it was one of the low points on the team
in 2021.
Tom Murphy and Luis Torrens began
the season as the Mariners two catchers.
The idea was they would split time at
the position. The unfortunate part early
on neither one did well offensively or
defensively. In fact Torrens was sent
down to Tacoma in May for his hitting
primarily. After being in Tacoma for
a few weeks he was recalled back up.
Torrens had improved on in his hitting.
In his last 30 games for the Mariners
Torrens batted .311 primarily being the
dh on the team. Overall he batted .243.
Like several players in the bottom of
the batting order he made some key
hits to win games for the team.
Next season if Torrens is on the team,
he likely will see some time at first
and third base. He would be the third
catcher to be used in an emergency
for the most part.
Tom Murphy who spent all season
with the Mariners despite not having
a very good batting average at .202.
He caught more games 88 than any
other catcher on the team. He did
have 11 home runs and most of those
were at key times helping the Mariners
win some games.
Before the second half the Mariners
had a couple other catchers come up
briefly though spent most of their time
in Tacoma. They were not what you
call good catchers as well.
Cal Raleigh the future catcher of the
Mariners came up right before the
all-star break. He didn't light up at
the plate either though he did make
a couple he hits himself to help out
the Mariners. In his last seven games
he had a batting average of .235. Not
a great average but better than his
overall of .180. What Raleigh did
better than the other catchers did
was play good defense for the most
part and had the trust of the pitchers.
Cal Raleigh likely will be the Mariners
starting catcher coming out of spring
training. After having been up for
half a season expect him to feel more
comfortable at the plate. When he came
up this year he had to learn many of
the pitchers as well as finding out how
to hit in the major leagues.
Right now Tom Murphy would be
considered the Mariners back up
catcher to Raleigh. During the
second half of the season Murphy
was in the lineup against lefties
because he was hitting against
them better. I expect he will play
in games when the opponent has
a lefty on the mound. I will expect
Raleigh will play against some lefties
as well depending on how he is doing
at the plate.
There is a possibility the Mariners
could go out and find themselves
another catcher to backup Raleigh
as well. The thing is though how
many good backup catchers are
out there and could do better than
Murphy.
How much Torrens is at dh is hard
to know as well. As I said he will
be working at first base and third.
He could be involved in a trade
and not be on the Mariners at all.
There is a good chance Mitch
Haniger and Kyle Lewis will
have a fair amount of time at
dh. According to general manager
Jerry Dipoto Lewis might not
be ready coming out of spring
training.
What the outfield looks like will
be interesting. We will look at
that next time. Go M's.
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