Jarrod Saltalamacchia Struggles With Returning the Ball to The Mound

The catcher throwing the ball back to the pitcher is one of the mundane processes of baseball that no one ever notices unless something goes wrong. By the time you reach high school level competition, a flubbed return throw by the catcher becomes a supreme embarrassment. Yet it’s a problem that stymied the career of former Mets catcher Mackey Sasser (and to a lesser extent, fictional Indians catcher Rube Baker in Major League II).↵↵Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who began the year as the starter behind the plate for the Texas Rangers, is working to ensure he doesn’t share that fate. While there has certainly been nothing wrong with his offensive production in a minor league rehab assignment he’s undergone since going on the disabled list two games into the season, Saltalamacchia has been far from automatic in his return throws to the pitcher. In fact, he’s been downright sloppy. In his last outing, he notched 12 errant throws back to the mound, five of which came in the first inning.↵

↵↵⇥Saltalamacchia said, “Everything feels good. My throws have been good down to second. We’ve been working on different arm angles, getting on top of the ball more rather than getting on the side. So everything’s going smoothly and we’ll see where it goes.” ↵⇥↵⇥Salty’s throwing problems last year were related to numbness in his right shoulder. The numbness has gone away.↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥“Everything’s perfect. Everything feels good,” Saltalamacchia said. “The pain’s gone, so it’s just a day to day thing right now.”↵⇥

↵↵↵The shoulder surgery and rib removal procedure he underwent late last year could easily have an effect on basic mechanics. Unfortunately, it’s not something he has a great deal of time to repair. While his bat could certainly get him back on a Major League roster, unless he’s able to rein in the difficulties soon, Saltalamacchia severely hamstrings his own value to a professional club.↵

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