Phillies Nation

Good for any starting major leaguer catcher….

BUT, these starting catchers have backups. These numbers are devoid of that dynamic. The fact is the Ruiz/Coste catching combo has severely underproduced this year, offensively speaking.

I think Coste handles the pitches better. He wears down though pretty quickly. Only being able to play 2 or 3 times a week at most. I like his attitude and demeanor plus he’s been around the game longer. Which is also his downfall. He’s old haha.

It’s a good question. Not sure if there is a clear answer. I would keep all 3 around until Marson proved he was ready for a full time big league gig.

Coste obviously has a better bat, although Ruiz has been hitting better the past couple weeks. Ruiz is obviously a better defensive catcher with a better arm. So who do you play?? When the rest of the team is hitting you go with Ruiz, because his bat is not as important as the good glove and handling of the pitchers (although you should notice for whatever reason Coste always catches Myers???). When the offense is sputtering, as it has a good portion of the past couple months, you opt for the bat with Coste and give up a little defensively. If you notice, Cholly has also been doing this a little lately with 3rd base. Good offense (Dobbs) vs. good glove (Feliz). It just depends on match-ups and how the 1-7 hitters are going. That being said, I would stick with both of them next year and move Marson along around mid-season (he needs some AAA AB’s). Make a decision on one or the other at that time.

I’d have all 3. Coste should catch Myers, Ruiz should catch Hamels, and the other 3 should be caught by Marson…especially if Carrasco is up here next year.

I agree with all you just said, Buffalophilsfan

I think it would be hard to keep all 3 from the start just because of the roster limitations. If you did that, than you are sacrificing a bench player at another position. Start Marson in the minors and make him force you to make a decision a couple months into the season. You are most-likely than going to have to release Coste or Ruiz … or possible trade one if you can find a suiter. Or who knows, maybe Ruiz regains form and begins raking next spring and you can shop Marson as a chip for another arm or outfield bat?? He has just one good season of AA under his belt and we are all pretty quick to “crown his ass” as major-league ready.

If one of them gets let-go, its going to be Coste. Lets wait and see how Marson looks after fall-ball, and then in Spring Training before we’re ready to give him the starting catcher spot.

Taguchi is gone next year, probably Jenkins too… Bruntlett should be back cause he did a nice job as a bench guy all year, and can play 1st base along with every other position… id be amazed if they kept 3 catchers on the bench… too slow, and not enough versatility from those guys

theyre going to have to pay a lot of jenkins salary to get rid of him i think. some bottom feeder will take him, but the phillies will pay for it.

I understand that people don’t like Ruiz as much as they like Coste…. BUT RUIZ IS THE BETTER CATCHER!!!

If they only keep one of them, you know that Coste is the odd-man-out… Jaramillo is the 4th catcher in the Phillies system at this point, so it wouldn’t make much sense to try to bump him up to replace Ruiz.

A shared system of Ruiz and Marson could work next year, IF marson is ready to play at the major league level….. a decent season at AA-Reading doesn’t gaurantee that he’ll do anything at the major league level..

I love Coste, but I want him as the main RH pinch hitter off the bench while Marson and Ruiz handle the catching. Coste could still occasionally catch as well.

Let’s remember, folks, that AA Reading is a big time hitter’s park. By comparison, Carlos hit 17 bombs there in his breakout AA year in 2004. Marson has had a great season and got a nod by the org when they called him up this Sept. to acclimate him to big league life and have him get to know the pitchers. Let’s also bear in mind, it is VERY difficult to handle a big league pitching staff. Even after Ruiz hit .300 in AAA 2005, they didn’t call him up and still obtained Fasano for 06 and Barajas for 07 because they were nervous about a new catcher (ruiz) taking over. it’s not easy to handle Myers, Moyer, Hamels, Lidge, et al and to gain their confidence. Ruiz has played in the Dominican, the World Baseball Classic, and caught 16 of the last 17 games last season in the stretch run to overtake the Mets and caught all 3 division series games and hit .333 when the rest of the club hit a combined sub .200 average–he’s playoff and battle tested. Lots of players have sophomore slumps, putting pressure on themselves. let’s take it easy on him. Marson may be the guy for the future, especially given that Ruiz is arbitration eligible after the 09 season. I suspect Ruiz will likely get traded at the trade deadline if Marson is ready or after the 09 season. he’ll be back for 09 and he’ll be the starter, I suspect. Marson may be a factor if either Coste or Carlos gets hurt in 09 or if he forces the issue. Otherwise, this team has to win a world series while they have the pieces together and in their prime. Marson won’t be their guy till 2010. That may be when the jettison Howard and his big arbitration award salary.