25-year old switch-hitting Matt Wieters keeps getting better and that’s a good thing for the Orioles. He will be the starter once again with Taylor Teagarden and Ronny Paulino will duke it out this spring for the right to back up Wieters in 2012. Wieters played in 139 games for the Orioles last year and he was 131 of 500 (.262 avg, .778 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 22 homers, 68 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 365 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 344 for 1,300 (.265 avg, .743 OPS) with 144 runs scored, 42 homers, 166 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He is a improving hitter. He has also turned himself into a really good defensive catcher. Wieters played in 132 games behind the plate last year and he had 5 errors and only 1 passed ball. He threw out 32 of 92 base stealers (34.8%) and Orioles’ pitchers had a 4.56 ERA with him behind the plate. Wieters is likely going to develop into a perennial All-Star if he keeps improving his game, both at the plate and behind it.

The Orioles dealt for 28-year old righty swinging Taylor Teagarden over the winter and they hope he wins the backup job. Teagarden played in 14 games for the Rangers last year and he was 8 for 34 (.235 avg, .572 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. He has now played in 118 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 77 for 350 (.220 avg, .703 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 16 homers and 49 RBIs. Teagarden has whiffed 142 times in his major league career, so he doesn’t show much patience at the plate. He played in 14 games behind the plate for the Rangers last year and he didn’t have any errors but 1 passed ball. He threw out 5 of 13 (38.5%) base stealers and Rangers’ pitchers had a 3.16 ERA with him behind the plate.

30-year old Ronny Paulino is going to try to win the backup job to Matt Wieters this spring. Paulino played in 78 games for the Mets last year and he was 61 for 228 (.268 avg, .663 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers and 19 RBIs. He has now played in 553 games in his first 7 years and he is 492 for 1,804 (.273 avg, .705 OPS) with 176 runs scored, 33 homers, 211 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Paulino has hung around in the majors as long as he has because he has a decent bat for a catcher. He is not much of a defensive catcher. Paulino played in 68 games behind the plate for the Mets last year and he had 7 errors and 6 passed balls. He also threw out only 10 of 59 (16.9%) base stealers last year. Mets’ pitchers had a 4.47 ERA with Paulino behind the plate.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2012: B+