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listen Listen: Miguel Montero, D'Backs catcher
Burns & Gambo talk to "Miggy" at fan fest about his relationship with Trevor Bauer, as well as his base stealing ability.

It was common knowledge last season that Diamondbacks pitcher Trevor Bauer did not do a great job of endearing himself to the rest of the team.

It would be unfair to classify him as having "feuded" with the likes of Kirk Gibson and catcher Miguel Montero, but it's fair to speculate that his personality rubbed folks the wrong way, which eventually led to the pitcher being traded to Cleveland in the offseason.

With the 2013 campaign set to begin, Montero, who caught for Bauer, admitted it was not easy working with the young right-hander.

"It was tough," Montero told Arizona Sports 620's Burns and Gambo at FanFest Saturday. "When you get a guy like that and he thinks he's got everything figured out, it's just tough to commence and try to get on the same page with you."

Montero said the goal was to simplify things for the rookie, but the cerebral Bauer wanted no part of that.

"He would make it even harder," Montero said.

Bauer struggled in four starts with the D-backs, compiling a 1-2 record to go along with a 6.06 ERA. He walked 13 batters in 16.1 innings while striking out 17.

It would have been easier for the organization to work through the player's growing pains had he simply been easier to work with.

"Since day one in Spring Training I caught him and he killed me because he threw about 100 pitches the first day," Montero said, adding he told Bauer he should take it a bit slower and work on locating his fastball first before working on his breaking pitches.

"And he said 'yes', and the next time he threw I saw him doing the same thing," Montero said. "He never wanted to listen."

As one of the team leaders, Montero is a player who should probably be listened to. One of the game's better catchers, Bauer's unwillingness to work with him did not bode well for his future in the desert.

"He's got his ways, and it's tough to change it," Montero said. "Good luck to (Indians catcher) Carlos Santana there."

Adam Green, Web Content Editor - ArizonaSports.com

17 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
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    parrotheadkrm wrote...
    Really?
    Not to pick on Miggy, but "one of the leagues better catchers"? Really? I think he is very decent, maybe slightly above average catcher, but one of the better in the league, is at the very least a stretch....imo
  • Abuse
    DisgustedD wrote...
    Um his #'s
    don't lie! Miggy is a top 5 catcher stat wise so not sure what else you want to go by there parrothead!
  • Abuse
    The_Dude wrote...
    parrotheadkrm...
    He was the 3rd best catcher in WAR for MLB last season, what are you talking about? Posey and (Yadier) Molina were the only one's better.
  • Abuse
    ex-distancerunner wrote...
    If you are a know it all and won't listen
    then you better be good or your results better be good. Bauers results were not so it was easy to toss him overboard. He'll be a super star I hope because he's just a dumb kid with alot of talent. Nothing cerebral about him. As soon as he realizes that he is not the REAL SHOW in Cleveland, like he thought he was here, he'll be a super star.. He's got to get to first base, first before he touches em all...or sumpthin like that....
  • Abuse
    red7037 wrote...
    @parrotheadkrm
    Read a stat line once in awhile, you sound very uneducated stating that he is NOT one of the best catchers in the game. A) there are just not that many good catchers and B) his defense is ranked top 5 in many respected categories (Including 3rd in stolen bases the last two years in a row!), and is his lifetime avg. of .275 and 144 hits per season is pretty good as whole, but dominates in the catchers categories.
  • Abuse
    DrSublime wrote...
    Miggy
    in the last 2 seasons, only Victor Martinez (who also was a DH/1B) and Buster Posey (MVP and plays 1B) had more RBI's while playing catcher.... so yea, he's top 5 C in MLB easy
  • Abuse
    DrSublime wrote...
    Miggy cont..
    he is also top 5 for all catcher in BA over the last 2 season (#4 each year) and top 5 in hits,.. also top 10 in slugging and WAR.
  • Abuse
    Tripod wrote...
    I pitched at a very high level and no catcher
    would tell me how fast or slow to take it, how many pitches to throw, to locate my fastball first, then breaking pitches. These guys got to this level for a reason and the catcher, I don't care if he's Johnny Bench should be telling them their routing.
  • Abuse
    Tripod wrote...
    More
    I would get with the pitching coach and develop a personal routine for me with daily and weekly activities and everything Miggy is saying he tried to tell Trevor. Miggy is a good catcher in that he understands and studies hitter charts and tendencies so he should have a strong say in what pitches he calls. It didn't say whether Trevor shook Miggy off a lot or threw what he called most of the time.
  • Abuse
    Tripod wrote...
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    I guarantee you Miggy would not be telling Randy Johnson or Curt Schilling how their routine should go.
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