PEORIA, Ariz. _ Francisco Mejia is not just sitting around waiting to get better behind the plate, to secure his place on a major league team and become a viable major league catcher.
No, he is kneeling.
In an effort to receive and potentially block pitches better, Mejia is putting one of his knees down instead of squatting.
"It frees you up," said Rod Barajas, the Padres' quality control coach who works primarily with catchers. "You're able to stay under the baseball, receive the ball better, give the umpire a better look."
Primarily, the new body positioning allows Mejia to set his glove low and, thus, more naturally come up as he receives pitches.
Mejia actually started dropping to a knee on some pitches toward the end of last season. He continued the work over the winter, and the improvement this spring has been noticeable.
He isn't the velvet-handed Austin Hedges, because few catchers are. But Mejia is more subtly catching balls, coming up to receive rather than having the ball dictate his glove movement. He has aided at least two strikeouts this spring just by his receiving of a called third strike.
"I think it's helping me stay beneath the ball a bit more," Mejia said through interpreter David Longley. "I think it's helping me turn more balls into strikes."
Mejia ranked among the worst catchers in the majors last year in defensive metrics that measure pitch framing and blocking. His arm, however, is arguably the best in the game. He is a magnificent athlete with hand-eye coordination that is exceptional even for the major leagues.
He wants to be a catcher. The Padres want him to be a catcher.
So they are trying to figure out how to make him one long term.
"The tools are there," Barajas said. "... He has all the things you want from a catcher. Now how are we going to free the body up to have all those tools and actually put them to use behind the plate?"
The transition remains a work in progress. Mejia is more comfortable receiving when his left knee is down, more comfortable blocking when his right knee is down. When a runner who is more likely to steal is on base, he remains in a squatting position. A number of major league catchers have gone to the one-knee down position. Some remain there for every pitch, choosing the ability to better frame pitches over any detriment to throwing.
"Franky has a different athleticism than most catchers have," Barajas said. "The short, the quick, the explosive _ and the arm on top of that. The arm is so special where maybe it didn't work for someone else throwing from that position, but Franky is different. So it might work for Franky."
Said manager Jayce Tingler: "We're trying to find what is the best way to receive and block. I hope to have something in the next 10 days _ this is what we're going to go with."
The Padres are trying to determine how to use their catchers. For the second straight season, Mejia and Hedges are battling for playing time.
Mejia's potential at the plate _ he had an .862 OPS (on-base-plus-slugging percentage) in 179 plate appearance from mid-June through mid-September _ factors into the Padres' patience with his defense. But he was acquired in 2018 and continues to have a chance for significant playing time behind the plate because Hedges is a .201 career hitter and last season hit .176.
"No matter what, we're going to have some type of combination," Tingler said. "You look around the game, there are very few guys catching 140, 150 games. There is going to be some type of combination. Is that 50-50? Is that 70-30? We'll see where we're at."
How that split is derived is likely going to depend largely on how Hedges hits and how Mejia takes a knee.
