The Phillies' Catching Conundrum

One of the puzzles of the 2008 season was the precipitous decline in the offensive production of the Phillies' catching core of Carlos Ruiz and Chris Coste. Ruiz, who by year end had won the everyday job, hit .219 in 320 at-bats. Coste hit .263 in 274 at-bats. This was in stark contrast to 2007, when Ruiz hit .259 in 374 a-bats and Coste .279 in 129 at-bats. And Coste hit .328 in almost 200 at-bats in '06. So last year's decline is hard to ignore and even harder to explain. Particularly painful - together, the two catchers hit into 24 double plays in '08; that's a whole lot of rally killers.

Coste's drop off was particularly striking as he hit only .239 after the All Star break last year - this from a player who had contributed many clutch hits in the previous two years and had become something of a folk hero. Now his place on the roster seems to be in jeapardy as he competes with the newly acquired Ronny Paulino. The latter's resume is not overwhelming as he spent most of last season in the minors but prior to that he did have two respectable hitting seasons with the Pirates.

Ruiz did show signs of life last year. After the All Star break, he hit .244 and he was an offensive star in the playoffs so it will be most interesting to see which version of the man from Panama emerges this year. No less an authority than Chris Coste believes the late-blooming bat of Ruiz was the real McCoy.

So why does this matter? Is a good-hitting catcher a necessity? The Phils did after all win the world championship. Yes, but to do that a lot of stars had to line up in the South Philly sky - Can Brad Lidge be perfect for the duration of the Obama administration? Can Ryan Howard hit 100 home runs every September? Can Ryan Madson find another 5 mph on his fastball? Look at some of the catchers in the rest of the division - Brian McCann of the Braves, John Baker of the Marlins, Brian Schneider of the Mets - and you find solid hitters with power. Carlos Ruiz may be an excellent defensive catcher but if the Phillies are going to make a run as perennial contenders, it would sure help if he could raise his average 30 points or so.