Nationals sign former Cubs catcher Koyie Hill

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

On Wednesday morning the Nationals announced a new invite to Spring Training; Sweet swingin` Koyie Hill.

That “Sweet Swingin” isn`t sarcasm either. When Koyie Hill is up at the dish he looks like he should be a good hitter. Nice smooth swing from a switch hitting catcher who plays fantastic defense, what`s not to love? Well, he can`t hit. At all. If he fell out of a boat he couldn`t hit the water

In a 10 year Major League career thus far Koyie has posted a .206/.266/.287 slash line, which is horrific. Koyie has never hit a home run batting right handed. He`s never hit more than 2 homers in a given season, or had over 24 RBIs. So, why would the Nats give him a chance? He is one helluva catcher. The reason he`s still getting jobs in the bigs is his catching. He`s great at it. In over 2,300 innings catching in his career he has a .992 fielding percentage. He knows how to handle a pitching staff, throws runners out, and more of that good stuff.

34 year old Koyie Hill will get another shot to back up in the bigs with the Nats, who have been seeking a back up for starter Wilson Ramos. Maybe Koyie impresses in the Spring, maybe he shows a little something more with the bat (unlikely), and maybe he gets to give Ramos a day off now and then with the big club. With the Cubs` serious and utter lack of any catching depth at the higher levels, I kind of wish the Cubs had acted here. On a minor league deal who cares if the Cubs bring him to spring training. Let him catch and play at triple-A, and if Welington Castillo or George Kottaras get injured bring him up. Oh well, back to wishing we had Felix Pie..