FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Detroit Steel said 07/14, 04:36 PM
From when the season began, the Mets already announced Brian Schneider as the starting catcher instead of Ramon Castro. I thought this was a bone-headed move and now at mid-season . . . I was right.

Schneider has done terrible at catcher this season, hitting .254 with two home runs and 20 runs batted in in 205 at-bats. The Mets should have known this was coming because the season before, he hit .235.

Ramon Castro, on the other hand, is a tremendous hitter. He has just about 1,000 MLB at-bats in his career because in his years with the Mets, Paul Lo Duca was the starter and there was no way that the Mets would shove Lo Duca out of the lineup and now that Lo Duca finally leaves, Castro thinks he has a chance.

Castro hit 44 home runs in his career and he had 151 runs batted, and last season, he was on pace for over 40 home runs if he had 600 at-bats. He has tons of power and decent contact - he has hit .285 in his last two years with the Mets.

This year, Castro is hitting .286 with three home runs in 77 at-bats. Sure, Schneider may be a better fielding catcher than Castro but Ramon is still pretty good. It has come to a point where Castro should be the full-time star

Detroit Steel said 07/14, 11:46 PM
Ramon Castro has a .259 career average as a New York Met - barely .260 and that is pretty good for a catcher - fantastic for a catcher who is behind Brian Schneider on the depth chart.

In Schneider's career with the Mets (less than one season) he is hitting .254, right around his career average of .253 with almost no power.

Maybe Castro isn't the best contact hitter in the world but he is certainly better than Schneider at contact hitting. If you don't like to look at statistical projections, look at it this way - Castro has just hit five less home runs than Schneider despite Schneider having about 1,500 more career at-bats than Castro.

Castro wasn't on the opening day roster because he was injured. Yes, he may get injured a few times every few years but mean as well use him as their starter when he is healthy, which the Mets don't.

Even if Castro did hit .234 (which he isn't), I would still take his power and his clutch over the weak hitting Schneider. Sure, Schneider may have a better career fielding percentage, .003 ahead of Castro, but not a big difference. He has a big bat and he has deserved the chance to be a starter.

Detroit Steel said 07/15, 12:21 PM
The Mets aren't neccasarilly giving him opportunities when a left-hander is pitching, if Castro only plays when the Mets are facing lefties, I could see your point, but he has had around 550 at-bats in a Mets uniform, over 400 have been against righties and Castro is a righty. If you are thinking that Castro plays against lefties which is why his average is high, you're wrong.

Plus, Castro stepped into his prime when he came to the Mets. He has hit right around .255 since he turned 26, and your prime years stretch from about 26-33 as a catcher. He isn;t just getting lucky, he's just getting better as he gets to his prime.

I'm not saying that Castro should be the starter when he is injured, he should just be the starter. When he gets hurt, Brian Schneider should take his place. When Castro is not injured, he should start for most of th games.

Brian Schneider is just terrible at hitting. He may be a little bit better at catching than Castro is but at hitting, it isn't even close. Castro's career On-Base Percentage of .314 is just .011 behind Schneider's but over the last four years, Castro's OBP is around .340.

Castro has tons of power, let him use it.