The Colorado Rockies on Monday optioned struggling catcher Tony Wolters to Triple-A Albuquerque to make room for trade deadline acquisition Jonathan Lucroy.
Wolters has taken a step back in his second season after a strong rookie campaign in which he served as the team’s backup catcher behind Nick Hundley. The 25-year-old California native is hitting just .248/.345/.297 in 234 plate appearances and has been worth -0.9 rWAR. Defense has been an issue for Wolters, too; after being one of the best framers in the league last year, he’s been below average in that category.
Last season, Wolters—a waiver claim from the Cleveland Indians—hit .259/.327/.395 and was worth 1.0 rWAR. He really took off during the summer months, posting a .289/..341/.474 line from June 1 through the remainder of the season.
Wolters will join two other big league caliber catchers in Dustin Garneau and Tom Murphy at Albuquerque, creating a tough situation for Isotopes manager Glenallen Hill. He spoke Monday with Purple Row’s Chris Jackson about how he plans to manage the juggling act. That story will be up on the site later this morning.