Blue Jays likely to give R.A. Dickey a personal catcher

[LittleOzzy]

J.P. Arencibia appears unlikely to be the opening-night catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

That is not welcome news for Arencibia, the team’s regular catcher who last week made it clear he felt he deserves to catch knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

But manager John Gibbons said Wednesday said he expects either Henry Blanco or Josh Thole – one of whom will be the backup catcher – to start behind the plate when Dickey pitches. Both Blanco and Thole caught Dickey when they played with the Mets, and Dickey has raved about both of them.

Both Dickey and Arencibia will play in the World Baseball Classic for Team USA, which starts its WBC schedule March 7. After they return to Blue Jays’ camp, Blanco and Thole will catch Dickey in exhibition games.

“They’ve got to spend a lot of time working with Dickey because [the knuckleball] is an unusual, unique pitch,” Gibbons said. “It takes a lot of work.”

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013/02/ ... l-catcher/

[distracted]

Well we're already short a homer on opening day.

[flatjacket1]

I would imagine it would be hard for JPA to go from catching a knuckleball one day to catching a 95 MPH fastball the next.

I support it.

[Lateral Quicks]

I sure hope it's Thole. I don't think I could tolerate Blanco every 5th day.

[LittleOzzy]

Blue Jays camp short on controversy, so battle for backup catcher will have to do

Reporters covering the Toronto Blue Jays are desperately searching for a tad of tension these days. So the question of who gets to catch R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball will have to do until something better comes along.

Manager John Gibbons seemed all but certain Wednesday that J.P. Arencibia, his regular catcher, would take a seat when Dickey pitches. Henry Blanco and Josh Thole, the two players competing for the backup job, have experience catching Dickey.

Upon learning of his manager’s inclination, Arencibia said all the right things. (It’s not about me, it’s about the team. I can’t catch every game anyway.) But some thought he was speaking through clenched teeth. He also had made it clear a week earlier that he thought he deserved to catch his team’s opening-night starter.

“I’m sure he does, and he may,” Gibbons said Thursday, seeming to open the door just a crack. “But he’s not making out the lineup. We’re going to put the best team out there – what works, what we think is going to work. If it’s not J.P., I don’t think he’d have a problem with that. I’d be surprised if he did.”

The manager did his level best to say nice things about Arencibia too.

“J.P.’s got a ton of energy,” Gibbons said. “You really can’t wear him out. He wants to be out there. That’s why he’s going to have such a great career. I think he thrives on being out there and being in the middle of it. That’s only going to help him. He’s not going to run from adversity, and when things get tough. But yet he’s not going to catch 162 games.”

Asked how many games he expects Arencibia to catch, Gibbons said 125 to 130.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013/02/ ... ave-to-do/

[distracted]

It we face a lefty on opening day he better be the DH over Lind.

Gibbons is right, and it's silly for Arencibia to be upset that he's going to play the same number of games as last year, just not opening day.

[Skin Blues]

We play Cleveland in the opening series and they don't have a lefty starter. We'll be seeing a lot of Lind to start the season. We'll also only have one of Thole/Blanco so they are unlikely to DH Arencibia. They'd need him as the backup catcher. Imagine after this amazing offseason seeing Henry Blanco in the opening day starting lineup, haha. And Adam Lind

[Michael Bradley]

I think it is the smart move, at least in 2013. This season is far too important to test whether JPA can catch Dickey when the games matter. If Dickey feels more comfortable with Blanco or Thole, then it's a small price to pay in order to hopefully get ace level (or close to it) performance out of Dickey in 2013. Wakefield had Doug Mirabelli as his personal catcher, and JPA is not a in-prime Jason Varitek, so I don't think it is a big deal. We just have to hope Blanco drinks the same water that Jose Molina was drinking when he was here. Thole would be a better fit as he, at least the pre-2012 version, would not hurt the team at the plate, but if it's Blanco, then so be it.

[LittleOzzy]

Blue Jays to decide on R.A. Dickey catcher after World Baseball Classic

The Toronto Blue Jays will decide who catches knuckleballer R.A. Dickey after the World Baseball Classic, says manager John Gibbons.

Incumbent J.P. Arencibia has insisted he wants to handle Dickey this season although the Jays have three catchers in camp — Henry Blanco, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas — who have experience in working with Dickey.

Arencibia, who worked out with Dickey over the winter in their off-season home of Nashville, caught Dickey in his spring debut Monday.

Both are eventually headed to the U.S. team at the World Baseball Classic.

"When they come back, we've got to make a decision one way or another," Gibbons said Tuesday. "If he's the guy or we're going to go with one of the other guys.

"Because that individual, whoever it is, he's got to work him the rest of the way."

Gibbons said he thought Arencibia had done a good job Monday. A Baltimore run scored on a wild pitch but Gibbons said he didn't think anyone could have got to the ball.

"You don't want to let this linger," he said. "We've got to make a decision but we can't do it until they get back (from the WBC) anyway."

If it isn't Arencibia, he will see action with the other Jays' pitchers.

Dickey is slated to pitch April 2, opening day against Cleveland. Gibbons said whoever is selected to be his catcher will start that day too.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/Blu ... story.html

[Osiris]

Is he nuts?

But J.P. Arencibia is a man of significant determination and even greater faith. He and Dickey also both happen to live in Nashville -- more Grand Plan than coincidence, if you ask Arencibia -- and the two men agreed that they should play some catch. One morning in early January, they shook hands for the first time at Lipscomb University, a small Christian college in town. "We're both believers," Arencibia says. Dickey brought the oversize mitt that he carries around like a traveling salesman and his suitcase of samples; Arencibia brought only his mask. He decided that he wouldn't wear his shin guards or chest protector. He had also chosen, very purposefully, not to wear his cup.

To understand why Arencibia went jockless -- well, there's really no understanding it. His decision can, however, be explained. For most of his three-year career, Arencibia has been saddled with a reputation for only adequate defense. That reputation has bothered him, and he has worked hard to change it.