2001 Rookie Catchers
|
Baseball Digest 2001 Rookie Catchers |
Rookie catchers seldom get a chance to take over on a full-time basis unless they have the obviously superlative all-around talent of a Johnny Bench, Ivan Rodriguez or Carlton Fisk or can hit like Mike Piazza. Most young catchers serve an apprenticeship as backups.
That was pretty much true in 2001, though two young catchers got more playing time than others because of inuries to veterans. The Angels had to rely on Shawn Wooten and the Phillies on Johnny Molina while frontliners Bengie Molina and Mike Lieberthal were sidelined for extended periods.
Some of the other rookie catchers who got some playing time were Toby Hall of the Devil Rays, Rod Barajas of the Diamondbacks, Adam Melhuse of the Rockies, Vance Wilson of the New York Mets and Wedwards Guzman of the Giants.
Wooten, 29, is known more for his offensive than defensive skills, and proved that by batting .312 with eight home runs and 32 RBI in 79 games before a wrist injury ended his season in early September. He was used as a designated hitter when Bengie Molina returned to the lineup. Estrada, however, couldn't lift his average over .250.
Wooten is the catcher on our team.
| Shawn Wooten #44 | Wooten Bio & Stats | League Awards |
| YR 2001 |
G 79 |
AB 221 |
R 24 |
H 69 |
2B 8 |
3B 1 |
HR 8 |
RBI 32 |
BB 5 |
SO 42 |
SB 2 |
CS 0 |
OBP .332 |
SLG .466 |
OPS .798 |
AVG .312 |
