The San Diego Padres have a lot of star power in their lineup, but most of the stars didn’t produce during the playoffs. The one player who did was catcher Freddy Fermin, who’s also gained the trust of his pitching staff during his brief time in San Diego.
Newly-christened closer Mason Miller learned about this as soon as the Padres acquired Fermin in a trade from the Kansas City Royals, according to a piece written about the catcher by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Kansas City Royals pitcher reached out immediately to Miller and told him a little about Fermin.
“He was like, ‘He will be living and dying with you on every single pitch,’” Miller said. “And I would say that was one of the most accurate descriptions I’ve heard. … Nobody cares more than [Fermin].”
Plenty of catchers care, but Fermin has a chance to separate himself from the pack this season. He’s getting his first shot at a starting job, according to Cassavell, and the 27-year old Fermin is approaching it the same way he tackled his part-time status.
“I just try to enjoy the game,” Fermin said. “I’m not trying to do too much -- enjoy the game, learn the most that I can, be there for my pitchers.”
Fermin has certainly mastered the art of the cliché, but what matters more is the reports he’s received from Padres pitchers. They’ve been glowing, which is especially impressive given the short time the catcher has had to acclimate.
“There’s always going to be some learning curves,” said Padres manager Craig Stammen. “I think there were some times he was calling a lot of sliders for [reliever] Jeremiah Estrada, and we needed him to be throwing high heaters and the changeup. Those things will happen. But we’ve got to be OK with having a little bit of grace, like, ‘It’s all right, you’re learning.’”
Part of the problem was that Fermin was shying away from Estrada’s changeup, which features a lot of movement. It took time for Fermin to learn the ins and outs of Estrada’s repertoire, but by the end of the season the catcher had it down pat.
The Padres didn’t expect much offensively from Fermin, but that changed in the playoffs against the Chicago Cubs. He went 4 for 11 in the Wild Card Series, and Fermin was one of the few Padres who actually hit. Fermin also helped pitches work out of several jams, and the overall results have Stammen excited for the season to come.
“What we saw from him in the playoffs against Chicago -- the game not speeding up on him, him having complete control of the game, getting us out of a bunch of jams in those games and then his at-bats were great, too -- he showed us who he really was in the playoffs,” Stammen said. “That’s got us really excited about this season.”