With the baseball season slowly coming up, today I will start my series of previews for the NL West. Each day I will post a new position preview. The first one up is catchers.
1. Miguel Montero – Diamondbacks
2. Russell Martin – Dodgers
3. Bengie Molina – Giants
4. Chris Iannetta – Rockies
5. Yorvit Torrealba – Padres
Montero has quietly turned himself into a fine catcher. Entering June of ’09 with a .225 average, he saw a steady rise thereafter, reaching .306 at one point and .294 for the season. A .337 July and .326 August were the reasons why, where he also combined for nine homers and 34 RBIs. He’s one worth watching.
Martin was the top dog for a couple years, but really took a hit at the plate last year. Over the last three years, his average has tumbled from a .293 to .280 to .250. His power numbers and steals have done the same. Dodger fans can only hope he’s not another Paul Lo Duca – someone who started red hot and quickly fell.
Molina remains a steady hitter. While his average was down last year, 20 homers and 80 RBIs made up for it. He’ll be 35 entering the season, so one would think he’d slow down at some point. But so far, it hasn’t happened.
Iannetta never got going last year, which was a surprise. The Rockies still gave him a new three-year deal, so they’ll expect much better numbers this year, especially with Torrealba no longer there.
Torrealba is instead with the Padres, and he’s a nice addition. He took advantage of a starting role in September to hit .313 with 15 RBIs. He’s not a power hitter at all, and his .291 average was uncharacteristically high. Still, he was a big part of the Rockies’ success late in the year, and that shouldn’t be forgotten.
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