Clearwater Countdown: The Battle to Backup Ruiz
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Chris Coste is going to have to battle to keep his job.
As the snow melts and the weather warms the area, it’s tough not to dream of spring.
That's right Phillies pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater in just seven days and in honor of the start of Spring Training NBCPhiladelphia.com is be doing our top-10 countdown of issues to be settled before Opening Day.
No. 7:
Who will win the battle of the backstops?
There is a three-man race going into Spring Training to be the Phillies backup to starting catcher Carlos Ruiz.
The battle is between the incumbent Chris Coste, the new guy Ronny Paulino and the rookie Lou Marson.
Let’s take a look at the incumbent first.
Coste – with his 33-year-old rookie story – has become a phan favorite in Philly.
He has earned his spot over the past couple season by hitting and hitting some more when given the chance. In three plus seasons he has batted .288 with 34 doubles, 21 homers and 90 RBI in 601 at bats (about the amount of at bats an everyday player gets in a season).
The stats speak for themselves so why are the Phillies looking to others to snatch Coste’s job away?
It is partly to do with Coste’s unconventional catching style but also the fact that he fell apart in the second half of 2008. He batted only .235 in the second half with only two homers and 15 RBI.
When the Phillies needed players to step it up while chasing a playoff berth, Coste barely found the field -- the unsafe status of his job can come as no surprise.
What about the new guy?
The Phils traded for Paulino during the off season. Paulino spent his first four major league seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He is a career .278 batter with 19 homers and 128 RBI in 1,021 career at bats. He had his best season in 2006 when he batted .310 with five homers and 55 RBI in 442 at bats.
Paulino is a serviceable hitter but a good catcher with a .990 fielding percentage behind the plate.
The reason the Pirates let Paulino go was the emergence of Ryan Doumit at catcher last season.
Paulino looks like a possibility at snatching the backup catcher duties from Coste but don’t bet on it. Paulino barely hit a lick last season – batting .212 with two homers and 18 RBI in 118 at bats.
The man could wind up being the rookie.
Marson is the Phillies future behind the dish – he spent time with the team late last season and was kept around as a possible alternate for the postseason in case Ruiz or Coste got injured.
The Mars Man can hit and field. Last season at AA-affiliate Reading he batted .314 with 18 doubles, five homers and 54 RBI in 322 at bats while putting up a .985 fielding percentage.
The 22-year-old will one day be the starting catcher for the Phils. He is a better hitter than Ruiz already and if he can show a true command of the pitchers in Spring Training than his time to start could be this season already.
The only way Marson doesn’t beat out Paulino and Coste is if the Phillies decide to let him season in AAA to work on his catching skills and glove work.
Who do you think should be the backup catcher? Let your thoughts be known below.
Posted Thursday, Jul 16, 2009 - 9:06 PM EST
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