Miracle’s Morales catches on quickly to new spot

Catchers have more responsibilities than any other player on a baseball field.

Catchers wear heavy equipment and squat down for at least 150 pitches a game. Since they call pitches, catchers must grasp each opposing hitter’s strengths and weaknesses. They must know their pitchers. They must align their teammates defensively.

For most players, catching takes years to grasp. For Jose Morales, it took 20 months.

In his second season of playing the position, the Fort Myers Miracle catcher is a Class A Florida State League All-Star. Morales, a converted second baseman, is one of four Fort Myers players who will participate in tonight’s FSL All-Star Game in Port St. Lucie.

“He’s done that good of a job,” Miracle manager Jose Marzan said. “He has a lot of improvements to make but, considering the fact he just started catching, we’re very happy with what he’s done.”

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Morales has made a smooth transition because he has a good feel for the game, he’s athletic and, well, that rocket arm doesn’t hurt. Morales had thrown out 29.4 percent (15 of 51) of would-be base stealers through Wednesday.

Morales said his switch to catcher wasn’t easy.

The Minnesota Twins, the Miracle’s parent organization, told Morales they wanted him to change positions in October 2002.

Morales had just completed a season where he hit .309 while playing second base for the Gulf Coast League Twins. He was named to the GCL All-Star Team.

“The Twins were like, ‘Congratulations. You were an All-Star second baseman. Great job. Here’s a catcher’s mitt,’ ” Morales said. “I was pretty shocked.”

The Twins felt Morales had a better chance to make the major leagues as a catcher.

“He lacked the range for a middle infielder and we’ve always profiled him as a catcher,” said Jim Rantz, the Twins’ director of minor leagues.

Still, Morales was puzzled. Didn’t he just make an All-Star team as a second baseman?

“I was mad,” he said. “But what are you going to do? They’re the boss.”

Morales began to catch in the Twins’ instructional league following the 2002 season.

“My first time I caught in the instructional league, I caught Jesse Crain. Do you know who Jesse Crain is?” Morales said.

Crain is one of the Twins’ top pitching prospects. The hard-throwing closer is now playing for Triple-A Rochester.

“I was warming him up in the bullpen and I was like, ‘Oh, my God. It’s my first time catching and he’s throwing 99 mph,’ ” Morales said.

“When we got into the game, the first pitch he throws is a 96 mph sinker and it hits me straight on my left toe.”

It was quite an introduction to catching.

There would be more lessons.

Morales said it took him a while to understand a catcher’s responsibilities. It took him some time to make an accurate throw to second base.

“In that instructional league, every one of my throws went into center field,” he said.

Slowly, Morales improved. He caught 48 games for low-Class A Quad City last season, earning praise from pitchers.

He has further developed at the position this year. Marzan said he has more to learn.

“He’s done a good job receiving the ball and throwing out runners,” Marzan said. “Now he needs to learn to call games a little better. That’s what usually takes time.”

Morales agreed that he has more to learn. But he’s already come a long way.

“Catching is a position that takes a while to learn,” Rantz said. “He’s done a great job so far.”