San Diego Padres: Is Francisco Mejia the long-term answer at catcher

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The baseball season is heading into the stretch run for the playoffs and the San Diego Padres have to decide if Francisco Mejia is their answer at catcher.

We’re heading into the stretch run of the baseball season and the San Diego Padres are 8 ½ games off the pace for a wildcard berth. Thus, it feels like time is running out for the Padres to make the playoffs.

However, the month of September does offer them ample time to decide if Francisco Mejia is their long-term answer at the catcher position.

The jury is still out on Mejia behind the plate as he has some rough edges to his defensive game that need to be smoothed out before being considered an everyday catcher. But decisions have to be made in what direction the Padres go to improve the roster this winter and Mejia’s late-season audition will clarify the need to acquire another catcher.

Padres general manager A.J. Preller must determine if his prized prospect has shown any progress defensively because his bat is more than major league ready.

Ideally, the San Diego Padres would love for Mejia’s defensive prowess to equal his offensive production, but a more realistic goal is having him become a better all-around catcher. This allows the Friars to start him in 140 games next season with no questions asked.

Mejia’s Defensive Deficiencies

Franchise catchers are indispensable as they’re the on-field general for the manager. Their responsibilities include positioning the defense and guiding a pitcher through a difficult outing on the mound.

They do all this while trying to field their position and the special ones make a difference with their bat in the lineup as well. Usually, those catchers reserve a date in Cooperstown five years after they retired from baseball.

Mejia isn’t included in the above category just yet. He has a laundry list of defensive deficiencies as Mejia has trouble calling a game, throwing out base runners and a high amount of pass balls. It’s easy to blame all of the San Diego Padres pitching woes solely on him, but the majority of the staff is young and learning their trade at the major league level.

Still, Mejia needs to get more involved with the game-planning as this will gain him better insight into how the pitching staff would like to pitch certain batters in key situations. The high amount of pass balls are a direct result of poor glove position when receiving a thrown pitch. The errant throws to cutdown base runners are about Mejia’s footwork coming out from behind home plate. All of these flaws are easily fixable.

A player’s growth should never stop at the major league level. Experience will solve some of Mejia’s defensive problems, but that’s only gained by starting five-days-a-week.

What Are The Padres Catching Alternatives?

There isn’t much of a debate on the possible alternative options at the catcher position for the San Diego Padres. Austin Hedges is an outstanding defensive catcher, but the current makeup of the lineup can no longer hide his prolonged struggles with the bat.

Hedges is having another poor season (batting .188) at the plate and the results don’t seem to be changing any time soon. Granted, going through this extended slump has to be quite frustrating for him as well. If he could hit in the .250 range, then Hedges receives the bulk of the starts behind the plate and this topic is never discussed.

The Padres aren’t in dire straits for catching prospects within the organization, but none have developed their skills enough to become a viable candidate at the moment. The recent promotion of Austin Allen was more about his bat (.330 with 21 HRs and 67 RBIs with El Paso) as his catching skills pale in comparison. Allen could start a couple of the late September games to judge if he’s an option for the backup catcher position next season.

A couple of catchers to keep an eye on are Luis Campusano and Luis Torrens. Campusano has established himself as the Padres top catching prospect after being named co-MVP of the California League after hitting .320 with 15 HRs and 79 RBIs with Lake Elsinore this season.

Scouts rave about Campusano’s receiving and throwing skills from behind the plate and everyone is in agreement that the youngster is already a polished hitter. Padres fans might have forgotten about Torrens who was caught in the shuffle after spending the entire 2017 season in the majors. In that brief audition, the youngster showed good defensive skills despite being overmatched during the majority of his at-bats.

(Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Best Case Scenario For Mejia

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It’s too early in the developmental process to completely ride off Mejia as a catcher. One thing to keep in mind moving forward is Mejia has only caught 13 major league games before his extended stay this season. And to take it further, the Cleveland Indians moved him around the diamond (C-1B-3B-OF) during his stay despite being the organization’s top catching prospect. This type of shuffling did hinder Mejia’s growth at the position.

As we close the book on August, Mejia has been hitting the cover off the ball as he’s batting .348 with a .606 SLG and 1000 OPS. Eight of his 23 hits in the month have been of the extra-base variety. This type of offensive production screams for Mejia to become a fixture in the batting lineup. His presence offers more balanced at the top of the order.

It’s too late to send Mejia back to El Paso and learn his trade. Also, San Diego Padres Padres manager Andy Green cannot fall into the trap of using Mejia strictly as an outfielder to take advantage of his bat in the lineup. It’s time for him to fulfill his potential as a catcher.

The best-case scenario is Mejia progresses well enough to become an average defensive catcher with an outstanding bat. That’s Mike Piazza, who had a pretty good career. He only led the New York Mets to a World Series appearance in 2000 and has a plaque hanging in the Baseball Hall-of-Fame. I think all Padres fans would sign up for that ending.

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The worst-case scenario is Mejia’s catching skills regress enough that he becomes another mediocre outfielder with a good stick that holds very little trade market value. Suddenly, Preller goes under the microscope for trading a quality closer (Brad Hand) and setup man (Adam Cimber) in exchange for nothing of quality in return.

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