Handicapping Javy’s Return

Written by Colin on January 19, 2008 – 8:57 am

Today, we’ll briefly discuss the status of Javy Lopez heading into this spring - as relayed by Frank Wren last weekend.  Javy played 76 games for the Orioles and 18 games for the BoSox in 2006, and hasn’t played since.  As you can expect, he was a little bit out of shape heading into this off-season.  He knew his return would be dependent on him showing he was a legitimate backup catcher, and to do that, he needed to work on his defense.

So Javy called Braves bench coach Chino Cadahia.  Javy asked Chino to work with him on his defense, because he needed to improve defensively before any team would consider signing him.  Javy started driving to Chino to work on defensive drills.  They continued meeting and working on improvement.  Once day, Wren was driving by the baseball field at the school his kids attend, and he saw Javy and Chino out working.  He stopped and discussed Javy’s progress with both Javy and Chino, and after some discussion within the organization and some more updates from Chino, they felt it was wise to sign Javy to a one-year contract.

Now, Javy may not make the team this spring, but if he does, he’ll provide help both defensively as a backup catcher, and offensively as a .287 career hitter.  I don’t know what shape the other catcher options will show up in - it’s going to be hard for an older guy like Javy to be in the same condition as a rookie like Clint Sammons.  But Javy is motivated and wants to contribute to the team - he took the initiative to begin working out this off-season, and I think he’ll do his best to be in great shape by Spring Training.

This could be his last chance in the majors, and I think he’ll make a legitimate run at it.  He may not be the same Javy we knew back in the 90s, but he should be able to contribute to the team in a valuable way.  We hope to see on the bench in April.

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