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Iannetta counts more than blessings

Catcher figures he has better shot at Opening Day roster

Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 15, 2007 at midnight

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Catcher Chris Iannetta was a math major in college, so it's no surprise he's analytical. He asks a lot of questions, readily applies new knowledge and has no illusions while viewing his nascent career amid the Rockies' big picture.

When the Rockies signed Javy Lopez, 36, last month, it meant stiffer competition for Iannetta. He'll vie with Lopez and holdover veteran Yorvit Torrealba, 28, in spring training.

Two of the three figure to begin the season with the Rockies. Regardless of any personal uncertainty it created, Iannetta saw the acquisition of Lopez as a distinct plus.

"It's only going to be better for the team," said Iannetta, who will turn 24 in April. "It's only going to be better for the organization and the fans."

Rockies fans got a brief opportunity last year to watch Iannetta, a homegrown hope at a position where the Rockies have had virtually no developmental success. After beginning the season at Double-A Tulsa, Iannetta moved up to Triple-A Colorado Springs in late June and was promoted to the Rockies in late August.

He started 20 of the Rockies' final 33 games, a rapid rise for someone who, before 2006, had played 19 professional games above the high-Single-A level.

Iannetta went 2-for-22 (.091) in his first six games in the majors. Then he exhaled and went 18-for- 55 (.327) in his final 15 games, getting a hit in 13 games thanks to two six-game hitting streaks.

"I tried to be too quick," Iannetta said. "I tried to do too much. I became real inconsistent, especially at the beginning (both offensively and defensively). I was trying to do everything a thousand miles an hour. I slowed myself down and started taking off from there. I got more comfortable. Things started happening; I started playing good."

Iannetta's end result was a .260 average with two home runs and 10 RBI. He had nearly as many walks (13) as strikeouts (17) in 77 at-bats, a reason for his .390 on- base percentage.

Granted, that's a small sample size from which to draw any lasting conclusions. But against the backdrop of Iannetta's .410 on- base percentage in 749 at-bats in the minors, his .390 on-base percentage in the big leagues suggests continuation of a pattern rather than any statistical aberration.

Befitting his status as a math major at the University of North Carolina, Iannetta "asked as many questions as I could" to surmount his early struggle.

"Some self-evaluation" then followed.

"It just came down to me trying to do too much," Iannetta said, "trying to control things that weren't in my control."

Playing well in spring training is in Iannetta's control, the one thing he realizes he can do to make his case for being in Coors Field on Opening Day and not the Pacific Coast League.

It's totally unlike last year, when Iannetta went to big-league camp. But the catchers competing for jobs with the Rockies then were Danny Ardoin, Miguel Ojeda and Torrealba, until he injured his shoulder.

"It's just a different perspective," Iannetta said. "Last year in spring training, I was going in to try and learn as much as I possibly could. I knew there was probably going to be a one-in-a-million chance that I would break with the team. I knew I was probably going to be going to Tulsa.

"This year's going to be a little bit different. I know there's a possibility to actually make the team. I just have to go and play, relax, have fun, get the most out of it."

Slim pickings

Chris Iannetta is only the third catcher drafted by the Rockies to play in the big leagues, joining Mark Strittmatter, now Colorado's bullpen catcher, and Ben Petrick, who ended his career with Detroit and retired after 2003 because of Parkinson's disease. Their games played and starts at catcher with the Rockies:

Player Year drafted Games with Rockies Starts at catcher

Strittmatter 1992 4 1

Petrick 1995 197 140

Iannetta 2004 21 20

Services rendered

None of the three Rockies catchers with the most starts at that position has played for the team in at least seven seasons. Most career starts by a Rockies catcher:

Catcher Years with Rockies Starts at catcher

Joe Girardi 1993-95 284

Jeff Reed 1996-99 257

Kirt Manwaring 1997-99 224

Charles Johnson 2003-04 188

Ben Petrick 1999-2003 140