OPINION:
In the 1999 season, Atlanta Braves starting catcher Javy Lopez went down in late July with a torn knee ligament. The Braves turned to their backup, Eddie Perez, their light-hitting but respected defensive catcher, to handle their Hall of Fame pitching staff.
Perez did just that, and turned out to be a postseason hero, using his bat to lead the Braves to a National League championship in six games over the New York Mets, with two home runs, five RBI and a .500 average to win series MVP honors. Atlanta would go on to the World Series, where the New York Yankees swept them in four games.
So Jose Lobaton — it’s been done before.
Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos going down with torn knee ligaments may not be a carbon copy of what the Braves faced in 1999. Lopez, the Braves’ power-hitting catcher who had 11 home runs and 45 RBI in 65 games, was sidelined with nine weeks left in the season. The Braves staff had ample opportunity to work with Perez as their full-time catcher by the time postseason came.
Nationals pitchers will have had less than two weeks with Lobaton — who is also struggling with his own physical ailments — as their primary catcher, though he is hardly a stranger. Over three years with Washington, Lobaton has caught 147 games.
Second baseman Bret Boone was on that 1999 Braves team when Lopez went down. The challenge at the plate was for the rest of the team to make up for Lopez’s missed offense.
AUDIO: Washington Senator Frank Howard with Thom Loverro
The key behind the plate was comfort — how comfortable the staff would be with Perez as the full-time catcher.
“Javy Lopez was a big part of that team,” Boone said. “He was a big run-producer. But we had plenty of offense on that team, so we didn’t have to rely on him.
“The pitchers, though, they get into a rhythm and get used to working with the starting catcher day in and day out,” he said. “They develop a bond and it is comfortable for them. Eddie (Perez) did a great job. But it’s tough, especially this late in the season. The offensive season he (Ramos) is having (22 home runs, 80 RBI, a .307 average), especially for the catcher’s position, that’s tough to replace. As far as the pitching, though, it all comes down to comfort.”
Sometimes, though, the pitchers prefer throwing to the backup. Boone played on a team where the ace, Greg Maddux, preferred pitching to anyone except Lopez. Perez caught more Maddux games than any other catcher in the Hall of Fame pitcher’s career.
“It was always considered a day off for Javy when Greg pitched,” Boone said. “That happened to my dad (Bob Boone, the Nationals vice president of player development, who spent 10 years behind the plate, catching 1,125 games for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1981). Tim McCarver always caught Steve Carlton.”
There has been evidence that some of the Nationals pitchers prefer to pitch to Lobaton — not a criticism of Ramos, but, like Bret Boone spoke of, the comfort level.
When Max Scherzer pitched that brilliant, dominant near-perfect game, 16-strikeout one-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers last July, he spoke about how well he and Lobaton worked together.
“I was able to execute in the zone and out of the zone,” Scherzer told reporters after the game. “And Loby was back there calling a great game and knowing when to sequence it and knowing when to double up, triple up. A lot of times I was just going with him and it was just working. That, I felt like, was a reason I was able to have so much success.
“He did a great job of framing the low pitch, the low fastballs,” Scherzer said. “I thought he was lightning-quick with those hands to make it look like a strike even they were border line. He helped me get a few calls. He’s just smart. It felt very comfortable.”
Gio Gonzalez praised Lobaton as well when the two were paired together last year for a number of starts. “I think it’s understanding his pitcher. He’s not only doing his homework against the other hitters, but he’s also doing his homework toward the pitcher and how he feels and how he looks. In other words, it’s a little kick in the [butt] just to get you going, you know what I’m saying? And I give him a lot of credit for that.”
Lobaton, 31, has been a light-hitting backup catcher throughout his seven year major league career, batting .225 in 337 games. He signed as an amateur free agent with the San Diego Padres. He made his major league debut in 2009 and was designated for assignment later that year. He was claimed by the Tampa Bay Rays, and was the backup catcher there from 2011 to 2013 — his best season at the plate, batting .249 in 100 games.
He was traded to Washington on Feb. 13, 2014, along with Felipe Rivero and Drew Vettleson, for Nationals pitching prospect Nate Karns.
Lobaton is considered one of the best in the game at framing pitchers. He is also considered a possible future manager — like Eddie Perez, his fellow Venezuelan countryman and now a coach with the Atlanta Braves.
And like Perez, Lobaton made the most of his postseason time in 2013 when he hit a ninth-inning walk off home run for Tampa off Boston Red Sox loser Koji Uehara in game three of their American League Division Series — the only game the Rays would win in the series.
Brian Jordan was an outfielder on that 1999 Braves team. He, too, talked about comfort — but emphasized it is a different level of comfort required for postseason baseball. “Those pitchers have to be comfortable pitching to that catcher in high-level intensity situations in the playoffs,” Jordan said. “Can they feel comfortable that the backup won’t make some bad calls under that kind of pressure? You don’t want your pitcher calling time out in playoffs situations. That is not good.”
Lobaton started game one and game four behind the plate for Tampa in the 2013 division series against Boston.
After Tuesday night’s 4-2 win over Arizona, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said this time of the year was “hero” time.
Jose Lobaton — it’s been done before.
Thom Loverro hosts his weekly podcast “Cigars & Curveballs” Wednesdays available on iTunes and Google Play.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.