Catcher having best year of career
Ask Oklahoma City Dodgers catcher Rocky Gale why he’s been so successful this year and he can’t give you a reason.
“Do you have a good answer?” Gale said to teammate Alex Burg.
Gale sat by his locker there for another 10 seconds before he finally gave up.
“I don’t know,” Gale said. “I’m comfortable here and I really like our team and our staff.”
It’s fitting that Gale is having his best season for the Dodgers — it’s the organization he made his major league debut against in 2015.
But the best season of his career didn’t start out as he hoped.
On February 23, the day after Gale’s birthday, the San Diego Padres released him.
The Padres were the only organization Gale played for in his first eight years.
San Diego had just signed former Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis and felt they didn’t need Gale.
He only played 14 games in the majors, spending most of his career with the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Padres Triple-A team.
Now searching for a new team, Gale didn’t know what to do.
“It’s uncomfortable to leave something you knew,” Gale said. “It forced me to grow.”
The Dodgers signed Gale on Feb. 25 and he was off to OKC looking to revamp his career.
But the first several games with OKC got off to a rocky start.
In the first 10 games of the season, Gale was batting .200, well below his career average of .254.
“I don’t think traditionally I’ve had the best Aprils and Mays,” Gale said.
Then April 23 came. It was a normal game, Gale finished 1 for 4 with a single, but that game started the stretch that turned his season around.
Gale recorded another hit the next game, then the one after that and before he knew it, he was on a 13-game hit streak. After the streak, which included eight multi-hit games, Gale had raised his batting average to .341, the highest mark of his career.
“Sometimes you just get hot,” Gale said laughing.
But saying Gale’s success is just a hot streak would undervalue his performance. He’s third on the team in batting average at .318 and has been one of the best defensive players on the team as well.
Playing catcher, Gale regularly has to throw out opponents stealing bases. In previous years, he caught opponents 35 percent of his attempts, but this year opponents can’t get past Gale. He’s catching players 43 percent of the time.
Las Vegas 51s outfielder Patrick Biondi found that out the hard way.
In the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game against Las Vegas, Biondi tried to steal second, where he’s been successful on 80 percent of his attempts.
But Gale saw it coming, as he sent a dart toward second. It was an easy call for the umpire overlooking second – Biondi was out.
Though Gale can’t give you a reason why, he recognizes his recent success. All he’s tried to do is keep the same mindset.
“Just focus on the opportunities that you are going to get,” Gale said. “And don’t worry about the opportunities that you aren’t going to get.”