Wieters Influences
Matt Wieters grew up in South Carolina where Atlanta Braves games were broadcast on television. He told me he was already switch hitting when Chipper Jones became popular with Atlanta in the mid 90's, but watching Jones inspired him to focus on becoming good at hitting from both sides of the plate.
Jones wasn't Wieters' only influence. The rookie told me a while ago that he and his dad would watch the Braves great pitchers of that time period on TV and call the pitches they were throwing. That's a pretty good way to learn pitchers---from watching the best.
I guess you could say Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and John Smoltz all contributed to the vast knowledge of pitching Wieters brings to the Orioles today. He must have gotten a kick out of facing Smoltz on the mound at The Yard Tuesday night.
When it came to catchers, Wieters told me his favorite was Pudge Rodriguez. Why? "Because he had a cannon for an arm, and hit for average," said Wieters. Those are good things to have.
One of the reasons the Orioles top draft pick chose to attend Georgia Tech for college was because he was a big fan of the 1994 Georgia Tech team that went to the College World Series that year and lost to Oklahoma. More importantly he liked the players on that team---Jason Varitek, Nomar Garciaparra, and Jay Payton. It was loaded with future big leaguers.
I'm sure Wieters refrained from telling Varitek how much he loved him when he was eight years old as the O's welcomed the Red Sox to town this week.
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Categories (click for archive)Amber Theoharis | MASNblogs |
Hello Amber. The fact is that Matt Wieters and guys like Ivan Rodriguez are rare in that they're great defensive catchers that can hit. In little league I was an outfielder, but looking back I wish that I could have caught because you have to be on top of your game mentally. Not only do you have to handle pitchers (that with all due respect can sometimes be emotionally volatile), but you have to strategize which pitches to call in every situation. If he learned how to call a game based on watching those great Braves' rotations that we all remember, you're right in that he learned from the best. I love how he's being compared to Joe Mauer, and I think that ultimately he's going to be one of the next superstar catchers in the league. Although he made some mistakes (and in my opinion got hosed on a few calls at 2B) on Sunday, the defensive skills will continually be there for Wieters. At this point in his career he needs to get at-bats and get comfortable at the plate at this level. There's a big difference between minor league and major league pitching. And so far I think he's doing a pretty decent job of that.
Incidentally, tomorrow I'll be departing to spend ten days at my family's "seven bedroom villa by the sea" in southern Italy. I suppose you know you're addicted to the Orioles when you plan a trip like that surrounding a west coast swing and the all-star break...! Anyways, I love reading yours and Rick Dempsey's respective blogsites, so do me a favor and keep me updated on what's going on with my beloved team! I was very disappointed when I called Air France last week and was informed that they don't carry MASN on the personal video systems on their planes...I was hoping to catch Thursday's game against the Angels on my way across the pond. (And while I'm of Sicilian extraction, no I'm not in the mafia!)
Hello Ms. Theoharis,
I wonder if you could comment on the trip to the West Coast.
How do you cope with the abrupt time and environmental change?
And how can you possibly be ready to broadcast and play major league baseball the next day?
I can't think of another profession that extracts so much in time and travel for so long.
Thank you. I very much enjoy your work!
Thus far Wieters hasn't proven to even be an adequate defensive catcher at the major league level, let alone warrant comparisons to Ivan Rodriguez. He's not throwing anybody out. He does seem to know how to call a game though, and IMO that's the most important aspect of being a catcher. A catcher like Wieters makes the guys on the mound better. It's also a bonus that he's worked with most of the kids that will likely comprise the starting rotation in the near future in the minors.
I never like it when a kid comes along with the kind of hype Wieters has had. I mean I've heard things like: "He'll be the best player in the game in a couple years", "Hits like Piazza, catches like PudgeRod". Those are just unreasonable and unrealistic expectations. I believe he will be a solid catcher, but will not be the demi-god everybody is expecting him to be. I can see him being a .275-.280 hitter, 20-25 HR's while calling good games behind the plate. But he will not hit well over .300 like Piazza or gun people out on the basepaths like Pudge.