|
2007 At this point, Shoppach is officially on the backup catcher career path. He`s a pretty good defender, has decent power, doesn`t hit for average, and strikes out a lot. He`ll get a couple of everyday assignments during his career due to positional scarcity, but in the end he`ll have played thirteen years for eight different teams. 2006 Shoppach is a top-shelf defensive catcher, drawing rave reviews for his game calling. Offensively, he has major league power and takes a lot of walks. He doesn`t really have much more to prove in Triple-A. The flaw in his game, and it`s a big one, is that he averages a strikeout per game, leaving little room for error in his other at-bats. He improved a bit in this area in 2005. With Mirabelli gone, he`s in line to be the No. 2 catcher, but he might have more value to a team that wants to give him a chance to compete for the starting job. 2005 Shoppach's biggest assets have long been his arm and defense, the former having cast some doubt after shoulder surgery in the fall of 2002. Despite some rumors about declines in his defense, Shoppach drew raves for his quick release and arm strength from both the Sox front office and scouts. He had a rough year in terms of batting average and strikeouts, but his walks were back up and he flashed some real power for the first time. He had a little trouble adjusting to the more advanced pitchers in Triple-A, but a solid second half looked to put him in line for Boston some time in 2005—at least until the Sox re-signed both Mirabelli and Varitek. His future now lies either as a backup to Varitek in 2006 or with another organization.
|