Player Name: Thomas Asbaty
School: LIU Post
Position: C
Thomas is a 5’11” sophomore catcher from New Jersey.
Offensively: He bats with an upright stance, slightly open, with his feet about shoulder width apart and his bat resting on his shoulder until the pitcher gets set. Upon the pitcher beginning his windup he lifts the bat off the shoulder and wiggles it in a circular motion. His toe tap is slightly unique, he brings it in, taps the ground then strides like Chipper Jones would do as a righty. He has a nice, short swing with very little wasted motion. He keeps his head down on the ball nicely, swings with an uppercut angle and produces a good Power L position. He finishes with both hands on the bat.
In the April 2 game, he produced one hit in five at bats, it was a long double to right center field on a fastball right down the middle.
In his first at bat, he reached on an error by the second baseman on a 1-2 fastball. It was a tough play in which he had to range far to his left, but had he set himself prior to throwing, it would’ve been a converted out. He grounded out to second on his second at bat on a first pitch fastball. After his double, he popped out to second base on a 1-1 fastball that clocked in at 84 MPH. In the bottom of the eighth, he hit a weak ground ball to second base for a 4-3 putout.
Defensively: He is very strong behind the plate. He smothers curves very well and he catches fastball with a stiff arm, enabling him to steal some low pitches that may have been called for a ball otherwise. He threw out one attempted base stealer—he displayed a very quick release and accurate throw. He allowed one wild pitch to get past him, but it was on a pitch well outside of the zone.
Base Running: Asbaty is not a gifted base runner–as most catchers are not. He is instinctive enough that he won’t hurt the team on the bases.
