The title could easily be talking about me, as its been several weeks since I have posted. However, tonight's posting is regarding the news that Padres catcher Nick Hundley has been optioned to AAA. Honestly, there should only be one reason that such a move comes as a surprise. That is you might be surprised Hundley still had options. Baseball people that I've asked have told me he's out of options, so I have been waiting for that "injury" so Hundley could get things worked out. Let's face it. He's hitting worse than 1 for 6. For a starting catcher with a new $9 million extension, that's just not cutting it. I want to make one thing clear. I do like Nick Hundley as a catcher and thought he was worthy of the extension that he signed. I truly hope and believe he will get his offensive woes worked out. As Bob Scanlan addressed in his blogpost about this news earlier tonight, Hundley is at a point where its simply not helpful to him or the team to contine to play at this level.
I've heard the argument that Hundley's defense makes him the best catcher on the Padres. I agree that Hundley's defense has been superb. Unfortunately, his offense is soooo bad~How bad is it? It's so bad that it completely wipes out any defensive advantage he has. I believe Hundley has much more talent than Baker. However, this year, Baker has been ...average. Not terrible. Average. What one would expect from a backup catcher. But when your backup catcher is outplaying your starting catcher, and make no mistake, he IS outplaying Hundley, it's not a good thing. Don't believe me that Baker has outplayed Hundley? Let's just compare the stats, courtesy of fangraphs. Hundley has been 3.9 Runs BELOW replacement as a catcher, which lands him dead last among all major league catchers. All of them. Every single one. Including Baker, since you can't be worse than last, but if you need to see it, fine Baker is 3.0 Runs ABOVE Replacement level, or average.
If you're still believing that Hundley should not have been sent down, I really have no idea what else to tell you. I can point to the several metrics that show his lack of offense is completely dismantling his defense. I can point to the stats that show his plate discipline is the worst it has been in his career, and his swinging strike percentage is significantly higher than in the past. This is a guy that's completely lost at the plate, and his defense can't keep him afloat. But he has the talent. So lets welcome Yazmani Grandal, and wish Mr. Hundley the best of luck and hope he finds his bat, and soon. And let his play actually show he's truly a better player, not just what we may hope and believe to be to be the case against all evidence.
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