Yip Free Saltalamacchia Set To Debut With Red Sox

Theo Epstein finally got the catcher he has coveted for years for a somewhat bargain price. Raise your hand if you're surprised. Epstein had been after once-upon-a-time elite prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia for years and finally swung a deal for him this year at the trade deadline when his value was close to its lowest. Salty was sent to Triple A at the beginning of the season and was raking for a little while. He would have been called up to the big club if it wasn't for his Rube Baker syndrome. In one game, Salty threw 12 errant balls toward the mound like my friend's 3-year-old throws ping pong balls. That kid is terrible at beer pong.

Salty went to a sports psychiatrist for his yips and it might have worked. But at the cost of his slash line, which tumbled. At the trade deadline, Theo jumped at the opportunity to acquire him on the cheap. Tomorrow Salty will make his debut behind the plate for the Red Sox in an attempt to show he just needed a fresh start...

"I'm excited for a fresh start," Saltalamacchia said. "There's a lot to look forward to and I'm just excited to be here. I'm going to learn as much as I can, take this all in and use every opportunity I get.

"I'm excited to be in an organization where they want me. They gave up a lot to get me and I'm ready to do whatever they want me to do."

Red Sox scouts watched him closely to make sure the yips were a thing of the past. He seems to be okay and I'm sure if he has a misfire the Boston fans and media won't blow it out of proportion. They're cool like that.

Salty Not Getting Promoted Anytime Soon

Jarrod Saltalamacchia isn't coming back to the Rangers' big league club anytime soon according to Evan Grant...

Jim asks ... Any update on Salty?

Evan Grant: Still at Triple-A. Not coming up anytime soon. As I mentioned before, Rangers are quite happy with catching situation right now. If you bring Salty back up, he's going to think he should be the starter. And the Rangers aren't ready for him to be the starter right now. The way Treanor and Max Ramirez are splitting up the job has created an egoless environment. The Rangers aren't going to mess with that until they have to.

Salty was crushing the ball at Triple A but he went all Rube Baker and forgot how to throw the ball back to the pitcher. Which I covered in one of my last posts at Monkeys Throwing Darts. Didn't catch it? Here you go...

Some of you may remember Jarrod Saltalamacchia for having the longest last name in Major League Baseball, others may remember the switch hitting catcher as one of the top prospects the Braves dumped* in the Mark Teixeira trade of '07. Well now, Salty is raking in Triple A but can't seem to make it back to the bigs due to his inability to throw the ball 60 feet and 6 inches back to the mound. Surely it can't be that bad, right? From MiLB.com...

In Salty's last game, Tuesday night at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, 12 of his throws back to the pitcher landed either short of the mound or in center field. He had five errant throws in the first inning alone.

"He's just got to keep playing until he gets it right," RedHawks manager Bobby Jones said. "I don't know what else to do. It's a shame. It's definitely what's keeping him here. He's blocking the ball well and swinging the bat well. He's just got to figure it out. It's a shame."

He missed the pitcher 12 times? That's worse control than I displayed after my ninth margarita on Cinco de Mayo and I tried to fight a bar stool. People want to blame his shoulder surgery or his back problems but this is just an obvious case of the yips. Now the yips are a tricky thing. They can mentally ruin you. I blame most of this blog on the yips. Fortunately for Salty, if he keeps hitting .359/.417/.578, nobody will care how he gets the ball to the mound (I suggest an air cannon t-shirt launcher). Unfortunately for Salty, he tattooed "Salty" on his arm.

*The Braves also traded Neftali Feliz and Elvis Andrus to the Rangers for Mark Teixeira. Imagine if they still had those kids to go with Tommy Hanson and Jason Heyward.

Salty went to a sports psychologist for his yips. I don't know if it helped or not but his slash line has tumbled to .244/.309/.437 so there is no real point in promoting him right now. But yes, this was just an excuse to say Rube Baker and repost something from MTD. You're welcome.