Detroit Tigers Should Look Within For Backup Catcher

It’s become more than apparent: Dane Sardinha can’t hit. Heck, he can hardly get on base. There are Mendoza lines, and there are lines that make Mendoza’s look good. Sardinha’s amazing .083 batting average (.080 on-base percentage!) is the latter. 

There are two schools of thought here. The first:

HOLY CRAP! 

How can anyone hit that badly?

And the second: Something should be done about that problem.

I’m more along the first line of thought, for now anyway. Through May 31, Sardinha has played in just eight games, and he’s batted just 24 times.  I just can’t believe Sardinha could possibly continue to hit that poorly.

And besides that, he’s a backup catcher. Given Sardinha’s successful work with the pitchers and that his defense both appears to be more than adequate, and given that he only tends to play one day a week, I’m not exactly worried about him right now.

The future, however? 

The Detroit News' Tom Gage asked his readers if the Tigers might want to think about about grabbing hold of the backup catcher designated for assignment by the Baltimore Orioles to make room for Matt Wieters: Chad Moeller. I’ve been asked via Twitter if there are any trades the Tigers can make. To me, none of this matters until manager Jim Leyland starts giving Tigers starting catcher Gerald Laird more rest.

And when he does—and he must, as Laird has played in 42 of the Tigers’ 49 games and will wear down as the season goes on at that rate—the system already has the answer for a poor-hitting Sardinha:

Dusty Ryan

He played a decent amount of games last September after Pudge Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees. With an .880 OPS in 50 plate appearances for the Tigers, he appeared to be the answer to the question of who would take over behind home plate for Detroit in 2009. But Tigers officials didn’t feel he was ready yet, so they sent him back to Triple-A where he could play in most games.

After a slow start, the 24-year-old has a .375 OBP to go with .434 slugging for an .809 OPS. Not bad for a guy who might not even the organization’s top catching prospect—that distinction might go to Alex Avila at Double-A Erie. 

If the Tigers have to make a move at catcher, I’d rather see Ryan be given the time back in the big leagues to continue his work with a pitching staff that he could very well be backstopping soon. I don’t think it would be in anyone’s best interest for the Tigers to make a move right now when the answer can be found within the organization.