Catching has been a sore spot for the Arizona Diamondbacks in recent seasons. But the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro writes that things have picked up this year, particularly after acquiring Welington Castillo from the Chicago Cubs early last month in the deal that sent outfielder Mark Trumbo to the Seattle Mariners:
- Castillo has played in only 20 games with his new club, and while he's probably not quite as good a hitter as his numbers show — .874 OPS (on-base average plus slugging) with four homers in 65 at-bats — he's not an offensive void, either. He's yet to throw out a runner in four stolen-base attempts, but he has excellent arm strength and entered the year with an above-average 31 percent caught stealing rate.
Castillo's performance has hopefully helped D-backs fans forget the trade that sent Miguel Montero, Arizona's front-line catcher for most of the past six seasons, to the Cubs last winter.
The Diamondbacks also have Tuffy Gosewisch (a defensive specialist out for the year following knee surgery), Oscar Hernandez (a Rule 5 pickup recovering from a hamate injury) and veteran Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
