Question about a college player

[jpenrod]

I am not sure if this is really the most appropriate forum for this but I did not see an amatuers forum. There is a player for Georgia Tech that serves as catcher and pitcher (not at the same time obviously). Here are his stats from last year and this year (he is a sophmore so he has one more year in college ball):


Year G GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB Avg OBP SLG BB SO SB CS Fld%
2005 60 59 227 53 83 17 1 10 68 132 0.366 0.581 45 32 1 0 0.994
2006 48 48 182 46 60 13 0 7 47 94 0.33 0.457 0.516 38 32 1 0 0.995

Year G GS W L SV CG SH ERA IP H R ER BB SO BAA
2005 26 0 3 3 6 0 0 2.85 41 40 17 13 10 32 0.255
2006 13 0 1 1 5 0 0 2.25 24 19 6 6 6 25 0.221


It is quite impressive to see this guy catch a whole game and then warm up in the pen while the team bats and then come in and pitch the last two innings of the game. I have a few questions for you guys. First, do you think he should pick either pitching or catching and stick to it or should he keep doing both as long as he can? Second, and this may be early to ask, but do you think he will have more value to a professional team as a catcher or a pitcher?

Coach Hall at GT has made several comments that this kid catches as good a game as he has seen, that he seems to have a clear understanding of the game and how to handle the pitchers.

[Mattingly]

Lacking a better place, I'm moving this to the Minor League forum, since the thread's subject matter is closer than to MLB.

Feel free to post a request under "Web Improvements" for an amateur baseball forum. Junior varsity, varsity and college ball seem great things to discuss here.

[Brian McKenna]

if he is drafted it will be at one position or the other - they are the two most exhausting positions - no parent club will keep him at both

it is best that experienced baseball men be consulted as to which position he should choose

[WhiteSoxSteve]

Is the player you are talking about Matt Wieters?

[jpenrod]

Is the player you are talking about Matt Wieters?

Yes it is. you either follow college baseball or you did some reasearch. good job

[jpenrod]

if he is drafted it will be at one position or the other - they are the two most exhausting positions - no parent club will keep him at both

it is best that experienced baseball men be consulted as to which position he should choose

Yes, I know that if drafted (at this point I would be surprised if he weren't unless an injury were involved) he would then have to choose one position or the other. I am curious what you guys think about whether he should choose one position right now to focus on or keep playing both until he is forced to make that decision.

This also brings up an interesting question, suppose he decided he is more interested in catching than pitching and he does get drafted as a pitcher. In baseball he has the option to turn down the draft and return to school, do you think he would return to school and spend his senior year exclusively as a catcher.

[WhiteSoxSteve]

Yes it is. you either follow college baseball or you did some reasearch. good job

I follow college baseball, and I remember watching him in the NCAA tourney last year. I think he is a sophomore, so he is not eligible to be drafted until next year.

[jpenrod]

I follow college baseball, and I remember watching him in the NCAA tourney last year. I think he is a sophomore, so he is not eligible to be drafted until next year.

You are correct, that is what I said in my original post. He is a sophomore and he has one more season of college ball before he can enter the draft.