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Wesley Metheny
First no call up at the end of the season. Then no Spring Training invite. And now I wouldn’t even be starting the year in Single A? What does a guy have to do to get a promotion? It was beginning to dawn on me that maybe I was not viewed as much as a prospect for the Seattle Mariners as much as I was seen as an organizational filler. I was a guy they could move around the field, the lineup, and clubs and plug into wherever a hole existed.
And as mad as I am about the lack of respect I have been given by not even being tagged for re-joining Everett I was even more mad about Luke Miller not getting to start the year in a higher level. How a man wins league MVP and not get promoted is beyond me. To Luke’s credit he did not let it bother him too much, he believes as a 21 year old he has his whole life ahead of him but I am concerned about being kept in short season games until after my 24th birthday.
Not playing baseball for 9+ months can really take a toll on a young professional. Obviously you go to the batting cages as often as possible, and me and Luke got into a routine of doing fielding drills, but it isn’t the same as playing everyday. Mark Catts, Bobby’s personal hitting coach, agreed to take the two of us as we joined the two of them during Bobby’s scheduled time. Mark did not mind at all but I could tell it got Bobby a little flustered.
Luckily we did have Scott’s games to keep up with, Luke was always up for a trip to West Virginia University, a short 50 minute drive from Pop’s farm. Scott hit a robust .446 over 101 at-bats, with 42 runs. 25 RBI’s, and a shocking 7 stolen bases as a catcher. Defensively Scott was constantly being brought up in baseball magazines as the top fielding catcher in the upcoming draft. That defense has tagged him as a likely 3rd to 5th round prospect, and if a certain team really fell in love with his glove he could be picked as early as the middle of round 2.
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