Mirabelli bothers me

[TheFens]

I hate how Wake is solely caught by Mirabelli. I'd MUCH rather see the better hitting, better defending Varitek in there than Mirabelli. I understand that it gets him playing time, and that he has been catching Wake for a while, and that he's his "personal catcher" and whatnot, but the fact of the matter is, I don't want to see him playing when Varitek is sitting, perfectly fine, on the bench.

I dont know. Mirabelli doesnt suck, I'll give him that, but Varitek is better. Especially in important games dammit!

[dirtdogman5]

Originally posted by TheFens@Apr 27 2004, 06:39 PM
I hate how Wake is solely caught by Mirabelli. I'd MUCH rather see the better hitting, better defending Varitek in there than Mirabelli. I understand that it gets him playing time, and that he has been catching Wake for a while, and that he's his "personal catcher" and whatnot, but the fact of the matter is, I don't want to see him playing when Varitek is sitting, perfectly fine, on the bench.

I dont know. Mirabelli doesnt suck, I'll give him that, but Varitek is better. Especially in important games dammit!
Mirabelli's 2 homer game in Toronto says hello! But in all seriousness, Mirabelli is actually one of the best backup catchers in the league (probably the best besides Flaherty). Now with that said, he's obviously no Tek, but I really have not too much of a problem with Doug catching Timmeh. Now if Belli catches Wake in the World Series or something, than I'd be a little pissed, but c'mon, Jason needs some rest once in awhile.

[yawkeyway]

While it does give Varitek a rest from the gruelling position of catcher (far and away the most gruelling in baseball), I dont like to see him in there every 5th day either. Maybe once every 2 or 3 wake starts to give Tek a break.

Mirabelli's throwing arm is his best quality I think. He certainly is not a great hitting catcher, and although he has ok decent, so does varitek. Rest is the only reason he should be in there, thats what a backup catcher is for.

[yagmaster]

There is almost no catcher that catches more than 140 games in a year. It's ok to let Varitek rest some, but EVERY WAKE START is overkill I think.

Mirabelli has, however, seemed to be hitting decently well as of late. I don't think he gets enough credit.

[roary]

Originally posted by yagmaster@Apr 28 2004, 10:42 PM
There is almost no catcher that catches more than 140 games in a year. It's ok to let Varitek rest some, but EVERY WAKE START is overkill I think.

Mirabelli has, however, seemed to be hitting decently well as of late. I don't think he gets enough credit.
Right. No catcher can go all games, or even the vast majority (150+), its just impossible. The position, the strain, the intensity: its all way too much. Getting Tek every 5 days off is good for him and good for the team. What we lose when mirabelli plays we get back to a greater extent when Varitek plays healthy and rested.