Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 29, 2007
Piazza Cust

Melissa Lockard at Athletic Supporters suggests a logical move for the Athletics once Mike Piazza returns to the lineup:

Fortunately for the A's, they will have plenty of time to assess how good Jack Cust will be by the time that Piazza is healthy. If Cust is still reaching base at a clip of .400 and hitting with some power, then he should be kept in the line-up as much as possible when Piazza returns. Urban seems to agree with this assessment as well, albeit in a smug manner (quick aside -- why is it that he always has to answer these questions in a tone that makes it seem like the question was beneath him? He is choosing the questions to answer. He doesn't need to mock the poor souls who were nice enough to ask him the question).

What strikes me as odd about Urban's answer, however, is that he suggests that Cust would need to learn how to catch to stay in the line-up when Piazza returns. While I understand that Urban is being flippant, I find it odd that Urban would suggest that Cust would need to learn to catch when Piazza is himself already a catcher.

I have watched Piazza catch a lot of games over the years and he is not a good defensive catcher. He can't throw very well and he doesn't have great mobility behind the plate. However, the value that Piazza gives you offensively at the catcher position is the best in baseball history and goes a long way towards mitigating the damage he does behind the plate. And he has always struck me as a smart catcher in terms of pitch selection, for whatever that is worth. Besides, it isn't like Jason Kendall is threatening Pudge Rodriguez for any Gold Gloves behind the plate. Kendall has reverted back to being one of the worst catchers in baseball at throwing out runners and it seems to me that he has let a number of blockable pitches get by him for wild pitches lately.

My proposal is not a unique one, but I think it bears some consideration: if, when Piazza returns, Cust is still contributing offensively and Kendall is still managing to out-hit only Barry Zito, the A's should have Piazza start behind the plate at least four days a week with Cust at the DH slot. Kendall could be used as a late-game defensive replacement and pinch-runner. I think this is a solution which will give the A's their best possible offensive production and I don't think their defense will take that much of a hit. If it does, it is always a reversible solution.

Makes sense to me.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:31 AM | Players | TrackBack (0)
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