Position Battle: Catcher
The battle for catcher is turning out to be a pretty good one. I've read that the Astros are committed to Humberto Quintero as the backup, but why?
Why can't the Astros have, provided they produce this spring, both J.R. Towles and Jason Castro on the opening day roster and split time right down the middle between the two. I'm not a big fan of Quintero and I don't like that by some accounts he's already been given an opening day spot. I believe Towles/Castro can be just as good defensively or slightly below what Quintero provides, with the potential to produce much more at the plate. I like the idea of a Towles/Castro platoon better than one with a Towles/Quintero or Castro/Quintero split.Stats through spring training:
J.R. Towles : 5 Games 15 AB 4 Runs 8 Hits 5 XBH .588 OBP .867 SLG .533 AVG
Jason Castro: 4 Games 12 AB 0 Runs 6 hits 1 XBH .462 OBP .583 SLG .500 AVG
Humberto Quintero: 3 Games 9 AB 1 Run 1 Hit 0 XBH .111 OBP .111 SLG .111 AVG
*none have taken a walk
This could take some of the pressure of both Towles and Castro and create some competition between the two through out the season, while still developing as a catcher.
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I generally agree, but I think it would be preferable to wait at least two weeks to bring Castro up regardless, for contractual reasons (ML service time).
However, my hope is that by halfway into the season, we’ll see exactly what you suggest. I’m not a Q fan, either.
I should mention, though, that I’m not putting a lot of stock into their respective Spring Training stats. It’s encouraging that Towles and Castro are doing so well, but the sample size just is not large enough to suggest much of anything.
Ya, I essentially took the ML service clock out of the equation, I generally would prefer him to start at AAA as well. I threw the stats up so people wouldn’t have to go searching for them, so I’m not really taking them at face value. However I do think that the stats are an indication that the position battle has sparked some competition between Towles and Castro, and that’s something I would love to see carried over to the regular season.
It reminds me a lot of the competition several years ago between Roy Oswalt and Wade Miller.
I agree with you that I would like to see a Castro/Towles platoon if Castro is called up at some point during the season. I also agree with OremLK’s points about sample size for Castro’s spring stats and the desirability of giving Castro at least a month or so in AAA, before calling him up.
I have a similar reaction to Timmy when I read that Quintero has a lock on the back up catcher spot. Quintero is a good guy, and may end up as a coach someday, but he is basically a replacement level catcher. The only reasons for why the Astros may want to guarantee Q a spot (at least, that I can think of) is that perhaps Wandy and Paulino are particularly comfortable with him as catcher, and his influence on those two pitchers may be viewed as more important than Q’s lack of offensive skills.
If Towles starts hitting in the majors then we will have a Towles/Castro platoon at some point this season. I hope that we start out with Q/Towles to start the season and bring up Castro about a month into the season. Hopefully Castro will be raking in AAA and put our minds to ease that he’ll be able to succeed at the ML level and that we’re not rushing him. Also hopefully Towles will get his act together and hit in the majors.
I agree with this
I also hope Q plays well. He lost weight and supposedly is in great shape.
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on Mar 11, 2010 2:35 PM CST up reply actions
At-Bats
I think it actually has a lot to do with both being young and needing at-bats. They are looking at more of a full-time catcher to start the season and not a platoon situation. So, whoever wins or loses still gets the majority of at-bats wherever they are for development reasons. Getting JR at-bats is just as important as for Castro because JR has potential and could bring some good value in a trade eventually because his upside is much higher than a backup. But, you are all right, once Castro has more than proven he’s ready, JR will get a backseat in the majors. But, don’t forget the familiarity between JR and Paulino, he caught for Paulino in RR last season when Paulino was doing so well.
Normally the Astros assign three starting pitchers to the starting catcher and two starting pitchers to the back up catcher. That’s 3/5ths of playing time going to one starter and 2/5th going to the other catcher. And it’s possible to even up the playing time even more by tweaking the assignments based on the opposing pitcher. If Towles gets 1/3 or more of the playing time when Castro comes up, that’s not to bad. And, given the fatiguing nature of the position, you could justify moving it closer to 50-50.
It's an interesting question
Especially when you factor in Castro’s defense. He’d make an excellent backup for that reason alone. Plus, they both can hit a little, which is also rare.
Q probably has a little more pop in his bat...
but Castro is the catcher of the future, and the sooner the better, I say.
Q has more pop in his bat?
First time I’ve heard that.You do realize that Q has a career .325 Slg % and 9 career HRs right? I hope to God Castro has more pop than that. Qs greatest asset to us is his defense
QUESTIONNOW I AM A FAN OF TOWLES. IF AND I SAY AGAIN IF TOWLES HAE A BREAK OUT YEAR AND PREFORMS TO EVERYONE HIHGEST EXPECTATIONS AND ROY AND PUMA HAVE BETTER THAN AVERAGE YEARS WHERE COULD THAT PUT THE STROS
obviously that bodes good things for the Astros if that happens…depending on how the other players perform. I tested two scenarios with Towles, Berkman, and Oswalt, using the WAR calculation which was described by Dying Quail in previous articles. In the first scenario, I increased Berkman’s wOBA to .410, which is only a hair above his career average, increased Towles’ wOBA to .335, and decreased Oswalt’s ERA to 3.00. The Astros’ WAR calculation increases from 79 wins to 83 wins. The second scenario, I increased Berkman’s wOBA to .420, which is equal to his very good 2008 season, increased Towles wOBA to .360 and also increased his plate appearances to 500, and (in addition to the ERA reduction) I pegged Oswalt’s innings pitched to 210 (instead of 189). This increased the Astros’ win total to 89…which probably would put the Astros in contention.
Sorry
It does not look as though Towles or Quintero can play at the major league level. The only hope is Castro.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
Towles has only had 268 plate appearances at the major league level. He has a career .864 OPS in the minor leagues. I don’t think you can say at this point that he can’t play in the major leagues. He’s never been given much of a chance, and when he did play, it was under the unforgiving eye of Cecil Cooper.
He will likely be given every chance to prove himself this season.
As for Quintero? He’s a typical backup catcher, a win or so above replacement level when you factor in his defensive ability. He likely will never light it up in the batter’s box, but his mitt will allow him to hold down a job. If not here in the long run, then somewhere.
the last time the Stro’s had a REAL hitting catcher with speed was of course old number 7, Biggio and from i have read and heard of Castro, i see the possibility of him being reassigned to play another position PROVIDED Towles can finally come around and hit at the MLB level, Granted he has shown bits of brilliance but more often than not he has faltered on his own merits, Fingers crossed that both of them can provide that much needed pop in the offensive side of the position that Q just doesnt have. Now if they can get some glove work and pops out of the new kid at short, Berkman coming back to form and Lee staying the course we might have something serios to talk about in the near future.
by justanotherJoe54 on Mar 20, 2010 12:23 PM CDT reply actions
catcher
The astros have only had one catcher in the years (1970) that I have been watching them and he was on the team too late in his career(Pudge Rodriguez). Allen Ashby was pathetic as is JR Towles. He couldnt throw out his mother. He hits in spring training because it is just practice. The astros put Biggio there and then moved him. Catchers win baseball games by knowing hitters and batters and strengths and weaknesses. Neither of the present catchers have enough sense to come in out of the rain. We are 9th in payroll and we have 19m going to a left field player that should be on first or gone. 5.5m at second and he is beyond retirement. Who is at third? Pitching and defense and small ball win games.
There has not been evidence to suggest the calling games is a skill which has any statistically significant effect on a pitcher’s performance. I’m not saying it doesn’t, but nobody has yet been able to demonstrate it, and I’m going to remain skeptical of such claims until I see something to back them up.
Towles, by the way, has a 30% caught stealing rate throwing out opposing basestealers in a limited sample size, which is pretty darn good. This fits with what we’ve seen from him in the minors. I believe his overall defense is regarded as average to a little above average, so I’m not sure what basis you have for your statements about him.
As for his batting, there are a number of statistical markers (most prominently his BABIP) which suggest that he has been a victim of a lot of bad luck on balls in play; his minor league numbers are much, much better, and his sample size in with the big club is small, so that leads many of us to believe that given the chance, he will be a much better batter than he’s shown so far at the major league level.
Last but not least, I’d take issue with the statement that “Pitching and defense and small ball win games”. This is old-fashioned thinking which has always been misleading and was never wholly true in the first place. Production wins ball games, whether that comes from homeruns, defense, “small ball”, or even being very good at drawing walks. When you make statements like this one, you’re not exactly wrong, but you’re only telling one portion of the truth, and the total statement becomes misleading and gives an incorrect impression about the game of baseball.
I can accept the idea that some catchers are better than others at improving pitchers’ performance. (Note that I am talking about the “intangible” skills, and not defensive ability— which can be measured.) I would put pitch-calling, receiver-target, and on-field pitching coach among those skills. Those effects would be very hard to prove in an empirical analysis, because of the difficulty in developing a controlled study. However, pitchers feel so strongly about this point that I have to believe it exists.
However, I have seen no indication that any of the three catchers—Castro, Quintero, or Towles—currently is better than the other two when it comes to these skills. Castro and Towles probably have to develop these skills through experience. With the exception of his seeming ability to work well with Wandy, Quintero doesn’t have a history of being a catcher who is in demand among the pitchers (maybe that’s just because he was the back up to Ausmus for many years).
I saw a quote from Oswalt a couple of weeks ago. After describing the importance of the catcher receiving skills, he was asked which of the catcher candidates he preferred, and he seemed kind of non-plussed in giving a “I don’t know” answer, quickly saying, the catcher he wants is in the Dodgers’ spring training camp (Ausmus, obviously).
Yeah, like I said, I’m not willing to rule it out, but at the same time I wouldn’t make decisions based on the belief of that without empirical evidence to back it up (particularly, as you said, in the case of our current Astros catchers, none of whom appear to have any notable strength or weakness in the area of game-calling).

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