Colorado Rockies’ rookie catcher Wilin Rosario has big potential - MLB News
Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. In fourth spot was the Rockies’ rookie catcher Wilin Rosario, a good 100 points behind Harper. A closer look at Rosario tells us much more than what those points tell
us.
Born in Bonao, Dominican Republic, Wilin made his Major League debut in September of 2011. He only played a handful of games in the 2011 regular season and 2012 was his first full season with the team. The catcher was part of a Double-A team in regular season
and was impressive in Spring Training, prompting a move to the big leagues.
Initially the idea was to develop him in the majors under the apprenticeship of Ramon Hernandez, with little work load. However, with Ramon struggling with injuries, Rosario soon found his work load increasing behind the plate for the Rockies. The 23-year-old
ended up playing an even 100 games as a starting catcher.
The catcher had a fantastic year with the bat. In the 306 at-bats, Wilin had an impressive .270 batting average and an on-base percentage of .312 was not all that bad either. He also batted in 71 runs and hit 28 home-runs, out of which 27 were as a catcher,
the third highest by any Major League Rookie catcher in history and most by a rookie catcher for the Rockies.
Rosario started his professional career at the age of 17. He played in the Minors for five years, with limited opportunities due to his young age and injuries. The general manager of the Rockies, Dan O’Dowd was all praise for the youngster and was impressed
by the performance and the attitude that was shown by the rookie catcher. "What he shows you is a young man with a great attitude and a very realistic chance to be a catcher with offensive impact," he said.
Wilin’s year as a catcher was not the greatest but he did reasonably well in the context of the team’s performance. He made 13 errors and 21 balls passed him behind the plate. The 63 wild balls with him behind the plate were the most in the National League.
But this was a year that Rockies would like to forget as they lost a record 98 games and their pitching unit was low on performance altogether.
He did post a .983 fielding percentage with 694 put-outs and 78 assists. Rosario also caught an impressive 30 trying to steal bases. The staff ERA with him was 4.98 in comparison with 5.59 that were posted while other Rockies’ catchers were behind the plate.
Dan O’Dowd acknowledged that it was not just Wilin’s mistakes but the fact that the pitching unit is quite young and created a lot of problems. The general manager also believed that the young pitcher had what it takes to go forward.
"He had to handle a lot of young pitchers and a staff that struggled as a whole," said O'Dowd. "He's still a pup. Because of his desire to get better and his passion for the game, he has a chance to be a good one."
Wilin Rosario will certainly be in the future plans of the Colorado Rockies. He has proven himself worthy of playing with the big boys in his rookie year. Walt Weiss and his coaching staff will do well to make sure that they fully utilise this young talent
for the benefit of the team.
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