Jesus Montero, Yankees' Catching Prospect Extraordinaire

Highly coveted by teams when trade talks come up. Has the tools to be a star in the major leagues. Considered, potentially, to be on the level of Miguel Cabrera as a hitter. Kevin Long, Yankees' hitting instructor, has been quoted as saying he’s ready to hit big league pitching now. Yet, as everyone knows, he still needs seasoning as a catcher.

There’s sometimes a rift between the scouts in the scouting department and the developmental guys in a major league organization. By this, I mean that the developmental guys blame the scouts for not finding the talent and the scouts complain that the developmental people are not doing a “good enough job” developing the talent they bring into an organization, but this is not the case for Jesus Montero. Everyone is in agreement that patience is the key for this budding star. It’ll definitely be worth the wait to allow him to develop at a normal pace. By doing that, it will pay huge dividends.

I have watched videos of Jesus catching and throwing. The Yankees are like many of the other organizations in that they teach the jump pivot from the crouch. Other organizations teach their catchers to mirror the ball and square up the glove foot to the ball and plant that back foot as they receive it and then throw. That’s a little quicker for catchers usually, but that style is normally recommended for catchers with exceptionally strong arms. In this case, Jesus has exceptionally quick feet, so he’s not losing time with his footwork.

As for throwing, the Yankees teach the traditional roll the ball to a grip coming out of the mitt and spike the elbow to load their throw. This is different from a few organizations that teach their catchers to roll the ball out of the mitt and then throw and release using a backward C motion. Those organizations feel it’s a more efficient, quicker release and that spiking to load the throw, can over time, cause rotator cuff problems for catchers.

Unfortunately, I can’t comment on Jesus’ blocking pitches or his mental and physical approach to receiving breaking pitches. There are specific techniques and mindsets on both aspects that are taught, and I’ve not had the opportunity to see where he’s at in that stage of development.

I have to admit that I’ve not seen this much buzz for a Yankees’ prospect since Derek Jeter. I’d say I can’t wait to see him in the big leagues…just as the rest of you, but we’ll all have to be patient. Just keep thinking, “Patience is a virtue.”