable for a catcher...
He's not a bad hitter, just average, for a catcher especially of his caliber. I don't like to see Biggio pitched around and walked intentionally. Ausmus will be challenged a lot this year. Due to this, I doubt he'll get many walks this year, but I can see him having a better than average BA. I guess this is more of a Manager thing than a catcher thing. Contrary to common manager rule of thumb, I'd like someone like Alou batting two.
The Astro's used to have a catcher that kinda fit that bill in Mitch Meluesky. I can see Mitch as a .310 hitter and 25 homers with 100 rbi's. Heck personally I believe before his injury he would of been rookie of the year. But the Astros didnt like his shortcomings behind the plate. Not to mention in the clubhouse. But keep your eye on him this year. He may not put up the power numbers in that atrocity of an airfield (Comerica) But he'll be a solid hitter, and as long as he works on calling games better, he could work himself into being an every year all star.
Joe Joe, Did you forget Jorge Posada. Not only can he hit, but he can hit with power from both sides of the plate. He does have a little bit of a problem with passed balls though.
Haven't seen much of his defensive abilities which takes more than a game or two a season to rate it well. Not a big AL man. I see Rangers some, but get frustrated by DH. I always thought Posada was defensive liability, but that was just because I expected a catcher with his stats a couple of years ago to play more when they were playing GHirardi a bunch.
I was reminded last night of a funny Posada story. He hit one of the first home runs at Pac Bell stadium and hit it into the water. Some guy caught the ball (on his boat) and then proceeded to chuck the ball all the way back into right field. I thought that was too funny.
With the talk about trading Ivan Rodriguez last year and this spring (see here and here for discussion), who knows if the Astros might not put together a package involving Ausmus and a boatload of minor league pitchers that the farm system has in abundance?
He's a FA after this year. He's also 30 years old & plays the most physically demanding position in the game. He's also a serious injury risk - he's only played 202 games the last 2 years due to injuries. He'll also want $12-15M per season. So, in short, I don't think there's a snowball's chance we'll trade for him.
