I feel sorry for him, but he has become a walking injury magnet. As much as it pains me to say this, it may be time to cut bait with Hank. He has no trade value and has only been available to the team for 4 of the last 18 monthes. I seriously doubt that the team will pickup his 2009 option, opting for younger, less injury prone players.
My attempt at satire a couple of days ago ala bringing in Jason Botts to back up Salty failed.
No more attempt at satire.
In answer to Bingo's discussion on Laird there is agreement here that Laird is the best catcher the Rangers have and a very good one. Perhaps Salty will eventually be a good catcher and become a good hitter. Currently he is neither and I believe the strain of trying to develop into a compenent catcher at the ML level may be causing his problems at the plate.
I will now duck behind the screen to avoid the stones to be hurled my way by all who are certain Salty is "the man" behind the plate.
I think you'll see Salty's offense improve dramatically with regular playing time. His defense has to improve, though if he's going to remain a catcher.
Hank. Wow. I don't know what else to say. He averages over 600 AB's a year for 4 years, gets off to a nice start in his 5th year and then all of a sudden, since May of '07 it's one thing after another keeping him out of the line up.
Man, I'll bet the Chris Davis drumbeat is going to get even louder now...too bad for Hank.
On the Salty thing, regular playing time will only help him out. He really probably has just information overload right now and just needs to go play. Somewhere. I don't even care if it is first, several of us have lamented Steve Smith's departure and the defensive numbers kind of back up that he may have had a better approach to infield coaching. If we can fix the offense out of 1B, Salty doesn't need to be an offensive force and can just play, learn and let things come to him. The same holds true if we go to Max Ramirez behind the plate and let Salty play at first everyday.
This is how teams like Boston bring a younger player along and why they (young guys) have success ath the ML level much sooner.
To finish my incomplete point on Steve Smith...
A coach like that should be able to make Salty at least a serviceable if not above average first baseman. I really suspect his throwing ability from the catching position may never come up to ML caliber but his offense will come around and a switch hitting first baseman is a nice thing to have...
But, maybe his name is Chris Davis and by some reports he is still a defensive work in progress as well so the plot just continues to thicken.
I agree with "r". I think Saltalamchia in trying to develop Major League skills behind the plate is a bad thing. I said all along he belonged down on the farm or perhaps with some other team. That said I have two additional observations. He threw out 2 runners with as good of plays as anyone else in the game...and #2 right now he's our best choice with Gerald down.
As far as Blalock goes he's diving for balls at 1st base (This is where his 3rd base skills are great for a 1st baseman). You can't fault a guy who diving for balls and gets hurt. Get well soon Hank. We need your bat.
As far as the Chris Davis "rannies" go...be patient if he keeps it up he'll be a September callup. ..and be invited to Surprise next year.
Salty is supposed to be a Major League catcher. I don't understand why he's still "learning the position". Granted, players get better with experience, if the defense is not major league ready and the offense needs time to develop, then that needs to be done in the minors, regardless of how Boston or Atlanta does things. Having said that, I agree that Salty is the best option right now in the majors, but you can't trade Laird until someone proves they are a better option at this level. In regards to Blalock, the defense will be there...it's not like he's learning the most difficult position on the field. We know the offense will be there, so having him at first does help this team. My gut feeling is the play of CD in September determines whether or not the team picks up his option.
Quoteable quotes concerning Blalock, "This guy is a Dr's dream and and insurance companies nightmare." Any takers? And now onto the rant, Imus is now blaming the police and racial profiling for his racist comments.... What a joke! Some people will say and do anything in order to get themselves out from under the microscope. Why does this guy even have a talk show? Why even comment or ask "what color is he?, after being told he was African American, which isn't a color, he says, it figures." Pacman who has been arrested 6 times evidently because he is black, is even weighing in saying that Imus should be fired. Hey pac, sounds like you should contact the FBI about those civil rights violations, oh wait they want to talk to you about tampering with a witness and extortion. Wow, how does it go? people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Interesting how people associated with Pac or Adam end up dead.....Probably is police related or has something to do with Racial profiling.
I feel sorry for him, but he has become a walking injury magnet. As much as it pains me to say this, it may be time to cut bait with Hank. He has no trade value and has only been available to the team for 4 of the last 18 monthes. I seriously doubt that the team will pickup his 2009 option, opting for younger, less injury prone players.
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My attempt at satire a couple of days ago ala bringing in Jason Botts to back up Salty failed.
No more attempt at satire.
In answer to Bingo's discussion on Laird there is agreement here that Laird is the best catcher the Rangers have and a very good one. Perhaps Salty will eventually be a good catcher and become a good hitter. Currently he is neither and I believe the strain of trying to develop into a compenent catcher at the ML level may be causing his problems at the plate.
I will now duck behind the screen to avoid the stones to be hurled my way by all who are certain Salty is "the man" behind the plate.
Report any abuse or spam
I think you'll see Salty's offense improve dramatically with regular playing time. His defense has to improve, though if he's going to remain a catcher.
Hank. Wow. I don't know what else to say. He averages over 600 AB's a year for 4 years, gets off to a nice start in his 5th year and then all of a sudden, since May of '07 it's one thing after another keeping him out of the line up.
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Man, I'll bet the Chris Davis drumbeat is going to get even louder now...too bad for Hank.
On the Salty thing, regular playing time will only help him out. He really probably has just information overload right now and just needs to go play. Somewhere. I don't even care if it is first, several of us have lamented Steve Smith's departure and the defensive numbers kind of back up that he may have had a better approach to infield coaching. If we can fix the offense out of 1B, Salty doesn't need to be an offensive force and can just play, learn and let things come to him. The same holds true if we go to Max Ramirez behind the plate and let Salty play at first everyday.
This is how teams like Boston bring a younger player along and why they (young guys) have success ath the ML level much sooner.
Report any abuse or spam
To finish my incomplete point on Steve Smith...
A coach like that should be able to make Salty at least a serviceable if not above average first baseman. I really suspect his throwing ability from the catching position may never come up to ML caliber but his offense will come around and a switch hitting first baseman is a nice thing to have...
But, maybe his name is Chris Davis and by some reports he is still a defensive work in progress as well so the plot just continues to thicken.
Report any abuse or spam
I agree with "r". I think Saltalamchia in trying to develop Major League skills behind the plate is a bad thing. I said all along he belonged down on the farm or perhaps with some other team. That said I have two additional observations. He threw out 2 runners with as good of plays as anyone else in the game...and #2 right now he's our best choice with Gerald down.
As far as Blalock goes he's diving for balls at 1st base (This is where his 3rd base skills are great for a 1st baseman). You can't fault a guy who diving for balls and gets hurt. Get well soon Hank. We need your bat.
As far as the Chris Davis "rannies" go...be patient if he keeps it up he'll be a September callup. ..and be invited to Surprise next year.
Report any abuse or spam
Salty is supposed to be a Major League catcher. I don't understand why he's still "learning the position". Granted, players get better with experience, if the defense is not major league ready and the offense needs time to develop, then that needs to be done in the minors, regardless of how Boston or Atlanta does things. Having said that, I agree that Salty is the best option right now in the majors, but you can't trade Laird until someone proves they are a better option at this level. In regards to Blalock, the defense will be there...it's not like he's learning the most difficult position on the field. We know the offense will be there, so having him at first does help this team. My gut feeling is the play of CD in September determines whether or not the team picks up his option.
Report any abuse or spam
Quoteable quotes concerning Blalock, "This guy is a Dr's dream and and insurance companies nightmare." Any takers? And now onto the rant, Imus is now blaming the police and racial profiling for his racist comments.... What a joke! Some people will say and do anything in order to get themselves out from under the microscope. Why does this guy even have a talk show? Why even comment or ask "what color is he?, after being told he was African American, which isn't a color, he says, it figures." Pacman who has been arrested 6 times evidently because he is black, is even weighing in saying that Imus should be fired. Hey pac, sounds like you should contact the FBI about those civil rights violations, oh wait they want to talk to you about tampering with a witness and extortion. Wow, how does it go? people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Interesting how people associated with Pac or Adam end up dead.....Probably is police related or has something to do with Racial profiling.
Report any abuse or spam