Mariner Catcher Chris Iannetta

 Now that spring training begins in less than a week with the pitchers and catchers I have decided to start writing about individual players who may start or be the Mariners roster.

Today I begin with catcher Chris Iannetta who the Mariners signed as a free agent. He caught for the Los Angeles Angels last year. Those he has a decent career last year was an off year for Iannetta. His batting average was not much better than Mariner catcher Mike Zunino. New general manager Jerry Dipoto feels that Zunino could use a season in triple A to get his hitting back and feels Iannetta will bounce back this season. Though Iannetta is consider the starter he will share the position with Steve Clevenger the Mariners acquired in the trade for Mark Trumbo to the Baltimore Orioles. Clevenger spent a part of last season in triple A himself however he has shown that he is a good hitter so he will share the catching position with Iannetta. He can play first base as well so occasionally he could be there as well.

Anyway with Iannetta one of the reasons Dipoto signed Iannetta is that he is familiar with the catcher spending time as the general manager of the Angels. What Dipoto likes best in the same manner most of the other players he acquired for the Mariners is his on base percentage. Besides hitting poorly last year Zunino like many of the other players on the Mariners he had a bad on base percentage. Dipoto wants hitters who can get on base either with a hit or walk. He would like the rest of the guys on base so Cruz, Cano and Seager can drive them home. If the Mariners can add at least an average of half a run or more to last season’s run average than the Mariners will win more games. Dipoto expects the Mariners will still be in a lot of one run games. The important thing is to win those games instead of losing them. He hopes guys like Iannetta will make that difference on the Mariners.

The Mariners signed Iannetta to a one year contract so if things don’t work out than it will not cost them that much. The Mariners do not have much at the catching position behind Iannetta and Clevenger except for Zunino. What would be nice if Zunino could be ready to return by the middle of this season or by next season? This gives the Mariners the chance he did not have before being rushed to the major leagues. The Mariners still see the talent that is in Zunino.

The Mariners lost catcher John Hicks after the season when they designated him for assignment and he was picked up by the Minnesota Twins. Not sure whether Hicks has a chance to be a regular catcher however he could be a good backup catcher. The Mariners have Steve Baron who spent the last part of 2015 season in triple A after starting in double A. Baron is probably the second best defensive catcher in the Mariner system behind Zunino however he is not ready for prime time. He did not hit well in his first September call up however he did not get much of a chance either. Usually the Mariners have the catchers split time at triple A. So we can expect that Zunino when he isn’t catching he will be designated hitter since the most important thing is for him to get plenty of at bats.

So spring training we will see how Iannetta and the rest of the catchers perform. We can hope that Iannetta will bounce back as the regular catcher. We won’t call him the everyday catcher because Dipoto does not feel the Mariners have such a player and the demand on catchers he sees Iannetta catching around one hundred games if he stays healthy. Until next time Go Mariners!