=== Playing in 0.6 Gee ===
Baron has surprisingly small legs and obviously doesn't weigh much -- either that, or Baron missed his calling for Olympic pommel-horse gold.
Those fantastic squat-jumps that Baron does all game long ... you realize that those tend to disappear after the grind of 500 games or so in the pros. The knees start hurting.
Dan Wilson, when he was very young, also played catcher like a hockey goalie. (Wilson actually was a hockey goalie.) Sat high in the crouch, super mobile, kept everything in front of him, cat-quick, pitcher couldn't throw a ball through the 5 hole if his life depended on it...
Wilson lost this nimbleness behind the plate at about 27 or 28. He still had the great hands, of course.
.
=== We'll See, Though ===
Baron is even quicker than Wilson was when young, though. A lot quicker. That little power-squat -- into a non-step throw, 3B style -- is something that very few MAJOR league catchers can accomplish.
There's a tendency for catchers to lose some of their strength-to-bodyweight as they get older and heavier. It's not an absolute. John Bench didn't. Maybe Baron is the special athlete who can play like Ryan Miller until he's 32.
And, of course, all catchers are skiing down a slope, as to the juice in their legs. For Baron to start off so much higher than everybody else, is obviously a great thing.
.
=== Albert Einstein Dumb Question Dept. ===
In fact, watching Baron, you're inclined to wonder why more ML teams don't actually put SS's behind the plate. Why not just put Jack Wilson -- or indeed Rafael Furcal -- at the catcher position? You don't have to be big to catch a ball. The catcher doesn't have to tackle a running back. And it's not like there have never been any 170-lb. catchers. There have been.
I guess they'd say durability. But why is Ichiro less durable than Rob Johnson? The issue is strength-to-weight ratio. Ichiro and Steve Baron both have massive S-t-W ratios.
Don't tell me the once-a-month collision at the plate is a dealbreaker?
..........
Hm. I wonder if they have small catchers in Japan. :paradigm call:
.
=== Makeup ===
Baron has already gotten the raves, from major leaguers, as to his attitude. Helpful, team-oriented, super intense, hard worker, loves the game, likes people.
Remember, catchers are in a lot of meetings "arguing" strategy with pitchers and coaches, and baseball has its share of super-talented, socially-challenged Ben Davises...
From a body-language standpoint, Baron exudes calm alertness. Alertness is an important talent, a gift, and Baron just has game awareness. In Japanese terms, he extends ki.
This is a big help towards his hitting career, but a lot of moving parts go into the ML .300 hitting machine...
.
Printer-friendly version