Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Position Breakdown: Catchers
1/12/2016 1:28:00 PM | Baseball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Heading into the 2016 baseball season, catcher will be an interesting position to watch for the Blue Raiders. While there are a couple of returners on the roster at the position, it stands as one of, if not the, least experienced groups on the field.
Middle Tennessee returns junior Will Schnure, who played in 19 games last season while handling most of the Saturday catching duties. As the only returner who has caught a game at Middle Tennessee, Schnure figures to enter the season with a slight edge for the starting job.
"Schnure is really familiar with (Nate) Hoffmann, which is going to be important as one of our top starting pitchers," head coach Jim McGuire said. "He is coming off of an injury so there is a question mark there about his durability, but as far as handling the staff, knowing the staff and having experience, he does have somewhat of an inside track."
Schnure hit just .170 last season in a small sample size of only 53 at-bats, but will prove to be a solid defensive option behind the plate.
Senior Austin Norrell is also back for the Blue Raiders after taking part in 12 contests in 2015. Norrell was unable to catch all of last season due to injuries, but will provide depth at catcher in 2016 and figure heavily into the designated hitter role.
"Norrell caught a lot of games in junior college and has the tools to go back," McGuire stated. "He'll be counted on as a DH and possibly play some first base, too, but there is always the possibility that he can get behind the plate and help us there."
At the plate in 2015, Norrell hit .179 in just 39 at-bats, but could prove to be a valuable power bat for the Raiders if he stays healthy.
Two catchers join the squad from the Junior College ranks. Junior Vaughn Shapen, a versatile player with a good offensive track record, redshirted his first season at Northwestern State before moving to Bossier State Community College.
"Shapen probably has the best skill set of all of our catchers," McGuire said. "He has the best arm of the four but he needs to improve some receiving and he's still learning the pitching staff. I think he's going to be a good offensive player for us but he will also have opportunities to play at other spots."
Shapen hit an impressive .411 with two home runs and 16 RBIs as a sophomore at Bossier State a season ago.
Junior Chaz Vesser joins the Blue Raiders from Chattanooga State Community College and is hailed by McGuire as a good defensive catcher and catch-and-throw guy.
"Vesser is probably the best receiver with the best hands behind the plate on our team, but he's still learning the pitching staff and getting comfortable with them as well," McGuire stated. "He is coming off of an injury in the fall that slowed him down late and put him a little bit behind, but his ability to catch and receive will get him opportunities."
Last season at Chattanooga State, Vesser hit .322 with 16 RBIs and 26 runs. He began his career at Volunteer State Community College before spending a redshirt season at Tennessee.
While the Blue Raiders will have more depth at backstop than in previous years, it remains one of the least proven units on the team. Despite the inexperience, McGuire feels good about the options at his disposal in 2016.
"I'm comfortable putting any of the four of them back there," McGuire said. "I don't think I could say that very many years, that anybody I put back there I'm okay with going into a game. In years past we've had one or two that we're comfortable with at most, so I like the depth, but the inexperience is the question mark."
Fortunately for McGuire and his staff, there is some versatility at the position, so getting more than one of them in the lineup on any given day will be a possibility.
"Shapen can do a lot of different things for us. He can play third base, he can go in the outfield, he can DH, so the versatility of Shapen as well as Norrell gives me options to get them in the lineup in a different capacity."
You don't want to have question marks behind the plate, though, so whoever gets those opportunities and can have success early, they're going to get a bunch of reps and we'll see if they can handle it."
Next Week: Middle Infielders
Middle Tennessee returns junior Will Schnure, who played in 19 games last season while handling most of the Saturday catching duties. As the only returner who has caught a game at Middle Tennessee, Schnure figures to enter the season with a slight edge for the starting job.
"Schnure is really familiar with (Nate) Hoffmann, which is going to be important as one of our top starting pitchers," head coach Jim McGuire said. "He is coming off of an injury so there is a question mark there about his durability, but as far as handling the staff, knowing the staff and having experience, he does have somewhat of an inside track."
Schnure hit just .170 last season in a small sample size of only 53 at-bats, but will prove to be a solid defensive option behind the plate.
Senior Austin Norrell is also back for the Blue Raiders after taking part in 12 contests in 2015. Norrell was unable to catch all of last season due to injuries, but will provide depth at catcher in 2016 and figure heavily into the designated hitter role.
"Norrell caught a lot of games in junior college and has the tools to go back," McGuire stated. "He'll be counted on as a DH and possibly play some first base, too, but there is always the possibility that he can get behind the plate and help us there."
At the plate in 2015, Norrell hit .179 in just 39 at-bats, but could prove to be a valuable power bat for the Raiders if he stays healthy.
Two catchers join the squad from the Junior College ranks. Junior Vaughn Shapen, a versatile player with a good offensive track record, redshirted his first season at Northwestern State before moving to Bossier State Community College.
"Shapen probably has the best skill set of all of our catchers," McGuire said. "He has the best arm of the four but he needs to improve some receiving and he's still learning the pitching staff. I think he's going to be a good offensive player for us but he will also have opportunities to play at other spots."
Shapen hit an impressive .411 with two home runs and 16 RBIs as a sophomore at Bossier State a season ago.
Junior Chaz Vesser joins the Blue Raiders from Chattanooga State Community College and is hailed by McGuire as a good defensive catcher and catch-and-throw guy.
"Vesser is probably the best receiver with the best hands behind the plate on our team, but he's still learning the pitching staff and getting comfortable with them as well," McGuire stated. "He is coming off of an injury in the fall that slowed him down late and put him a little bit behind, but his ability to catch and receive will get him opportunities."
Last season at Chattanooga State, Vesser hit .322 with 16 RBIs and 26 runs. He began his career at Volunteer State Community College before spending a redshirt season at Tennessee.
While the Blue Raiders will have more depth at backstop than in previous years, it remains one of the least proven units on the team. Despite the inexperience, McGuire feels good about the options at his disposal in 2016.
"I'm comfortable putting any of the four of them back there," McGuire said. "I don't think I could say that very many years, that anybody I put back there I'm okay with going into a game. In years past we've had one or two that we're comfortable with at most, so I like the depth, but the inexperience is the question mark."
Fortunately for McGuire and his staff, there is some versatility at the position, so getting more than one of them in the lineup on any given day will be a possibility.
"Shapen can do a lot of different things for us. He can play third base, he can go in the outfield, he can DH, so the versatility of Shapen as well as Norrell gives me options to get them in the lineup in a different capacity."
You don't want to have question marks behind the plate, though, so whoever gets those opportunities and can have success early, they're going to get a bunch of reps and we'll see if they can handle it."
Next Week: Middle Infielders
Players Mentioned
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