Pena should be Cueto primary catcher.

[fearofpopvol1]

Pena is growing on me. I'm still not a fan of his defense, but if the bat stays where it is...I'm on board.

I'm the opposite here. I expected his bat to at least be adequate. Pena behind the plate has been a bigger surprise. He's been quite impressive to date thus far.

[RadfordVA]

One gift that keeps on giving from the Dusty era is his public affirmation that he tried to match up pitcher/catcher combinations. Now it has given the impression that it is the norm, and a good thing at that.

I think it is pretty normal though. Your catcher is not going to catch every day of the week, so the manager knowing that will a lot of times give one starter the back up catcher to work with on a regular basis.

[traderumor]

While on the subject of PHing the backup catcher, shame on the manager who manages around an event that has a microscopic probability of occurring. I would guess there are less than 5 instances in the last 40 years where a team had to use an emergency catcher. I would venture to say that there is a very large number of games where the catcher was the best PH option and he was bypassed on the .000000000001 probability that the other catcher would thereafter be out of the game.

[cincrazy]

I think Pena will be invaluable for Chapman upon his return. Chapman's biggest problem coming back will likely be the mental aftershocks of taking that liner to the head, and I think Pena is the PERFECT guy to get through to him. He's Cuban, he's personable, he's funny, just a great guy. I think it will do wonders for Chapman.

And obviously it goes without saying he's doing great with Cueto.

[westofyou]

While on the subject of PHing the backup catcher, shame on the manager who manages around an event that has a microscopic probability of occurring. I would guess there are less than 5 instances in the last 40 years where a team had to use an emergency catcher. I would venture to say that there is a very large number of games where the catcher was the best PH option and he was bypassed on the .000000000001 probability that the other catcher would thereafter be out of the game.

Just looking back quickly at guys with 1 game caught since expansion I got a HUGE list, here are some of the name players who caught

Mike Squires	2
Jose Reyes	2
Cecil Espy	2
Mike Mordecai	2
Bobby Valentine	2
Carlos Delgado	2
Tucker Ashford	1
Jose Oquendo	1
Chico Ruiz	1
Joey Cora	1
Tom Lawless	1
Johnny Hairston	1
Wayne Comer	1
Bill Almon	1
Neifi Perez	1
Frank White	1
Dick Green	1
Billy Beane	1
Champ Summers	1
Mike Greenwell	1
Mike Blowers	1
Roger Freed	1
Lenny Randle	1
Doug Camilli	1
Raul Ibanez	1
Joel Youngblood	1
Greg Colbrunn	1
Roy Smalley	1
Archi Cianfrocco	1
Darrel Chaney	1
Jimmy Stewart	1
Tom Brookens	1
Lenn Sakata	1
Orlando Merced	1
Pedro Feliz	1
David Freese	1

[traderumor]

Just looking back quickly at guys with 1 game caught since expansion I got a HUGE list, here are some of the name players who caught

So I'll revise my probabilities and remove a 0 after the decimal just to be conservative. Still, is that enough to make you manage around it? Not me, nor do I think it is justified. I think there's a higher probability of a pitcher getting hit with a line drive.

[dougdirt]

I think Pena will be invaluable for Chapman upon his return. Chapman's biggest problem coming back will likely be the mental aftershocks of taking that liner to the head, and I think Pena is the PERFECT guy to get through to him. He's Cuban, he's personable, he's funny, just a great guy. I think it will do wonders for Chapman.

And obviously it goes without saying he's doing great with Cueto.

I really hope that isn't the plan. You simply can't just go about pulling your starting catcher every 9th inning you have a lead and are bringing in the closer.

[_Sir_Charles_]

I really hope that isn't the plan. You simply can't just go about pulling your starting catcher every 9th inning you have a lead and are bringing in the closer.

Agreed. He can talk with Chapman in the dugout too.

[Jones1]

Hmm looks like I was right about mes catching today. Should of made that bet. Kudos to me lol.

[westofyou]

Hmm looks like I was right about mes catching today. Should of made that bet. Kudos to me lol.

why waste your time on us, play the lottery, go to vegas.

[dougdirt]

Bragging about something that was simply a guess rather than backed up by facts that you saw that others didn't shouldn't lead to bragging.

This isn't you figuring out someone was going to break out of a slump because you noticed they were swinging at fewer pitches out of the zone over the last week. This was you guessing.

Brag about things you figured out, not about things you guessed at.

[tomnuetten]

Hmm looks like I was right about mes catching today. Should of made that bet. Kudos to me lol.

[Chip R]

I really hope that isn't the plan. You simply can't just go about pulling your starting catcher every 9th inning you have a lead and are bringing in the closer.

Yeah, that's not a good plan. Although with Chapman pitching, odds are the game will be over that inning - if it's the 9th. Now if it's tied at home in the 9th - a popular time to bring in the closer - by all means, don't change catchers. Let's not overthink this. It doesn't exactly take an Einstein to catch Chapman. Fastball, fastball, slider, fastball. A guy with 2 fingers could do it.

[RedFanAlways1966]

It doesn't exactly take an Einstein to catch Chapman. Fastball, fastball, slider, fastball. A guy with 2 fingers could do it.

A guy with two fingers and bigger "baseballs" than me to catch that heat.

[Jones1]

Bragging about something that was simply a guess rather than backed up by facts that you saw that others didn't shouldn't lead to bragging.

This isn't you figuring out someone was going to break out of a slump because you noticed they were swinging at fewer pitches out of the zone over the last week. This was you guessing.

Brag about things you figured out, not about things you guessed at.

ok heres a prediction brandon phillips will have a monster series in his hometown this weekend and get off the shnide by raising that rbi total to atleast 8, prob 10. His ba will not drop below 260 yet will only rise. I have spoken...