Newest Hillcat traded twice in one year

Both Eric Fryer and his roommate in Tampa, Fla., had been involved in trades in 2009. So as the two Tampa Yankee teammates sat around earlier this week, Fryer’s roommate made an interesting comment.

“Wouldn’t it be crazy if one of us got traded again?”

The next day, Fryer was on his way from Tampa to Lynchburg, a key part of the trade that sent backup Pirates outfielder Eric Hinske to New York. Once Fryer got over the initial shock of being traded for the second time in a year (he went to the Yankee organization in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers), he began to understand the opportunity he would have in the Pittsburgh organization.

Milwaukee picked Fryer, who was a catcher his entire career at Ohio State, in the 10th round of the 2007 draft and put him in Short Season Low-A Helena, where he spent much of his time behind home plate.

By the time Fryer moved to Low-A West Virginia in 2008, though, the Brewers began experimenting with the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Fryer because they already had an elite catching prospect on the roster. They played him in left field for much of the first half of the season before switching him back to catcher in the second half. Fryer hit well in Charleston, finishing the year with a South Atlantic League-leading .335 average, 10 home runs, 63 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.

The Brewers traded Fryer to acquire left-handed pitcher Chase Wright, and Fryer ran into another roadblock in Tampa. Two of the Yankees’ top four overall prospects were catchers (Jesus Montero and Austin Romine), and both were in Tampa. So Fryer went back to the outfield.

The Pirates were well aware of Fryer’s catching background, and they’ve had their eye on him for some time.

“He’s an athlete,” Hillcats manager P.J. Forbes said. “I think that’s what’s very alluring to the Pirates. They see that he’s an athlete, and you can add a good bat and some depth at catching, that’s a good thing. He runs well. He’s got a nice loose body, and things seem to work.”

Fryer has been the Hillcats’ designated hitter the last three nights but will figure into the catching mix at some point, possibly as early as today. In Lynchburg, he’s blocked to a certain extent by incumbent Kris Watts, who was a Carolina League All-Star. But expect the two to rotate between catcher and designated hitter throughout the second half.

“I’m real excited about the move,” Fryer said. “I like catching a lot more than I like playing in the outfield. I always like to be behind the plate. You feel like you’re more in the game and you’re more in control of things.”

Saturday during batting practice, Fryer strapped on his catching equipment and sat behind the plate in the cage, just to get a feel for catching again. “Hopefully it’s like riding a bike,” he said.

Offensively, Fryer hasn’t adjusted well to the move between levels of A ball. In Tampa, he batted .250 in 224 at-bats, a considerable drop from his average in Low-A. More concerning is a huge drop in slugging percentage, from .506 last season to .344 this year. Hillcats hitting coach Dave Howard has already started to correct some of the flaws in the 24-year-old Fryer’s swing.

“I was lucky because I got some film of him from before when he was with the Yankees, as well as having conversations with people from the front office,” Howard said. “We talked about what we needed to do with him. We’re going to try to get some more athleticism, a little more rhythm. He has very good bat-head awareness. We’re just going to try to enhance the things he already does well and try to make him a little looser, to try to enhance that swing.”

Fryer probably doesn’t have a lot of upside in terms of raw power. But he’s a line-drive hitter with gap power who has decent speed for a catcher (26 stolen bases the last season and a half.) And he has solid plate awareness, with 43 walks last season and 29 this year.

And now, Fryer has a fresh start at a position he loves to play.

“Kind of crazy how it all works out,” Fryer said. “I’m excited.”