Baltimore Orioles: Nick Hundley Top Catching Target
By Ben Palmer
The Baltimore Orioles have expressed major interest in possibly signing 33-year-old catcher Nick Hundley
The Baltimore Orioles have stated that 33-year-old catcher Nick Hundley is their “plan A” as far as free agent catcher targets, per Ken Rosenthal.
If the former Rockies catcher signed with Baltimore, it would be his second time with the team, as he and current catcher Caleb Joseph both filled in for Matt Wieters in 2014 while he recovered from Tommy John surgery.
With Wieters on the free agent market this offseason, it’s time for the Baltimore Orioles to figure out who is going to be behind the plate for them in the upcoming season. I think I speak for most Orioles fans when I say that it would be nice if Wieters came back to Baltimore, but it’s not likely.
Being that Wieters is coming off a season in which he was reasonably productive, and more importantly, proved that he’s healthy, he’s going to command a relatively large deal in the open market. Likely, it will be in the $13M/year range, and that’s not something the Baltimore Orioles are going to be able to afford, especially if they want to address their outfield issue.
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But a catcher like Hundley could be something the Orioles could afford, and could fit the team’s needs right now. Hundley wouldn’t be “the future” at the catcher position for Baltimore, but he would be a competent, inexpensive fill-in for a year or two while top-100 prospect Chance Sisco continues to develop in the minors.
Hundley is coming off a year in Colorado where he batted .260/.320/.439 with 10 HRs and 48 RBIs. In 2015, he had the best year of his career, batting .301/.339/.467 with 10 HRs and 43 RBIs, and that season, along with last year, can partially be attributed to his decreased strikeout rate and increased walk rate.
Now, naturally, as with any player who has a good offensive year in Colorado, the first question is: is he a product of Coors Field? Well, in 2015, he was, batting .355 at home and just .237 away. Last year, however, his road numbers improved (.275 average) but his home numbers got worse (.245 average).
As with most things, likely the truth is somewhere in the middle. Hundley is more than likely a .250ish hitter who can hit about 8-10 HRs, and while that’s not amazing, it’s certainly competent, and it’s better than what Caleb Joseph provided last year.
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If the Orioles sign Hundley, he, along with Joseph, could be a solid fill-in behind the plate while the Orioles give Chance Sisco just a bit more time in the minors, development time that the talented catcher could really use. Hundley is worth serious consideration by the O’s.