15
2012
Cam Maron: He Wants To Be Like Mike
An article by 
Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, had a nice piece on Mets catching prospect Camden Maron. The Long Island native grew up a big Mets fan who rooted hard for Mike Piazza.
“Piazza was my guy. I used to love watching him. I liked watching Jose Reyes, too, when I was younger. When he was coming up, he was always exciting. David [Wright] came up around the same time as well. I remember ’99 and 2000 a lot. It was something they hadn’t done in a while, and it was exciting to watch.”
Maron, 21, had a breakthough season in 2011 when he won the Mets’ Sterling Award for being the top performer with Kingsport last season.
After a slow start this season for Low-A Savannah, he has roared back and is now batting .305/.393/.413 in 356 plate appearances.
I spoke with Pete Shapiro about him last week and he says Maron is now the number one catcher in the Mets system and is among the Mets’ top hitting prospects as well.
Maron was a 34th-round pick in 2009 out of Hicksville High School. The left-handed backstop is expected to grow more power as he fills out and has a natural, level swing that covers a lot of the plate. Defensively he is very solid and getting better.
“I caught from a young age. Since I was eight I’ve been catching,” Maron said. “It all started, I guess, when I was bored doing the outfield or whatever we were doing back in Little League. I guess I wanted to be involved in a lot more action. My dad decided to throw me back there one day, and the rest is history. I’ve loved it ever since. You’re involved in every play. You’re touching the ball every time it’s in play.”
“I take a lot of pride in my mental ability behind the plate — knowing hitters, knowing situations, pitch calling and things like that,” he continued. “Having a good memory of those things really helps. It’s something that not a lot of people can see physically. Only people who are attentive to the game or on the inside are the ones that can see it, which is sometimes tough. I really take a lot of pride in that. It really helps out the pitchers, and they appreciate that.”
Maron will be bumped to St. Lucie next season where he will be one to watch.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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having some actually catching talent (that are actually, well, catchers!) coming up will be a nice change.
You ain’t kidding.
A real catching prospect? One who might actually be able to swing a bat? Hope his progress continues.
What is this “catching prospect” you speak of? Did they move Zach Lutz behind the dish?
Well at least we still have some good Mets news to report. Maybe the Josh Thole era will come to a close soon although I’m sure not soon enough.
The only thing he has in common with Piazza is that they are both horrible at throwing out runners. He’s thrown out a whopping 10% of would be base stealers.
Seems like a Thole replica (at best) to me…
Its hard to look at stats in the minors and say that is what we will get when he is here. Remember, the minors are more about fixing your process than the immediate results.
Besides, even in the majors, CS% is a team effort. If your pitcher and 1B do a lousy job holding runners and the pitcher has a very slow delivery, the catcher is already at a disadvantage wehn runners go. Piazza was not a great thrower, but waiting for Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel to get the ball over the plate didn’t help.
63 SB and 7 CS = 10% That is horrendous and given how teammate Albert Cordero has 47 SB and 20 CS (30%), I think you can see that it is the catcher that is to blame.
Nice try though…
That does not negate my point. All you did was give more stats, which I already pointed out were not reliable. Cordero and Maron may simply be working on different things.
Also, if you want to talk defense, compare the 2 on passed balls.
I think people look at offensive numbers for a catcher and assume if they aren’t Mike Piazza they are no good to us.
If I told you that over 7 years you could have a catcher who’s batting average is .274. His on base is.331 and his slugging is .377.
Most people would scoff at that. You’d hear things like “Seems like a thole replica” which could be true.
But then what if I told you that catcher was Yadier Molina 2005-2011?
Especially in the NL – the catcher, 2B, CF spots have more to do with defense than any other spot. Defense including calling games etc for a catcher.
You don’t need a Mike Piazza bat behind the dish if your corners are producing.
So if this kid is a Thole replica offensively – I am fine with that. If he’s a Thole replica defensively – that is something I’m not fine with.
Exactly. Look at the turn over rate for catchers, especially in the NL. There may be 10 true everyday catchers in all of MLB.
Getting a guy that can guide your pitchers through a game and not be a strike out waiting to happen puts you ahead of the curve.
Coorect, but he is terrible at throwing runners out. I have no idea how he is in the other defensive areas although his arm is clearly an issue already.
Unless this kid is a plus defender, he is not a potential solution at C…
He did throw out 24% last year. Granted 24% isn’t something to be amazed with but it at least shows me that this year’s CS% is not the end all, be all.
He’s still only in A ball. I can show you a 20 year old Bengie Molina only throwing out 19% in A+ ball but then for his big league career he’s at 31%.
I don’t think we can just look at a minor league CS rate and say “oh he stinks at being a catcher.”
LOL Thole has thrown ourt 26% this year!
Piazza numbers a once in a lifetime thing on a team. That is why catching is mostly a defensive position first. If you have a catcher that can hit it’s a plus.
I think a big reason why it is so hard to find catchers that have solid offensive skills is because the minute these organizations know a guy can be great offensively, they try to move their position to get more miles out of them. I’m surprised that the twins haven’t started transitioning Mauer yet.