The Catcher Situation gets More Complicated

The Baltimore Orioles have traded Triple-A catcher Johnny Monell to the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash considerations according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. The deal comes five days after the Orioles traded Troy Patton to the San Diego Padres for catcher Nick Hundley and one day after the Orioles optioned Steve Clevenger to Triple-A.

When Hundley was added to the 25-man roster, the Orioles had three catchers, Hundley, Clevenger, and Caleb Joseph. Clevenger was sent down on Tuesday to make room for Chris Davis after Davis returned from paternity leave following the birth of his first daughter.
With Clevenger being sent down, Norfolk was then left with three catchers on their roster. The Los Angeles Dodgers had been looking for depth at the catcher position, the Orioles had a slew of them, and trading Monell made the most sense, with Clevenger still being on the 40-man roster. This trade may make sense from the number of players on the roster standpoint but further complicates the Orioles’ backup catcher situation.
Steve Clevenger made the Orioles opening day roster as the backup catcher to Matt Wieters. Clevenger had also been the starting catcher while Wieters was on the DL, with Joseph occasionally starting.
Clevenger was a far better hitter than Joseph for the Orioles this season which is why the move is surprising. Clevenger was hitting .243 while Joseph is hitting .043. Buck Showalter said the decision to send down Clevenger was hard though. Showalter said the decision was “51 to 49 percent” in favor of Joseph, who has been praised for his defense.
With Hundley being recently acquired, the time Wieters spends on the DL could be longer than the Orioles originally expected. That also means once Wieters returns, Hundley could be the backup catcher.
All that being said, Clevenger could see a considerable amount of playing time at Norfolk. However, Clevenger could be brought back up to the Orioles if Joseph continues to struggle at the plate.

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Brian Hradsky

The owner of MSB, I created this website while in college and it has never died.

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