Angel

Salome

Salome was once considered the Brewers’ catcher of the future, but his career has failed to get back on track after he took a leave of absence during the 2010 season. Now 25 years old, he batted .381/.411/.631 with three homers and 14 RBI over 91 plate appearances rookie ball and High-A High Desert last season.

They caught a very good prospect this time. Salome, who is listed at 5-foot-7 and 190 pounds, is a catcher with a fair amount of offensive potential. The Brewers were looking at him as their catcher of the future, though he wasn’t likely to be ready until 2010. He was hitting .318/.341/.465 in 258 AB for Single-A Brevard County.

He entered the day in a 2-for-23 slump. Salome, the Brewers’ big hope for a catcher of the future, is batting .307/.346/.488 in 127 at-bats this season.

Salome figures to do little but sit and watch as the Brewers try to secure the NL wild card. The team’s catcher of the future hit .360/.415/.559 with 13 homers in 98 games for Huntsville. He’s likely to head to Triple-A for the start of 2009.

The best No. 8 hitter in the minors. Salome is batting .377/.420/.561 with four homers in 114 at-bats. Last year’s PED bust hurt his stock some, but he’s still a fine catching prospect, even if he rather raw defensively.

As soon as we commented last week that Salome had to be the best No. 8 hitter in the minors, he was suddenly thrust into Huntsville’s cleanup spot between Mat Gamel and Matt LaPorta. The results have been pretty impressive, as he’s driven in 14 runs in his last five games.

Salome wasn’t very productive for West Virginia last year (.254/.302/.432 in 29 games), but in 37 games in Rookie ball, the 2004 fifth-round pick hit .415/.469/.673. He could overtake Lou Palmisano as the Brewers’ best catching prospect this season.

Salmome originally left Triple-A Nashville to prepare for the birth of a child, but eventually informed the Brewers that he was “struggling mentally” and was not ready to return to action. “He will go to Phoenix on Tuesday to work on getting mentally and physically prepared to play baseball again,” said assistant general manager Gord Ash. “He said he’s not mentally prepared to play at this time.” Salome, 23, batted .286/.334/.413 with six homers and 44 RBI with Nashville last season. Jonathan Lucroy has passed him as the organization’s best catching prospect.

“Certainly, his path to the big leagues is a lot less cluttered as a catcher,” said Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash. “But this is what he says he wants to do, so we’re going to give it a try and see what happens.” It’s just the latest development in a rather odd series of events. The 24-year-old took a leave of absence from the team in April after the birth of his child, telling the team that he was “not mentally prepared to play.” Now he’ll try to make it as an outfielder. The odds are likely against him, as he had already fallen out of favor at the catcher position within the organization.