Catching On

White Sox catcher Omar Narvaez had all of one RBI when starting catcher Wellington Castillo was hit with an 80-game suspension for PEDs in late May, and Kevan Smith—who shared catching duties with Narvaez last season—was stuck in Charlotte through no real fault of his own.  Since then, Narvaez is hitting .286 with sixteen more RBIs while Smith is batting .321 with six RBIs since his call up.  So, what gives?

In a way, absolutely nothing.  Narvaez and Smith showed last season they could hit.  Narvaez was good for a .277 BA and an eye-popping .373 OBP; Smith hit .283 with 21 extra-base hits.  Between them, they totaled 44 RBIs, which isn’t great but also doesn’t matter.  If your catchers keep getting on base, they move the line and generate more at-bats for the top half of the order.  Why the Sox signed Castillo in the off-season remains a mystery (although GM Rick Hahn may have explained it in that passive-voice, convoluted-syntax way of his).  If nothing else, Castillo was supposed to offer a veteran presence for a young starting staff.  Why, then, does walk-wild Lucas Giolito seem to do so much better with Smith behind the plate?  

The Sox could’ve saved in the neighborhood of $15 million by taking a pass on Castillo.  They have two catchers in the minors, Seby Zavala and Zach Collins, either of whom could emerge as a number-one next year.  But, No, now we have a “situation” as soon as Castillo finishes his suspension in August.

There’s only one right way to proceed when that happens.  Let’s see if Hahn and company can figure it out.  Fingers crossed, but don’t hold your breath.