Kai Gronauer is playing baseball this fall for Diablos Rojos in the Panamanian Winter League. Mister Baseball is great site with a lot of information about baseball and softball in Europe. Being German, Kai Gronauer is relevant to the site and there is an update on how Kai has been doing in Panama.
I'm glad Kai is playing this offseason. He missed a good portion of the season due to a hamstring injury but finished the year strong. Without playing this winter he would have been in a compromised position coming into Spring Training. The Mets seemingly have the most catchers in their system and yet it's their weakest position. Anything any of the organization's catchers can do to improve will give them an advantage. The catchers between Kai Gronauer and Mike Nickeas in AA and AAA are Dusty Ryan and Raul Chavez, two guys that have been around for a while and still haven't impressed the Mets.
The Mets are thin at catcher and it looks like they will be for the foreseeable future. 2012 could be a big year for Kai Gronauer. He's another catcher that can defend but for him the transition from Germany hasn't been easy in the hitting department. If he has a productive Spring Training and start to the year he could find himself in AAA with the Bisons.
The Mets have to decide if they want to have a defensive-minded catcher in the majors in the future. If they go that direction now Mike Nickeas is the guy, but after that Kai Gronauer would fit that mold and could probably contribute more offensively. But it doesn't matter if the Mets still don't know what they want from their catchers.
Let's Go Mets!
I'm glad Kai is playing this offseason. He missed a good portion of the season due to a hamstring injury but finished the year strong. Without playing this winter he would have been in a compromised position coming into Spring Training. The Mets seemingly have the most catchers in their system and yet it's their weakest position. Anything any of the organization's catchers can do to improve will give them an advantage. The catchers between Kai Gronauer and Mike Nickeas in AA and AAA are Dusty Ryan and Raul Chavez, two guys that have been around for a while and still haven't impressed the Mets.
The Mets are thin at catcher and it looks like they will be for the foreseeable future. 2012 could be a big year for Kai Gronauer. He's another catcher that can defend but for him the transition from Germany hasn't been easy in the hitting department. If he has a productive Spring Training and start to the year he could find himself in AAA with the Bisons.
The Mets have to decide if they want to have a defensive-minded catcher in the majors in the future. If they go that direction now Mike Nickeas is the guy, but after that Kai Gronauer would fit that mold and could probably contribute more offensively. But it doesn't matter if the Mets still don't know what they want from their catchers.
Let's Go Mets!
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