Joe Odom gets call for big league debut as Mariners catching situation shifts
The past week has been a whirlwind for Mariners catcher Joe Odom. He was back home, continuing to stay prepared, when he learned he would join Seattle’s three-man traveling taxi squad for Opening Day.
Odom spent the past two seasons splitting time between Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Tacoma, and caught some of the Mariners’ top pitching prospects, but wasn’t one of the five catchers added to the Mariners’ 60-man player pool for summer camp.
It was disappointing, Odom said, but he diligently kept working at the field he had access to during the baseball shutdown.
Then, suddenly, he was headed to Houston to join the big league club for the first time in his career.
“My whole goal and dream is to play in the big leagues and play at the high level,” Odom said. “When it didn’t work out, I understood that’s God’s plan at that moment. I just kind of kept my head down and kind of did what I’ve been doing the past seven years — work on the things I need to work on.
“It all came full circle when I got that call and got to meet the team in Houston.”
Odom’s time as a reserve didn’t last long. Seattle starting catcher Austin Nola was a late scratch from the lineup with knee discomfort Tuesday in Anaheim, and Odom was thrust into the lineup for his big league debut.
He estimated he had about 90 unread text messages waiting for him when the news got out.
“I was out on the field for the pregame stuff,” Odom said. “I was about to catch some of the bullpens, catch some of our guys. That’s kind of the reason they want me here, to get acclimated, and then they said, ‘Skip needs to see you.’
“So it was right around pregame time I was told that instead of catching bullpens today I was going to catch in the big leagues.”
Odom has started two games for the Mariners behind the plate entering Thursday night’s series finale against the Angels, catching rookie starters Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn, who he worked with in Arkansas last season.
He was a .235/.302/.339 hitter in 98 games in the minors last season with 18 doubles, six homers, 34 RBI, 31 walks and 108 strikeouts, and is hitless in five plate appearances with a walk in his first two major league games, but with Seattle’s catching situation thin right now, Odom figures to get at least a few more opportunities.
“It’s wild,” Odom said. “Seven years in the minor leagues and a lot of the time those are platoon jobs and just trying to grind my way through it, trying to outplay people to get my name at the top of the list, and extremely blessed to come back here as a Mariner this year as a free agent. What they’re doing as an organization is huge.
“And, yeah, it’s just mind-blowing going from a (Division III) college where I had 1,500 students to now catching in the big leagues.”
The Mariners’ catching situation is expected to somewhat sort out when they return home Friday for their 10-game opening homestand.
Nola was scratched earlier in the week after tweaking his knee sliding in the series finale against the Astros, and while test results didn’t reveal anything severe, he’s not expected to return to the lineup until the home opener against the A’s at the earliest.
“He’s got some swelling in there, but nothing structurally wrong with the knee at all, which is really good news,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said Wednesday. “I think any time you’re going to get a MRI on a catcher’s knee you’re a little nervous.
“ … Hopefully when we get back home we can get him back in there. I know he’s relieved that the results came back OK, and keep our fingers crossed we can get him in there soon.”
Regular starter Tom Murphy remains sidelined on the injured list with a fracture in his left foot, and though he has been at the team’s alternate site in Tacoma, and receiving treatment there, there is no timetable for his return.
Servais said when Murphy is feeling healthy enough, the plan is to have him catch a bullpen and play in a a couple intrasquad games at Cheney Stadium before returning to the Mariners.
“I would love to see him back here with us as soon as we can, but want to be smart,” Servais said. “Don’t want to rush him out there before he feels like he can go, and you don’t want to have a setback where you come back and play two or three games and it flares u on you, and now we’ve got to go right back to the IL. So, we’ve got to be smart about that.”
Apart from Odom, Joe Hudson is the only other true catcher on the active roster right now able to play.
Seattle has two more catchers — Brian O’Keefe and top catching prospect Cal Raleigh — in their player pool working out in Tacoma, but neither have played above the Double-A level.
SHORT HOPS
Mariners rookie center fielder Kyle Lewis entered Thursday as the major league leader in hits. Through six games played, he was 11-for-24 with two homers, five RBI, three walks and 10 strikeouts. His .458 batting average entering the day was also leading the league, and he had at least one hit in each of Seattle’s games, including four consecutive multi-hit games. … Shortstop J.P. Crawford entered the day tied for the big league lead in triples (two) and walks (seven). … In an intrasquad game Thursday morning at Cheney Stadium, shortstop prospect Noelvi Marte crushed a pitch from Isaiah Campbell an estimated 385 feet to left center. It was the first home run he’s hit in an intrasquad game press members have had access to. … Outfielder Jake Fraley, who was projected to break summer camp with the Mariners, but was hampered by a slow start at the plate, also launched a homer to right in the game at Cheney. … Raleigh and Bellingham High School product Austin Shenton each finished with a double and single, and Zach DeLoach, Seattle’s second-round draft pick this season, finished with a pair of base hits.
