Astros Around the Horn: Catcher

Over the course of the upcoming weeks I will take a look around the diamond and give my projected Opening Day 2013 starters for the Houston Astros.

Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

Predicting whom the Astros will sign is always possible, but I wouldn’t want to spend time writing an article on a player I assume will end up an Astro, only to find him playing elsewhere come April. Therefore, the criteria for these articles is that the player must be either on the major league roster or in the farm system to be up for consideration.

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comment section below. Today we will look at the starting catcher position.

STARTING CATCHER FOR 2013: JASON CASTRO

Although I am starting with this position, this is a spot I put a lot of thought into.

Honestly, I would start Carlos Corporan. After a brief stint with the team in 2011, Carlos made his way back to the club in July and played well to the tune of a .269 average with 4 HR’s and 13 RBI’s in just 27 games.

Though he didn’t see much time, I see a lot of promise in Corporan that could, at the very least, bridge the gap until a more solidified player comes to Houston to play back stop.

Castro has struggled with injuries during his young career.

After being drafted in the first round by the Astros, Castro worked his way up through the minors and debuted in 2010 with a single off of Tim Lincecum. Two days later, Castro hit his first run off Matt Cain. His career seemed to be off to giant success.

But the bat quieted down, and in 2011 was silenced completely when an ACL injury forced him to miss the entire year.

In 2012 Castro again suffered a knee injury that kept him out for most of the year. Racking up injuries to the lower half of his body isn’t exactly a scenario that will keep the front office smiling.

I expect the two to compete in Spring Training with a veteran “Player X” brought in to compete for the job as well.

Ultimately, the Astros want to see Castro, their golden boy first rounder, succeed. So I expect they will give him every chance to do so. It’s only been a few years but if the knee injuries continue to pile up a permanent replacement will need to be arranged sooner rather than later.