Paulino has stronghold on catcher's job

9/3/2006

Paulino has stronghold on catcher's job
Doug Street
Washington Observer Staff writer

OK, let's see a show of hands. How many of you at the beginning of the Pirates' season were thrilled with Ryan Doumit and Humberto Cota sharing the catching duties?

Ryan, Humberto, you're votes don't count. Even your manager and general manager don't have their hands up.

Doumit and Cota were what the Pirates planned to go with until Doumit injured his hamstring in April. The injury opened the door for Ronny Paulino to be recalled from Class AAA April 16 and he has made sure the catching job is his for the foreseeable future.

Paulino made a slow climb through the Pirates minor league system and was even lost to the Kansas City Royals in the Rule 5 Draft fiasco of 2003. But Paulino was returned to the organization before spring training ended. It took him nearly five seasons just to make it to Class AA and another 2 1/2 to reach Class AAA.

Since Paulino got his chance in Pittsburgh, he has impressed everyone with his offensive and defensive skills.

The Pirates weren't sure if Paulino could hit at the major league level. Not only has Paulino hit -- he carried a .318 average into Saturday night's game in St. Louis -- his consistency has been rivaled only by National League batting leader -- and teammate -- Freddy Sanchez.

Here are Paulino's batting averages per month: April .304, May .299, June .308, July .329, August .318 and a 2 for 3 performance in the first game of September. He had two of the Pirates' three hits during Chris Carpenter's complete-game victory Friday night.

Paulino is third among NL rookies with the .318 average and a .370 on-base percentage and second among NL catchers in batting average behind Atlanta's Brian McCann.

Defensively, Paulino has thrown out a respectable 35 percent of base runners (21 of 60) and the pitching staff has a 4.17 ERA with Paulino behind the plate compared to a 6.12 ERA with Doumit and Cota.

Paulino spent little time at Triple-A Indianapolis but benefited by playing in the World Baseball Classic. Though he didn't see much playing time for the Dominican Republic, Paulino said that atmosphere was very beneficial.

Doumit has been injured much of the year and Cota hasn't been productive, so manager Jim Tracy was smart to give the 25-year-old catcher some rest in the right spots. Though he's been their only dependable catcher, Paulino plays one of the more demanding positions and Tracy didn't want to wear him out.

When the Pirates were building their winning teams of the late 1980s and early 90s, they needed a good core group of young players. The Pirates might have that with Sanchez, outfielder Jason Bay, shortstop Jack Wilson, second baseman Jose Castillo, and closer Mike Gonzalez.

Now, Paulino can be added to that group. He may not be the piece that makes the Pirates a winner or contender, but he can have a big role in it.

Doug Street can be reached at dstreet@observer-reporter.com.