Catcher Danny Ardoin’s ability to accelerate a game’s pace is propelling him toward a role as the Rockies’ No. 1 catcher next season.
Manager Clint Hurdle said Saturday that Ardoin, 31, has been the National League’s best defensive catcher during the past month. Owner Charlie Monfort said Thursday that Ardoin’s improvement means finding a catcher during the offseason is not as pressing a concern as it once was.
“Clint said during our (organizational meetings) that when (Ardoin) catches the game, it’s 12 minutes quicker,” Monfort said. “I think that helps the fielders play better and helps the pitcher. I really don’t think that catcher is such a huge position (of need) anymore.”
Ardoin said he’s grown much more comfortable as a leader from behind the plate as the season has continued.
“I’ve always been aware of setting good tempo,” he said. “A lot of it is getting to know your pitchers.”
Ardoin has a theory about why a quicker game is important.
“I think when a pitcher is really deliberate and doesn’t pitch with a good tempo, more than likely he’s not going to get a lot of run support and somebody’s going to make a big error behind him at a crucial time,” he said. “Because when guys stand around, the feet get heavy out there. I mean, humans can only stay focused for so long.”
While Ardoin’s defense has been solid, there are still questions about his offense. He enters today’s game hitting .241, but he’s shown some pop in his bat of late, homering three times in his last six starts.
“He’s given us something to hold on to,” Hurdle said. “Maybe we can give him some things to work on over the winter that will make him a little more fundamentally sound on offense.”
Ardoin said he thinks he can be a consistent .260 hitter and drive in key runs and advance baserunners. Hurdle would be thrilled to see that, but he also said Ardoin must cut down strikeouts.
“His strikeouts are a little alarming for his number of at-bats,” Hurdle said.
Ardoin has whiffed 61 times in 191 at-bats.
SAFE AND SOUND: Brad Hawpe’s younger brother, Todd, a senior outfielder at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, evacuated to Fort Worth last week to escape Hurricane Rita. Brad Hawpe said Saturday that his entire family was safe in Fort Worth.
FOOTNOTES: All the Rockies coaches have agreed to contracts for next season. … Known as “Chile” by the locals, reliever David Cortes is planning to take a month and a half off before pitching winter ball for his hometown of Mexicali, Mexico. He will be a closer. … Infielder Omar Quintanilla’s agent is exploring opportunities for Quintanilla to also play winter ball in Mexico.
