Out of curiosity, I went diving through my one box of baseball cards that isn't stashed away in storage to check on the weights of some catchers in their early years. One of the knocks on James Skelton that I have always felt was unfair was that he will never be able to play catcher in the Major Leagues because he is too skinny, at 5'11"-165 pounds.
Well, in 1992, Ivan Rodriguez (2152 career games caught) was listed at 5'9"-165. (The card shown is from 1991... My scanner is also in storage, so I image searched some Pudge rookie cards)
In 1994, Jason Kendall (1734 games caught) was listed at 6'0"-170.
James Skelton may have problems hitting for power, and he may have durability concerns (although I feel confirmation bias plays a large role in those reports), but I don't think it is fair to say he is too skinny to be a major league catcher.
1 comment:
yeah, but the game has changed. he can't roid up like pudge did. kendall went through a puffed out phase in pittsburgh, too. now he's frail looking and has juan pierre power.
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