Catcher has never been a position that the Tampa Bay Rays have had a lot of luck with. If you were to play a version of the game show Family Feud and ask a hundred Rays fans which are they more likely to see in their lifetime Scarlett Johansson naked in person or their catcher hitting 20 home runs. Given their history, all a hundred would no doubt say they far more of a chance seeing Scarlett than their catcher serving up 20 big flies.
Last year, the Rays catchers muscled up for a combined 21 home runs. Of course, of those 21 pops, 16 came from the unexpected bats of Curt Casali and JP Arenciba. Previous to that, Rays catchers rom 2012-2014 hit a combined 25 home runs. Last year, the Rays hoped to fix their catching problems when they acquired Rene Rivera from the San Diego Padres in a deal that also saw them acquire Stephen Souza Jr. from the Washington Nationals. Apparently, the Rays felt that Rivera had turned the corner with his bat in 2014. Always a good defensive catcher, Rivera's bat was the big question. With the Padres, he managed a .252/.319/.432 slash line. Eleven home runs and 44 RBIs made him all the more appealing. Rays fans were in for a shock. Rivera looked more lost at the plate than former centerfielder BJ Upton.
(Photo : (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Still, the Rays decided to keep Rivera and cut Arenciba. Can Rivera rebound? Well, last year was only the second time in his career he played at least a hundred games. Could 2014 be an outlier? There is no clear cut favorite. Curt Casali came up last year and hit 10 home runs in 101 ABs but that maybe another anomaly as well. Rays can hope that Casali can hit 20 hrs, especially see as though only Evan Longoria hit 20 homeruns last year. If Casali can achieve that feat, the Rays will gladly sacrfice the downgrade in defense.
Should Casali or Rivera fail, Luke Maile, who will be the starting Triple-A catcher, will get his chances maybe sooner than expected.
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