The Seattle Mariners are clearly targeting catchers in the early part of the second day of the 2011 MLB Draft. As noted earlier, Seattle picked Kevin Cron, an 18-year-old catcher who signed a Letter of Intent to play for TCU, with their third pick and followed that up by drafting first round pick Danny Hultzen's catcher at Virginia, John Hicks. Sandwiched in-between was a catcher who became a pitcher: Carter Capps.
Jeff Sullivan noted the run on catching as only he can while taking a look at the three picks.
So with their third, fourth, and fifth picks, the Mariners selected one catcher who won't catch, one catcher who doesn't catch, and one catcher who should catch. Expect them to use their sixth pick on a catcher who sometimes catches, their seventh pick on a shortstop moving to catcher, and their eighth pick on a catcher who wants to keep catching, but whose mother insists he'd be safer at third.
And wouldn't you know it, the Mariners picked a catcher with their sixth pick. With the 153rd overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, Seattle went with Tyler Marlette, a catcher out of Haggerty High School in Florida. Truth be told, I have no idea if he'll stick at the position, nor do I have a clue what he brings to the table, but he's a catcher, and the Mariners need catchers. I think we all know what the word of the day is in the Mariners war room.
We'll be tracking the day's events and will have more on the Mariners' picks in our 2011 MLB Draft StoryStream. For a local look at what the Mariners are planning, head over to SB Nation's Lookout Landing.