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ANALYSIS: So it took All-Star Catcher Matt Wieters a little bit longer than expected to recover from Tommy John surgery. But now that he is back it is time to go all in for big second half production in 2015.
Let us take the obvious fact that Matt Wieters is flat out a great addition to the Baltimore Orioles lineup who has not seen similar production from his replacements Caleb Joseph and Steve Clevenger. The ability to give Adam Jones and Chris Davis some protection in the lineup should prove wonders to the stability and run production of their lineup. Finally having a presence of a Wieters behind the plate should cover up many of the flaws that the young pitching staff in Baltimore have seen come to light early on.
But now let us take the reality of some very important factors at work for the comeback season of Matt Wieters. He will be 30 years old this season while coming off a highly invasive surgery during his contract year in which he probably initially will not be behind the plate every game. That is a lot to take in but this is what you will need to know for the rest of this season.
Before Wieters got hurt and elected for the surgery he had career highs in BA, OBP, SLG%, and OPS. This was of course on a small sample size of 26 games in 2014 but the numbers showed a breakout season was coming. Even though 1/3 of the season is already over Wieters can still produce at a very high level and get the Orioles back on track and make himself the asset that he was before.
Is he going to light the world on fire in 2015? Only time will tell and with every Tommy John surgery recipient comes different results. He is going to want to be an important part of the team right from the get go and could press himself into some early struggles. But if he can discipline himself into easing back into it you can expect a 2015 campaign of 15 HR, 65 RBI with a .280 BA. Good fantasy catchers are in short supply as it is. What are you waiting for!?
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