Navarro up to task of catching Buehrle
DUNEDIN, FLA. — Mark Buehrle is a rarity among pitchers. He ignores scouting reports. He never shakes off a catcher’s sign. He works quickly and grows impatient if the catcher dithers between pitches.
So, Dioner Navarro, how do you like working with Buehrle so far?
The new Toronto Blue Jays catcher, who is a touch on the round side, did not hesitate. He has never caught anyone who works as fast as Buehrle, and that, he says, will at least help him stay in shape.
“I don’t have to do conditioning now,” Navarro quipped after he caught Buehrle’s two innings in the Jays’ 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Having faced Buehrle in 11 plate appearances, Navarro expected him to work even faster Friday. Buehrle admitted he got a little tired, which is normal for the first time out. Perhaps he will speed up as his stamina builds.
Navarro is unworried about the veteran left-hander’s quirky habits.
“I’m up to the challenge,” Navarro said “It’s going to be a lot of fun. This guy’s been in the league for a long time. He knows what he’s supposed to do. He knows how he can work the hitters. He doesn’t like to call pitches because he trusts all of his stuff so whatever number I put down, even if it’s not the right pitch at the moment, he still has a lot of confidence he’s going to throw it. He throws it with conviction, which is the most important thing.”
Whatever his idiosyncrasies, Buehrle owns a remarkable record of success since 2001, when he became a regular starter: 13 straight years of 200-plus innings and at least 10 wins, the most starts (426), the fourth-highest WAR (47.5) among starters, and four Gold Gloves.
Starting his second spring as a Blue Jay, Buehrle gave up a run on two hits in his two innings. His foundation pitch, the sinker, was not working well. But he threw 43 pitches and, he said, built some arm strength. For a pitcher of his vintage, results are irrelevant at this early stage.
The last time Buehrle remembers shaking off a catcher’s sign was in 2003 during a post-season tour of Japan with a team of all-stars. A.J. Pierzynski, then with Minnesota, was his catcher.
“I shook him off and got a line drive off my shoulder,” Buehrle recalled. “I said, ‘See what happens when you shake off.’ I don’t think I’ve shaken since then.”
He might have been tempted to shake off J.P. Arencibia a few times last year. Well into the season, the two had trouble developing a rapport in Buehrle’s starts. Occasionally, and diplomatically, Buehrle made reference to that fact, and when a reporter mentioned it Friday, he did not deny it.
He and Navarro had no problems against the Pirates, Buehrle said. “He put the sign down fine today. He wasn’t slow.”
Two years ago, when Buehrle started for the Marlins, pitching coach Randy St. Claire urged him to join the pregame scouting seminars. Halfway through the season, Buehrle begged off.
“I got to the point where I said, ‘I’m not getting anything out of this. It’s kind of wasting our time. You can go over it with the catcher and we’ll go with it because I’m not soaking anything in,’ ” he said.
Buehrle said he has been fortunate to work mainly with veteran catchers (he and Piersynzki collaborated for seven years with the White Sox), and seemed to expect Navarro, a 10-year veteran, to figure him out quickly.
“I think most catchers are smart enough to know the game plan to know what to throw in certain situations,” he said.
He j oked that since he never shakes off a sign, he can always blame the catcher for a bad outing. In the same spirit, Navarro said he’s is fine with that.
“We take the blame,” he said.