Jarrod Saltalamacchia: a Late Bloomer Hitting His Stride
When the Boston Red Sox traded for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia back in 2010, they had hopes of being able to extract the raw talent that had scouts raving about Salty when he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2003. Injuries have limited the Florida native’s playing time during the early portions of his career and now having settled into life in Boston, Salty may be the latest example of a late bloomer finally hitting his stride.
Despite being only 27-years old, some might argue that Saltalamacchia doesn’t qualify as a late-bloomer. Jose Bautista, the home run slugging Blue Jay is a good example of a late-bloomer but keep in mind Bautista had his breakout year in 2009 at the age of 28. Salty will turn 28 on May 2, so it’s a fair statement.
It’s also easy to say Salty may be a late-bloomer when you consider the high praise he was receiving when he first broke into the league in 2007 with the Braves at the ripe age of 22. Entering his sixth full season in the majors with his third big-league team, Saltalamacchia finally appears ready to become one of the league leaders in the catcher’s offensive categories.
Salty has once again recovered from a slow start with Boston this year and is currently swinging one of the hotter bats in the Red Sox lineup. Over his last ten games, Salty is hitting .290 with 4 long-balls and 7 RBI and has been an offensive catalyst on multiple evenings in helping propel the Sox to victory. None more accurate than his towering walk-off shot to steal a victory from the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night.
Saltalamacchia, who was involved in the Mark Texeira trade that sent the current Yankee to the Atlanta Braves, has become one of the top producing catchers in the American League through the first two months of the 2012 season, making the argument that an all-star appearance this summer is not out of reality.
A career .247 hitter, Salty probably won’t threaten the .300 mark for the season but a current average of .274 is good for 8th in the AL. His OBP of .311 puts him in the middle of the pack and his 22 RBI have him slated in sixth in the AL. Not staggering but respectable. Where Salty’s case for a trip to Kansas City starts to hold water are his other offensive stats. Entering Wednesday’s game, Salty is tied in all of baseball amongst catchers for the most home runs with 9, leads the AL in slugging percentage with .573 and is second in OPS with .883 behind only Kelly Shoppach at .917. One could argue that given the amount of Shoppach’s playing time or lack there of, Salty is the league leader in that category as well.
The 83rd annual MLB All-Star game, set to invade Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City this year, is just over five weeks away and while chatter about the roster is still relatively quiet, it’s hard not to start making a case for Red Sox catcher Saltalamacchia. He will be overshadowed by the likes of Joe Mauer (if he doesn’t shift to first base full-time), Matt Wieters, A.J. Pierzynski and the young and impressive J.P. Arencibia of the Toronto Blue Jays so an all-star appearance could be over ruled by the more impressive numbers two of those four are putting up.
But keep in mind Salty’s slow start to the season when he hit just .103 through April 20. It was the next day when he went 4-for-5 against the Yankees that was the turning point of the season and he’s now got it set to cruise control. For the Red Sox, maybe that raw talent is starting to emerge, giving them their catcher of the future in Saltalamacchia. If he doesn’t get to go to Kansas City and take part in the festivities, it won’t ruin the nice run that Salty is on and will hopefully continue. If he maintains this streak, a last minute charge in the voting could be enough to propel him to the game.