Catricala Shoves Himself 'Into the Conversation'

 ..................

So we converse.

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Q.  Is this truly feasible?

A.  100% feasible for a guy to jump from a AA rampage up to the bigs, but...

Book reviewers sometimes take a stack of books, grab the top one, read five pages to get a feel for the prose.  They sample the middle, and turn to the last chapter and see how it ends.  They write it up from there...

Let's skip to March 28, shall we?  Let's say that Catricala survives this war.  If Casper is defeated and Montero made catcher and Catricala has a DH slot available, he will still have to taste the bitterness of AAA.  Whether through consensus or through the simple choice of one man, Catricala will need to prove it in AAA first.  And there will be no comfort for his fans, no consolation to ease the pain of his needless exile.

Catricala hits .450 all spring, they probably hem and haw and go, "Well, slap me silly.  You know what, if he really is Alvin Davis 1984, he'll obviously slug .600 in AAA like a major league slugger would.  So let him do that, and then we can call him up in two months.  No harm no foul."

It's not like the M's have a hole at DH, and not like they don't want to see Casper Wells.  This administration has guts, but I dunno if they have THAT much guts :- )

Supposing that Jack Zduriencik actually put a .400-hitting Catricala into the DH slot, angling for a 1984 Alvin Davis season, my esteem for him would assume apoplectic positions.  But, y'know.

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Q.  How could the Mariners fit Catricala into the lineup, if he really were the best hitter in camp?

A.  Easily.

He and Wells are nominally the 4 and 5 outfielders.  Montero catches more than 40 games, let's say 70-80, and Catricala is the DH when Montero is catching.  Catricala also takes 50% of the [LF at-bats against LHP's] away from Carp, that being about 25 games a year.  So Catricala has 100 games right there, and some at 3B and 1B maybe.

Catricala's AB's would be taken away from Olivo and from Casper Wells.  ... sliding Olivo AB's over to Vinnie Catricala would be somewhat acceptable to Dr. D.

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Q.  Supposing that he blasted late-spring ML pitching, what is SSI's coefficient of confidence in Vinnie Catricala?

A.  Pretty high, meat.

Here is the SSI breakdown of his offensive game.  Talent scouts correctly noted the lack of "handsiness" and lack of suddenness in his bat launch....

.... but did not notice the hands-back, foot-forward tension, and the clean swing path to the ball, and so they wrote off his power early.  Lukewarm power, 1B/DH type, let's move on...

Then Catricala went to the Southern League and outhit Ruth, Gehrig, and Teddy Ballgame** for power:

 

  • 108 - Catricala's XBH rate, AA Jackson
  • 90 - Gehrig's rate
  • 85 - Ruth's
  • 80 - Teddy Ballgame's

Catricala is comically short to the baseball, giving him extra time, and yet the ball "jumps off his bat."  We are three feet away from talking about a 2-homer debut yesterday.  In comparison to ML cleanup hitters, Vinnie Catricala is unusually short to the ball, with a higher torque-to-load ratio.  Catricala has a cleaner swing than, with as much power as, say, a Jayson Werth type.

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Q.  Third base?

A.  The question is moot.  Personally I have a bias against unreliable 3B's and SS's.  Lack of range is one thing, being a bat-first player is one thing ... but an infielder who makes you feel nervous out there?  That, we don't need with all these heavy fastballs in camp.

There's an old joke about Pedro Guererro at 3B for the Dodgers... a sports psychologist started in with him.  "What's the first thing you think about when a batter steps up?"  Pedro says, "I'm thinking, please don't let him hit the ball to me."  The shrink frowns.  "All right, all right.  What's the second thing, then?"  Pedro replies, "I'm thinking, please don't let him hit the ball to Steve Sax, either."

 ................

Q.  Leaving us where?

A.  SSI is totally open to the idea of Alvin Davis 1984.  Cindy and I were in the Kingdome on April 11, 1984, for AD's debut game.  We were in the third deck, a section all to ourselves, and AD was hitting 6th that day.

AD was making an unlikely leap to the majors, and Dennis Eckersley had zero respect for him.  Fourth inning, two on, two out, Eck came after AD and Alvin took that sweet, sweet little left hand chop swing.  The ball sailed into the upper deck and there was an air about the play as if AD had overmatched Eckersley, had simply crushed a batting-practice pitch.

Alvin hit a home run in his next game, too, just rained bloody death on pitchers who figured, he's a AA scrub.  In April 1984 he slugged .769 in 17 games.  Bill Caudill gave up a game-losing double to him one game that spring and said, "Hey, I did my job.  I kept him in the park."

If we see Vinnie getting that short swing to all nine sectors of the zone, if he can hit pitches long and short, then let him hit.

The Mariners have some of the best talent evaluators in the game.  Let them figure out whether Catricala is the RH Alvin Davis, and let them take action appropriately.  That's what I say.

Comments

1

Is not out of the 3B conversation yet.  He was...but they saw him field a few grounders there and moved him from 80 / 20 outfield / infield practice to at least 50 / 50 , maybe more swung toward the infield.
He said he was working on 3B defense all off-season and maybe we should believe him.  If he CAN stay at 3B, the Ms will want him to.  He'll never be Beltre, but he can be Bell.  There's nothing wrong with Vinnie's hands, so if he gets his feet right...we'll talk.
I still have him as an OF, but I'd love - LOVE - for him to be a third baseman. He definitely wants to be a 3B.  As he says on Twitter, he's been playing it since HS and it's his favorite.  Maybe he needs to go to the OF a la Alex Gordon to tear it up...but we'll see.
It's not a done deal but either way, Vinnie's bat....ah, Vinnie's bat.  He legit scared some pitchers last year.  Whether he's Alex Rios or (RH) Dave Parker at the plate is up in the air, but he's gonna hit in the bigs for a while.
He's exploding in a big way.  It's nice to know I said that in A-Ball when people were calling him "not any kind of prospect."  I don't look like a bandwagoner that way.
But I'm more than happy to make room for people who've now seen him and want to see him on the big club.  Another guy who makes our choice about Ichiro very interesting moving forward.  Carp, Wells, Guti, Trayvon and Catricala can't all play the outfield even with Ichiro leaving the team after the season.  Ichiro stays and some fellas definitely are gonna get traded.
Even if they're building themselves into legit major leaguers.
I expect Vinnie in AAA to start the year, but I'm very much looking forward to the impression he makes here in Spring Training and how it shuffles our 3B / LF situations. 
~G

3

Seager, Liddi AND Catricala as 3B prospects?
Holy moley! 
And G & Doc seem convinced that Catricala is the real hitter in that group?
Holy moley!
Lord know I like Seager and Liddi.......but this Catricala thing may be too much for me to handle.
Sensory overload, you know.
Good thing we have Chone.
moe

4
chasef's picture

Defensive matrics stink! 

5
chasef's picture

Let him play! If he can play a passable 3B, let him show what he can do.
He seems like a perfect candidate for 3B, someone that can growwww into the position. His bat is always going to carry him. Let it be 3B. If Cabrera can pass as a 3B, let Vinnie give it a go as well. He has the athletic tools to improve.
 
 

6

And Figgins will "move around the field"
One person not moving around anymore is Vinnie Catricala. There had been talk about playing him some in left field this spring but the decision has been made to give him every opportunity to develop at third base. As I said yesterday, if he comes on strong it could make things interesting. Wedge again said that he intends to move Figgins around in the field. The more availability there is at third the more likely we could see a young player on the final roster.

 

7

Catricala and Seager were both taken in the 2009 draft as college juniors.
Seager is a year older, but they were in the same year in school.  In other words, Seager was a college freshman at 19, but Cat was a college freshman at 18.
Seager played in a major conference (ACC -- UNC) while Cat was in a mid-major (WAC -- Hawaii).
Seager, therefore, got a more-aggressive placement at Clinton (low A) after signing; Cat got a less-aggressive placement at Pulaski (rookie).
But otherwise:
Catricala has 1446 professional plate appearances
Seager has 1423
Cat cumulative: .322/.397/.536
Seager cumulative: .318/.389/.461 (minors + MLB)
***
In other words, it is only slightly less reasonable to expect Catricala to be an MLB contributor at this stage than Seager.  Main differences are the one year of chronological age (though not college-pro playing duration); 117 PAs of AAA and 201 PAs of major leagues.
I expect they'll have Vinnie go through the paces at AAA (especially since they have other guys -- Guillen, L-Rod -- that they can "plug and play"), but I also expect him to be part of the 2012 offensive totals by the end of the year (moreso if Guillen and Figgins struggle with health or hitting or both).
Awesome to have both (and I'm not anti-Liddi, either, though I think he has a narrower window, and Vinnie seems to have -- appropriately in my mind -- eclipsed him at the moment).

8

a second income stream from TV commercials for Citrical.
"Hi! I'm Vinnie Catricala for Citrical. If you're concerned about osteoporosis, or just want to nurture your body with good stuff, you can't do better than Citrical. Playing baseball requires strong bones, and Citrical is specially formulated so my body can easily absorb its vital calcium. Citrical is one of the reasons I can hit... (cuts to video of Vinnie ripping a pitch out of the park) like THIS! For Catricala, it's Citrical!"

9

Vinnie has at least 3 inches and 25 pounds on Seager, maybe more.  Catricala doesn't look outclassed by the aircraft carrier named Blake Beavan (Cat's in the shades looking at the photographer, Blake's on the left).
Kyle and Vinnie have similar doubles output, but Seager will never hit the HRs that Vinnie can bomb.  Neither guy takes a ton of walks (and their IsoW is basically identical), both hit for a high average.  Vinnie just hits double the HRs that Seager does.
I like Kyle.  I'm starting to get the feeling that Kyle is our trade piece.  I would not be at all surprised to see him go back to Tacoma at 2B and tear it up for a bit while we wait for whatever trade we need to make this team work.
If his value on the market isn't huge I'd prefer to keep him as a utility guy, but if we don't like him as an emergency SS then that's more Kawasaki's role (once Franklin arrives anyway - Kawasaki will likely start more games for us than Brendan Ryan this year).
If Vinnie works out at third... We have a ridiculous amount of depth and young talent in the lineup.  In fact... chart time.
~G

11

I think I'm going to cry.  Tito, hand me a tissue?
Dustin Ackley (very controversially) to 2B ..... Mike Carp (somewhat controversially) to everyday LF ..... give Catricala his shot ........ give Jesus Montero (very controversially) his shot .... 
This ballclub has FOUR TIMES the spring training dynamism that its quota demands.
4x.
It would not be happening if we were shopping for Moneyball veteran speed players.  The fabric of the club is being written with players who have unusual hitting talent.

12

If Vinnie is given a chance to play for the job at 3B, he'll probably win that job.  Leaving the 2012 lineup (on Opening Day, perhaps) with 62% of their starting lineup manning positions that everybody agreed they obviously could not:
Dustin Ackley 2B - one of the most controversial moves in recent years.
Carp LF - a garden-variety "he's an embarrassment in LF" grade.
Montero C - "The sooner they get him to DH, the better" consensus.
Catricala 3B -
Figgins SS
The glove players would be CF, RF, 1B.
...........
The implications of this would probably be that Ryan and/or Kawasaki would have to play SS, and that Figgins the leadoff hitter would play a different position every night.  Tony Phillips.

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