Catcher Greg Myers has been placed on the 15-day DL after badly spraining his left ankle pulling up at third base in last night's contest with the Twins. Replacing him on the Major League roster will be journeyman catcher Gregg Zaun, called up from AAA Syracuse.
Short Term Impact
This is exactly why Gregg Zaun was signed to a minor-league contract earlier this month - insurance in the case of an injury to Myers or Kevin Cash. While some will lament J.P. passing on an opportunity to get a look at top prospect Guillermo Quiroz in the bigs, the Jays are not about to start his service clock sooner than necessary. Quiroz will continue to play every day in Syracuse and Zaun will take over as the #2 catcher in Toronto, starting once or twice a week.
Zaun is a reasonably disciplined hitter (.332 career OBP), but lacks the pop that Crash brought to the table. It's not likely that Gregg will be in Toronto long enough for us to see if Mike Barnett can work his magic with him the same way he did with Myers. Zaun is a switch-hitter, so Carlos Tosca will likely play him much as he did Myers, spelling Cash against the toughest righties.
Long Term Impact
Likely none. Myers will be eligible to come off the DL mid-May, but he'll probably miss most of the month.
By The Numbers
Gregg Zaun 5'10", 190 lbs, 33 years old. Bats Switch, Throws Right.
Year Team AB HR BB K AVG OBP SLGGreg Myers 6'2", 225 lbs, 38 years old. Bats Left, Throws Right.
2003 COL 46 3 5 7 .261 .333 .478
2003 HOU 120 1 14 14 .217 .299 .300
2002 HOU 185 3 12 36 .222 .275 .319
2001 KC 125 6 12 16 .320 .377 .536
Total 1487 33 187 218 .246 .332 .371
Year Team AB HR BB K AVG OBP SLGAverage National League Catcher
2004 TOR 18 0 2 4 .222 .300 .333
2003 TOR 329 15 37 57 .307 .374 .502
2002 OAK 144 6 26 36 .222 .341 .382
2001 OAK 87 7 13 21 .184 .290 .437
2001 BAL 74 4 8 17 .270 .341 .459
Total 3030 87 267 538 .256 .314 .396
Year AB HR BB K AVG OBP SLGAverage American League Catcher
2004 68 0 5 10 .250 .311 .338
2003 586 16 54 108 .259 .328 .401
2002 577 14 53 104 .253 .321 .385
2001 582 17 52 116 .249 .316 .390
Year AB HR BB K AVG OBP SLG
2004 66 2 6 12 .288 .347 .439
2003 572 16 39 100 .255 .308 .395
2002 571 12 41 103 .250 .304 .368
2001 567 14 39 95 .252 .306 .383
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