What to do with Hank Conger

A powerful backyard prospect out of Huntington Beach California, Conger has had his bat carry him to part time jobs in the show.  A great showing in the Futures Game during the 2010 All-Star weekend got Angel fans excited. The publicity was high for Hank because the festivities were at Angels Stadium.

Conger has hit over .300 his last three seasons in Salt Lake City. All three of those years he was called up at one point or another. Only one of those years he hit over the Mendoza Line while up with the big club. That was in 2011 when he had 177 at-bats in 59 games. His average for that season was .209 with 6 HR's, 19 RBI's, 17 BB, and 37 K's. Conger didn't reach 15 games with the Angels in 2010 or 2012. In his combined 20 games in those two years he hit .170, however, his 18 at-bats in 2012 came with zero strikeouts.

73 total games in the bigs is not even half a regular season, but it seems as though we've had a fair look at Mr. Conger. John Hester is the new backup competition for Hank, both behind Chris Iannetta who is the first every-day catcher the Angels have had since Benji Molina. Also with three years of part time work at the major league level, Hester has a very similar resume to Conger. Hester got his first taste of the show in 2009 but didn't get a trip up in 2011. Hester has been above the Mendoza Line all three times, hitting .250 in his first stint. Hester also has better defensive numbers than Conger. During their times in the bigs, Conger has made 10 errors in 73 games while Hester has made zero in 79 games. Their percentage of throwing out runners is roughly the same and nothing to speak highly about.

Chris Iannetta was hurt for 33 games last season. Hester got 27 of those starts, Conger the other six. Hank has been hitting very well this spring. His switch hitting abilities give him a nice variable for playing time against certain pitchers when Iannetta just needs a day off. At 25 years old, he can still get much better and more consistant both offensively, and more important defensively. We know Scoscia is going to push his catchers hard. With all the offensive power in the lineup this season, it will need to be his defensive efforts that will get him more playing time. Remember, Mathis would get more starts than Napoli. Offense is secondary for these catchers. Scoscia wants a good game called. If the pitchers have a low ERA with you behind the dish, you will get the start. Conger has the highest ERA for pitchers out of the three.