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One of the biggest "stories" going on around the Arizona Diamondbacks has been the dynamic between pitcherTrevor Bauer and catcher Miguel Montero. Bauer has struggled in his first two starts in the big leagues, and has made comments noting how he just needs to keep doing what he knows how to do.
After other comments by Montero, there was a sense of some friction between the two. Bauer said that he and Montero were going to meet and talk about things so they could be on the same page.
We spoke to Montero before Friday's game, and as of that point, the two still had not yet gotten together.
"He hasn't come to me," said Montero. "So I guess I'm going to have to go to him."
While that sounds like a bit of a jab at Bauer, he did sound like he would take the initiative. "Today would be a good day that I'm not playing, so I might have a little time to talk to him during the game," he said, following up his previous statement.
Obviously, considering the roles of the two players, it would make more sense for Bauer to approach Montero, since he has an entire staff to take care of.
The issue seems to be that, without the communication set between the two players, Bauer is trying to dictate the game, call his own pitches.
This is something Montero is not accustomed to. "When you get a rookie guy coming up form the minors, they let you guide them, and this is different," said Montero about Bauer. He is okay with it, but not many pitchers have called their own game with Montero.
One guy was Livan Hernandez, whom Montero caught as a rookie in 2007 when Hernandez had played about three decades (15 years is what Miggy said). The other was Randy Johnson, who is only going to be a Hall of Famer. However, Miggy did say that Johnson was easy to catch. "Fastball inside, slider inside and fastball up, and that was all," Montero recalled. "A fastball outside maybe once a week."
But even when these guys were throwing to Montero, they communicated. "We talked about how we were going to do things," he said. "That way I had a little plan how he liked to do things."
That's what Montero is looking for from Bauer.
"I understand he pitches his way. At the same time, we need to have a plan. If a guy is a good fastball hitter, yeah you can throw a fastball, but where?
"We need to talk and get know each other. He needs to get to know me and know what I like to do. At the same time, I need to get to know him and know what he likes to do."
Basically, he wants the two to "have an idea, have something to think about on the mound and behind the plate" because "guys make better adjustments than in Double and Triple-A. "
"It's not easy," he said. "I believe he is here because he's got the talent. I know he's got the talent. He's got the arm.
"He probably thinks that he got here doing his own thing by his way...I really don't want him to fail...that's my job."
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