BRADENTON (93.7 The FAN) - It's not always easy being the new guy on a team, but for a catcher, it's even more difficult. It's not just about doing your work, it's about getting to know the pitchers, what they throw and just building relationships with them.
New Pirates catcher Luke Maile luckily has prior experience doing that and talked with me about the early days of spring training and getting to know his Pirates teammates.
"Step one is learning names," Maile said. "Just making sure you got that down which I've had a pretty good feel for the clubhouse now, I've been here about a week. Just some guys have been popping in early and got a chance to meet some new guys."
Getting to know names is one things, but getting to know what makes a pitcher tick is a totally different beast. Maile luckily has a couple of people he can lean on for help in that department, the first being a guy who is new around these parts as well, pitching coach Oscar Marin.
"Once we kind of get rolling and get established a little bit and get used to the clubhouse, start checking some things out from last year and having conversations with them about it and then also working with the pitching coach. Oscar [Marin] is kind of in a similar boat, he;s got to learn these guys on the fly too, so for us to kind of feed off each other, that's going to be helpful for both of us."
You would think that in the world of Major League Baseball, competition for a position might drive guys apart to a certain extent, but the exact opposite has been true for the group of catchers the Pirates have behind the plate this spring. Maile talked about the impact Jacob Stallings has had on him already.
"We're all wearing the same uniform. Each and every catcher that's played knows how difficult it can be and which challenges come up when you're trying to learn a new staff. To make each other better and to make yourself better, you have to push each other. A way to make that a little bit quicker I think is to have your guys learn your staff sooner and he's done a great job of that and we're having daily communication even just in the first few days. He's been tremendous and we're going to rely on him with some guys that are foreign to us."
Click the audio link below to hear more from Maile on getting adjusted to the staff and his established relationships with Manager Derek Shelton and General Manager Ben Cherington that may have played a role in him finding his way to the Pirates.