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Nieves |
BY RICH CAMPBELL
WASHINGTON--
When a catcher gains a reputation in baseball circles as a "catch-and-throw guy," it's usually a backhanded compliment. It's a nice way of saying the player's value is on defense, with the implication that there isn't much upside with the bat.Make no mistake, though, there is a place on major league rosters for catch-and-throw guys. Teams need backup catchers to spell their starters from the everyday grind. It's the reason Wil Nieves has been employed by the Washington Nationals this season.
And Nieves--a true catch-and-throw guy with a .161 career major league batting average entering this season--has contributed more on offense than most in the organization expected. He carried a .264 average and 19 RBIs into last night, and he hit .293 in 12 games since starter Jesus Flores was lost for the season with a sprained left ankle.
Nieves, who turns 31 this week, attributes his success at the plate to getting more at-bats. He never had more than 80 plate appearances in a season before this one. Entering last night, he had 181.
"I think I have shown people now I can hit up here," he said. "They always knew I could play good defense. I think finally I showed that that I can do it, that I'm not just a minor league hitter. If I just play a little bit more, once every five days or once or twice a week, I can hit."
Nieves' major league experience over the last three seasons was limited to a total of 35 games with the New York Yankees. They had an all-star-caliber catcher in Jorge Posada and the expectation of winning every day. Those circumstances conspired against Nieves, who wasn't afforded the opportunities to develop his swing through repetition.
He signed with the Nationals in the offseason and, though he didn't make the team out of spring training, was called up from Triple-A in mid-April and stayed due to various injuries to Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada, who were released July 31.
Nieves' smile has been one of the few constants in Washington's clubhouse all season. He cherishes every day he spends in the big leagues because he knows that career .161 hitters don't get many chances to redeem themselves.
Although the Nationals haven't specifically told him he will be back next season, Nieves is confident the team likes him, because he was kept over Lo Duca and Estrada.
Flores is entrenched as next season's starter, and general manager Jim Bowden has said Luke Montz will compete for the backup job in spring training. The Nationals control the rights to Nieves, so they could bring him back and set his salary around the league minimum.
"I just want to play good and make it easy for them to keep me here," Nieves said. "I would love to stay here. I feel real comfortable here. I feel like I'm at home here."
Nats' triple-A club
The Nationals finalized a two-year agreement yesterday with their new Triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs.
Washington needed a new Triple-A club after Columbus, its affiliate for the last two seasons, recently agreed with Cleveland. Syracuse had hoped to affiliate with the New York Mets, but they chose Buffalo.
The Nationals, Florida and Toronto were the major league teams searching for new Triple-A affiliates, while Syracuse, New Orleans and Las Vegas sought new parent clubs.
Washington preferred Syracuse because of its proximity to the District and Double-A Harrisburg. The Nationals had New Orleans as their Triple-A club from 2005 to 2006, and the distance was problematic.
"For us it was difficult to make player moves," general manager Jim Bowden said. "Certainly our preference is to get our clubs as close to D.C. as we possibly can."
EXTRA BASES
Georgetown University men's basketball coach John Thompson III attended batting practice yesterday and caught up with two of his former players.
San Diego center fielder Will Venable and pitcher Chris Young played basketball for Thompson at Princeton.
Young, who is 6-10, was named Ivy League rookie of the year in 1998-99, when Thompson was an assistant. Venable played for Thompson after Thompson became the head coach there in 2000.
Young and Venable are the only two players ever to earn all-Ivy League honors in both basketball and baseball
"Obviously they both came to school playing both sports with a passion for both," Thompson said. "It's much more fun to come and watch them in this environment than when I'm sitting on the bench with them. But I miss those days, too."
Left-handed pitcher Graham Hicks, Washington's fourth-round draft pick this year out of Jenkins (Fla.) High School, broke his left middle finger during fielding drills at the fall instructional league and will miss the rest of the fall.
Rich Campbell: 540/735-1974
Email: rcampbell@freelancestar.com
