BOSTON — When catcher James McCann was on the receiving end of Lucas Giolito’s no-hitter last season, their roads traveled to that moment was not lost on both of them.
Giolito had risen from maybe the worst starting pitcher in baseball in 2018 and McCann was redeeming himself as an All-Star catcher after the Tigers determined they had no use for him.
They fed off the what-they-were to what they would become. They worked in almost perfect harmony and made history together.
Fast forward to Wednesday, when Carlos Rodon copied Giolito and pitched the second White Sox no-hitter in nine months. On the receiving end was catcher Zack Collins, like Rodon a Sox first-round draft pick who also fought his own battles to reach that moment.
Viewed as a disciplined, power-hitting, left-handed bat, Collins carried the reputation as a big-bodied, subpar defensive catcher, an opinion shared by scouts and coaches.
Working on his own and with newly hired major league instructor Jerry Narron, a former manager and catcher who works with Sox catchers, Collins stepped up.
“He’s been very receptive to coaching and wanting to get better,” Narron told the Sun-Times Friday.
A switch to catching with his right knee on the ground has been instrumental.
“He’s throwing the ball extremely well and he’s able to block everything,” Narron said. “I’m a guy who believes going to a knee is a panacea for the framing, and that’s part of the game he has to really improve on. But that’s going to come with time and experience.”
As for calling a game, Rodon did not shake Collins’ signs off once.
Which led manager Tony La Russa’s former right-hand man, former pitching coach Dave Duncan, to pick up his phone.
“He observed that as great as Carlos was, the greatness behind the plate, the way Collins called the game and walked him through it was just as impressive,” La Russa said.
Collins had only caught Rodon during spring.
“In spring training a lot of pitchers probably had a lot more confidence throwing to [No. 1 catcher Yasmani] Grandal and [veteran] Jonathan Lucroy, but I believe every one of our pitchers have confidence in Zack calling a game,” Narron said.
After Rodon’s gem, in which he threw 27 changeups and four first pitch curveballs for strikes as he evolves from fastball-slider dominant to a four-pitch mix, Collins characterized the game as “a huge milestone for me.”
“There’s a ton of people who have said I would never catch in a big league game,” he said. “I would just be a first baseman-DH. Just the work that I put in the last couple of years and the last six, seven years.
“I feel extremely good behind the plate right now.”
Rodon is feeling extremely good on the mound right now after being non-tendered by the Sox and, in a healthy state after bouncing back from shoulder and elbow surgeries, commanding a fastball that reaches upper 90s velocity when he needs it. That’s a big difference than the low 90s model he had work with when he wasn’t right.
“Extreme respect for him,” Collins said. “Obviously grinding through his career, he was a highly touted coming out of the draft and got up real quick and showed people he could do the job and then he had a couple of injuries.”
Everyone has a story. Rodon dealt with health and doubters, and Collins had his.
“For him to battle back from a couple of different surgeries like he has and come back to us to show what he’s shown so far has been incredible,” Collins said.
For Collins, he’s separating himself from that catcher tag of hit-first catcher and gaining respectability.
“You catch a no-hitter, that increases your cred real quick,” Narron said.
NOTE: The Sox’ scheduled game against the Red Sox Friday was postponed due to rain and snow. The game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader Sunday, 12:10 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. (CT). Both games will be seven innings.
