Fantasy baseball players are all to familiar with the fact that their are basically five good catchers in the leauge at any time and if you don't have one of them you are forced into an endless series of sub par waiver wire signings. The Mets are experiencing the real life version of this as we have just acquired Kelly Shoppach.
Shop is a native of White Settlement, Texas, really that's the actual name of his hometown. Shoppach is one of those players that you probably think is better just because you know his name. He is not nearly as good as his relative fame may indicate. He is largely famous for:
a) having a unique name
b) a few outrageous high profile games including catching Matt Garza's no-hitter, hitting 2 homers in game 1 of the 2011 ALDS and once recording a 5 extra base hit game (a feat achieved by only 8 players).
His career has been marked by an alarming streak of averageness. He has a career slash of .227/.316/.422 with 64 home runs over 8 seasons played. His best season was in 2008 when he posted an fWAR of 3 and slugged for .517 with 21 homers, he never showed that level of power again. This year he is hitting .250 with 5 home runs, the Mets plan to use him primarily against lefties whom he has a career .279 average against.
I am ok with this signing. He is a perfectly serviceable catcher that will do a totally adequate job of finishing out the season for us.
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