Tagged: Jarrod Saltamacchia
Saltalamacchia
His last name barely fits on his jersey, he
couldn’t throw the ball back to the pitcher last year, and he’s only hit
twenty-three home runs in his career. Yet, Jarrod Saltalamacchia will be catching Josh Beckett, Jon
Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, and Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2011.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was drafted by the
Atlanta Braves with the thirty-sixth pick in the 2003 draft, one pick before
Orioles all-star outfielder Adam Jones.
In 2006 with the braves class A
affiliate, the Rome Braves, Salty had his best year of his young career. He hit
.314, with nineteen home runs, and eighty-one runs batted in. After his
breakout season Baseball America ranked Saltalamacchia as the eighteenth best
prospect in Major League Baseball.
The following year, Saltalamacchia became
the starting catcher for the Mississippi Braves (AA). In twenty-two games,
Salty hit .373 with seven big flies.
The same year, in 2007 Saltalamacchia was
called up on his twenty-second birthday after an injury to Brian McCann and
then made his major league debut.
On July 31, 2007, also in the same year, Elvis
Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Beau Jones, and Saltalamacchia were
traded to the Texas Rangers for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay.
Fast-forward three years latter and
Saltalamacchia was put on the disabled list after the first two games of the
2010 season. He was then sent down to AAA because he couldn’t do one of the
simplest things in baseball. Eventually and thankfully, Salty learned how to
throw the ball back to the pitcher.
On July 31, 2010 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Chris McGuiness, Ramon Mendez, a player to be named later (Michael
Thomas), and some money. He was then sent to Pawtucket.
Saltalamacchia was eventually called up after
an injury to Kevin Cash. In his first appearance in the Red Sox starting line
up on August 12, Saltalamacchia went 2-4 with a run scored.
So far, in his time in Bean town, Salty went
just 3-19 (.158), with one RBI, two runs scored, and no home runs. Yet, despite
those stats, the Red Sox are letting Jarrod Saltalamacchia control one of the
best pitching staffs in baseball.
R-Y-A-N K-A-L-I-S-H
He
was born in Northridge, California and raised in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. His
name is probably the second most mispronounced name on the Red Sox behind
Jarrod Slatalamacchia. But, Ryan Kalish (KAY-lish) is making a name for himself
self in Bean town. He may have only eighty-four major league at-bats under his
belt, two home runs (one of which I saw, his first, in New York), a .238
batting average, and just ten RBIs but the outfielder deserves to be starting
in left fielder on Opening in 2011.
First
off, I’m not turning the page for the year the Red Sox can and will make the
playoffs. I’m simply just looking at the potential roster next year. Both J.D.
Drew and Mike Cameron will most likely be gone after the 2011 seasons is over.
So the obvious choice would be to trade one of those two players in the
offseason. It would make more since to trade Cameron as that allows Ellsbury to
move back to center, where he has played most of his career.
While,
Jacoby does not have the best arm for an outfielder his speed would be wasted
were he to play in left with the Green Monster as his backdrop. Which is why he
never should have moved to left in the first place.
Anyway, while Daniel Nava, Darnell
McDonald, and Bill Hall have had nice seasons there simply is not enough room
and are simply not better then Kalish, Cameron, Ellsbury, or Drew.
The point is though someone is
going to get traded. I doubt Ellsbury would get traded partially because I am
not sure there would be an takers till we know he can still play ball. Cameron
would most likely be a one-year rental as I expect him to retire after his
current deal. As for Drew, he is often regarded as one of the most overpaid
players in major league baseball, meaning the Red Sox would most likely have to
toss in some money.
So what can we expect for Mr.
Kalish in the future? Well, in that very bright future I can see him hit .325
with fifteen homeruns, and 100 RBIs. Eventually, I think he’ll be a line drive
machine and hit doubles off the monster every game. However, next year I think
maybe a .290 average with five-ten home runs with any where from 60 to 85 runs
batted in.
He could see time in the two, five,
six, or seven holes depending on injuries. He will most likely play all three-outfielder
spots. But at the end of the day the most important thing is that Kalish is
nearly a five-tool player. He can hit for contact, field (he has one error and
44 put outs), he can throw (he has two outfield assists), he has decent speed
(he’s faster then Big Papi J),
and the power will come as he reaches his prime.
He might turn out to be a six-tool
player, meaning he can hit in the clutch. I have said it before and I will say
it again, some players, like Alex Rodriguez just can’t hit in the clutch and
choke up. And for the record I think A-‘Roid last year in the postseason was a fluke.
Kalish’s first homerun was at Yankee
Stadium and the other was a grand slam. In his first game against the Tigers he
had two hits in four at-bats with an RBI and a run. Is that a sign of greatness
in the clutch or just a fluke? I believe the answer is greatness.
Kalish
was often over shadowed in the minors by prospect Josh Reddick but know with
the opportunity to play full time Kalish is showing he is just as good if not
better then Reddick.
Photo Credits
Ten Years Changes A Team- Infield And DH
I was playing MLB 2K8 the other day on my Wii. I was the Royals and I was trying to make them a good team. In the game they are the 29th best team. The worst team is the Marlins but that would be to easy to make them good. I went to 2015 and won a World Series with guys like Ryan Zimmerman and Zack Greinke winning the MVP and Cy Young. I played four more seasons till 2019. I actually played one of the games against the Red Sox. Most of the games I just sim. It showed Michael Bowden on the mound for Boston. That got me thanking. What would the Red Sox be like in ten years . . .
Pettitte Stays in Pinstripes, While Varitek is do This Week
Andy Pettitte, 36, signed a one year, $5.5 million dollar deal with the Yankees. The deal could be worth up to $12 million dollars if he reaches all of his incentives. Contracts with incentives are the best contracts, you can’t overpay or underpay a player who has incentives in the contract. Pettitte was 14-14 last season with a 4.54 ERA. He also had 158 strikeouts in 33 games, 204 innings pitched. Pettitte played nine seasons with the Yankees before joining the Houston Astros from 2004-2006 and then went back to the Yankees after the 2006 season. The Yankees rotation is now set to be C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chein-Ming Wang, Pettitte, and then Joba Chamberlain. I think Phil Hughes should be the fifth starter and not Joba. Joba went 3-1 this season as a starter. Joba needs to stay in the bullpen so in a few years when Mariano Rivera retires Joba can become the closer, but I am getting off track. In order for Pettitte to come back on to the roster the Yankees designated Chase Wright for assignment. Wright went 10-3 this season at Double-A and Triple-A
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