Finally!
Posted by Carl on February 23, 2007
Out of all the players that I’ve profiled so far, the first with a personal web page! Today’s profile is of Tim Gradoville, and will end our look at prospective Lynx catchers.
Tim’s web page gives you just about everything you’ll need to know (though a few of the links to articles about his time in Reading are dead). Tim’s currently in Clearwater with the Phillies as one of the non-roster invites. Consensus is that Jason Jaramillo is a lock for one of the catching positions in Ottawa, which leaves Tim, Jason Hill and Dusty Wathan competing for the second (and final?) spot. From what I can see, he’s a battler - coming all the way back from a broken jaw early last season in Reading, to the big league club in September when the Phillies expanded their roster.
Mike Compton, the organization’s minor league field coordinator and a former big league catcher, has no doubt Gradoville can find work in the big leagues. Heck, he fairly gushes when he talks about the guy.
“If you had like in football – offensive and defensive units – he would be on the defensive unit on a big league team, no doubt about it,” Compton said. “I would say Gradoville is one of the better catch-and-throw guys in the game today. He is outstanding. He has the ability to catch, throw, block . . . he is a defensive specialist. If he had hit even a lick over the last few years he would be in Triple-A and perhaps even the big leagues.”
The entire Tony Zonca piece is here.
Check out his web page for his stats, blog entries, and other news - you can also fire off an email or leave a note on his general message board.
