10
2010
Omir, Oh My! Can Santos Be A Legit #1 Catcher?
An article by 
As the countdown towards Spring Training continues, it is becoming more and more likely that the Mets are going with Omir Santos as their #1 catcher, with Henry Blanco and Chris Coste vying for the backup spot.
The Mets spent their winter signing Coste and Blanco and let other catchers (most notably Bengie Molina) sign with other teams. As a result, Santos will now be expected to handle the pitching staff of Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts as well as performing a few Omir-acles of his own at the plate.
Can Santos be counted on to repeat his unexpected 2009 performance this year now that more is being asked of him? Let’s review a few things from his past to see what we can expect in the future.
In 2008, Omir Santos was called up to the major leagues by the Baltimore Orioles for his first cup of coffee in the big show after being a career minor leaguer since 2001. His stay in Baltimore was short-lived as he became a Met in 2009. It was in New York that Santos got his huge break when Brian Schneider got injured, forcing the Mets to call him up for what was supposed to be a short stay.
However, something happened on the way to Citi Field. On a team full of fragile players and underachievers, Omir blossomed into a pretty decent (and clutch) hitter.
Perhaps the most dramatic home run of the 95 hit by the Mets in 2009 came off the bat of Omir Santos. On May 23, he hit a two-out, two-run HR in the ninth inning off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. The umpires originally claimed that the ball had not left Fenway Park, bouncing off the top of the Green Monster and staying in the field of play. That left Santos on second base and Gary Sheffield on third. However, upon viewing the replay, the call was properly reversed and Santos was credited with a home run.
Because of Santos’ unexpected clutch hitting, the Mets decided to trade Ramon Castro to the Chicago White Sox, allowing Santos to remain on the major league roster. His final numbers for the 2009 season included a .260 batting average, 7 HR and 40 RBI in only 291 at-bats. He also added 14 doubles.
Now the question the Mets must ask themselves is whether or not those numbers will translate into a better season in 2010 if Santos gets the 400 at-bats usually reserved for a #1 catcher? Unfortunately, looking at his minor league stats, the answer might be no.
In 2,229 career at-bats for various minor league teams, Santos could only manage a .258 average, with 32 HR and 260 RBI. He hit .260 for the Mets after not being able to do that against MINOR LEAGUE PITCHING in eight-plus years.
Can the Mets expect more Omir-acles from Santos in 2010? Probably not. He won’t be facing Jonathan Papelbon this season and due to the lack of quality catching depth on the team, it’s unlikely he’ll get sent back to the minors. If Santos repeats his 7 HR, 40 RBI performance in 400 at-bats, that should be considered a success for him. But I’m not counting on it.
The Mets would be better off signing a more experienced catcher who could handle a pitching staff that can be, shall we say, a little erratic at times. (see Maine, J. and Perez, O.) Given 400 at-bats, any catcher can hit seven home runs and drive in 40 runs. But with the problems the Mets could have with their starting pitchers, it may be more important to go with a catcher who can help the Mets more with his handling of the pitchers than with his handling of the bat. If the Mets give that much playing time to Omir Santos, they’d better hope he can handle the Four Rainouts portion of Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts. If he can’t, the band might not get another gig at Citi Field.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
21 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- Joey D.: on Do We Need To Start Fearing The Nationals, Could They Win The NL East?: Werth could have a bounce back year....
- Joey D.: on Daniel Murphy: Pumped, Excited, Ready To Rake!: Hi Michael, I do believe most everyone playing...
- t agee: on Identity Fraud Still A Problem For MLB: Lot's of 16 year old's have gotten...
- t agee: on Do We Need To Start Fearing The Nationals, Could They Win The NL East?: Granted Strausberg and Harper were no brainers...
- t agee: on Do We Need To Start Fearing The Nationals, Could They Win The NL East?: See it's not about what a guy...
Write Your Own Mets Post
Recommended Links
Advertisement
Advertisement
Affordable Graphic Design
“In 2,229 career at-bats for various minor league teams, Santos could only manage a .258 average, with 32 HR and 260 RBI. He hit .260 for the Mets after not being able to do that against MINOR LEAGUE PITCHING in eight-plus years.”
Didn’t you just say that his career minor league average was .258? So his .260 average with the Mets is EXACTLY what he has done in the minors.
I think Santos will catch everyone except for Johan. It seems as if Johan was the one who wanted Blanco to sign here, so I am thinking he will become Johan’s personal catcher. Also, I think the Coste signing might have more to do with him helping out Thole in AAA, then Coste being on the major league roster. I actually think Thole will benefit from having a major league catcher to learn from.
mYKEY, ANTICIPATING CONYINUED ABOVE AVG OFFENSE FROM ANY CATCHER IS FOLEY DUE TO THE FRAGILITY NECESSITATED BY THE POSITION. THE FEW SUCCESSFUL ONES ARE MOST NOTED DUE TO THEIR SPARCITY! ON THIDS TETAM, AT THIS TIME WITH THESE PITCHERS, THE OFFENSIVE OUPUT BY THE CATCHER IS A REDICULOUS CONCERN!LOOK ELSEWHERE!
The answer to the headline question is simple: No.
Ditto. Absolutey not.
How come the Mets have the highest payrollin the NL and still not have a catcher, first baseman, second baseman and no number two pitcher?
Kevin, I think what u mean to say is why don’t they have an AllStar @ those positions? Only one team does business that way, we all know who that is. Kevin, like 28 other teams despite the level of actual payroll, there is a hard payroll budget, not a suggested budget or a target budget; but a HARD budget. Fortunately for us, prior to this yr. it has mostly been “DO NOT INCUR LUXURY TAX PENALTY” SIZED BUDGET.
Do you ever look around at other teams? not those guys; but teams we actually compete against? The Braves admitted they needed increased offense. Did they shop Holliday or Bay? No, they opted to deal their #2 SP for Melky Cabrrera.
DO YOU FREALLY BELIEVE THE PHILLIE FRONTOFFICE THINKS A ROTATION FRONTED BY HALLADAY,HAMELS,BLANTON IS SUPERIOR TO HALLADAY,LEE,HAMELS?
It is yet to be seen how this team as presently constittuted primarily by Omar will perform; considering since 2006 a roster of Omar’s primary position choices has never failed to contend! LET US OF LITTLE FAITH, PRAY A LOT!
The Phillies identified the need to improve their bullpen & an option to injured, ancient Moyer. Their solutions: Tghey allowed Park,Eyre,?Myers to leave signing Dennys Baez as their biggest pen addition & 39 yr old Contreras as their new option if 48 yr old Moyer can’t rebound.
The Braves can afford to hold off They have the #1 rated prospect in all of the minor leagues in AAA. Hmmm…. Having options other than expensive free agents and other teams rejects. Why don’t we try that.
I keep saying Barajas would be fine for this team. He has some pop, good defense, and knows how to work the pitchers. Heck, he also caught Roy Halladay so who knows if he has some inside-info.
But apparently with the team “out of money” and not willing to invest in Barajas, who at this point probably would cost less than Cora, I should just stop talking about it. I am pretty disappointing with the Santos/Blanco combo. After hearing how poor Santos is with working with pitchers, you would think Warthen would be the big guy pushing for a new catcher that has some power.
But this is all moot. They are going with Santos/Blanco with Thole getting mentored by Coste. Enjoy!
Uhh” the mets do not have the highest payroll in the nl anymore, more like the 3rd highest in the nl and the 6th highest in baseball
Omir santos is not a clutch hitter nor an everyday catcher. Ill root for him but the answer is and should be HELL NO
[...] Ed Leyro from Mets Merized Online wonders if Santos can be a legit starting catcher for the [...]
Great advice, i am heading over to check out your entire site now. I have just got interested in blogging and hopefully i am able to do so
Follow me on Twitter
There were plenty of catchers avaiable to improve the position, but the Mets opted for lipservice by getting Blanco. Maybe Santana is happy with this, but the team is not demonstrably better by the move. With Manuel and Warhten complaining about the catching position, it is amazing how little has been done to improve it. It is a very large signal of just how bad things are with the mgmt of this team.
Mask, do u realize Blanco has an outstanding reputation as a defensive game caller? Did u also realize that Greg Maddoc annointed him his personal catcher even though Javy Lopez was the team’s primary receiver? preferring to forego the offense in favor of the superior game calling. Most likely Blanco’s the next best acailable to Molina & BTW everyone rooting for Barajas how did the young backenders perform for Torontio? Did Rod uplift them aNY?
Great, we’ll ride Blanco to a championship with his damaged shoulder. Let’s see how many games he gets to call. If he’s on the bench most of the time, how much impact will he have on the pitching staff? If he’s exclusively Johan’s personal catcher, the impact will be minimal because we’ll get quality results from Johan no matter who is catching. Let’s see what the mix is between him and Santos on starts before we jusge how great a deal his signing was. The catching position is far from fixed, Blanco or no Blanco.
Omir seems like a good guy but he’s a backup at best and will not be enough for this team. Don’t forget after last season ended Dan Warthen and Jerry Manuel both said that the catching last year was a big reason why the pitchers underperformed but as of right now it looks like Omir who was a catcher last year will be our starting catcher.
Greg, I still, for the life of me, recall where I learned Blanco was a Santana requested acquisition, as such, if it were me I’d prefer Blanco starts for Santana,Pelfrey & Ollie while Omir gets the other 2.
Henry’s strengtrh is game calling & defensive catcher. 2 aspects best suited to maximize Peld & Perez production. Santana, obviously because “u asked for & u get” just some thoughts…
My belief is Blanco gets minimal starts because of his incentive based contract. No starts, small bonus. Guess what owner is cheap and looking to cut every corner he can to save a buck?
Small sample sizes are a helluva thing.
Santos is not a good enough hitter or defender to be an MLB regular for a good team.
Let’s hope Santos is a late bloomer. It’s happened before.
Not impossible and that is our best hope for the catcher position at this point.