I get that. It's why Napoli is at least third on my list of options. But leaving aside whether Scoscia is just biased because he was a great defensive catcher and feels he needs one to validate the way he played...could Napoli help us at the C/DH position even as a part-time solution behind the plate?
I would expect Napoli to split time with Adam Moore, letting Moore grow without being responsible for the whole offensive output at the position. But are Napoli's recent RH struggles surmountable?
Napoli vs. RHP:
2009 2010
OBP: .325 .280
SLG: .455 .420
Eye: .36 .22
His batting average is terrible against RHP. His eye is drooping mightily vs. them.
Our catchers, vs all pitchers:
2009 2010
OBP: .282 .273
SLG: .354 .312
Eye: .36 .33
Our catchers are significantly worse than Napoli's bad RHP numbers without the benefit of his giant clubbing of LHP.
Who here thinks Rob Johnson and Adam Moore will be significantly better next year than they were this year?
Yeah, me either.
And there's something to be said for having at least one hitter that can crush LHP, since Saunders, Ackley, and Smoak are all lefties and are bad at that besides.
Napoli's not my preferred option, but he is an option.
~G