by ProGrapsGene
Posted 3 years ago
Jerry Narron has been announced as a new addition to Tony La Russa's coaching staff. He's been tasked with working with the White Sox catchers, and he's got some recent experience in that department, helping James McCann transform into a Gold Glove finalist after working with him last offseason.
With Zack Collins expected to sit behind sit behind Yasmani Grandal on the team's catching depth chart, the Sox are left with limited experience at the position. Drafted in the first round five years ago, Collins has yet to get much of an opportunity to play at the major league level. He swung an impressive bat with Triple-A Charlotte in 2019, but with Grandal and James McCann forming an All-Star catching tandem last year, there was little chance for Collins to get into the lineup.
"Being a catcher in the big leagues is a lot like being a quarterback in the NFL," Narron, the former big league catcher and manager, said Wednesday. "It's very difficult to step right in and be able to read defenses as a quarterback. It's difficult for a catcher to come in and call games right away, no matter if you called games or not in college. It's still a different level of play.
"Zack, I hear, is a very intelligent guy. ... I'm hoping to work with him closely and help him speed up the game-calling part of it. I'll be in his pocket if he's the guy who makes the club and try to help him there and make sure he's prepared and ready to play.
"He's a physically imposing guy, big guy behind the plate. We're going to make sure he does some things to hopefully speed up his feet and move his body a little better, and I'm sure he's capable of it.
"People in baseball I talk to, he's got kind of the reputation of a bat-first guy, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you swing the bat, you've got a chance to play, and I think we can definitely get his catching up to major league catching. He's got a bright future."
Collins figures to be in competition with fellow youngster Yermín Mercedes for the backup catcher job. Like Collins, Mercedes has also impressed with his bat at the minor league level but comes with defensive questions. The White Sox added veteran Jonathan Lucroy, who spent years with Narron as an All-Star catcher for the Milwaukee Brewers, to the mix, too.
All told, particularly with the well established Grandal as the starter, Narron likes what he sees from the White Sox catching corps. His job? To "try my very best with the younger guys to speed up their development" and get them ready for the South Siders' planned run at a World Series in 2021.
"A lot of ability," Narron said. "A lot of it hasn’t been proven at the major league level, but these guys definitely have the talent to step in and contribute at the major league level.
"It’s going to be interesting in the spring. There’ll be some competition there."
Topic: Sports
Tags: Chicago White Sox