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It\u2019s easy for White Sox fans to be impressed with rookie catcher Edgar Quero.<\/p>\n
They can see it in the statistics, like the .326 batting average and .442 on-base percentage he put up in his first 15 major league contests.<\/p>\n
They can see it in the middle of a game, like the 2-for-3, two-RBI day he had in Friday night\u2019s Sox win.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not as easy to see what else the Sox themselves have liked about Quero\u2019s early days in the big leagues. What a catcher does working with a pitching staff can\u2019t be looked up in a heartbeat like offensive numbers, can\u2019t be easily isolated to a single trip to the plate.<\/p>\n
Make no mistake, though, Quero is getting rave reviews for that part of his game, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been great,\u201d starting pitcher Sean Burke told the Sun-Times on Saturday. \u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate enough to throw to him in the minors, so we kind of had a relationship coming into this year. But I think everybody\u2019s been super pleased with how he\u2019s been working with the pitching staff, how attentive he\u2019s been to the defensive side of catching, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you see he\u2019s a great hitter, but the detail and the preparation he\u2019s putting into the defensive side of it is impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quero joined the Sox\u2019 organization as a well regarded prospect, his offensive numbers standing out when he arrived as part of the trade that sent Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to the Angels in 2023. And though he raced through the minor leagues \u2013 he made his major league debut just 11 days after his 22nd birthday \u2013 the compliments going toward his bat meant maybe an idea that he had a lot to improve with his glove.<\/p>\n
Not so, according to Burke, who benefitted from Quero\u2019s presence in his most recent start: six innings of shutout, two-hit ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he got a little bit of a negative rap for his defense. Just because his hitting was so good, they were like, \u2018His defense needs to get better,\u2019\u201d Burke said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think his defense was ever an issue, really. I just think he\u2019s taken that as a chip on his shoulder, where he sees people talking about that or he knows that\u2019s kind of a knock people had on him. But I think he\u2019s been terrific.\u201d<\/p>\n
The guy whose job it was to develop Quero into a major league ready player has, perhaps, a slightly more nuanced view of the young backstop\u2019s all-around game. But Sox farm director Paul Janish still liked what he saw from Quero enough to sign off on last month\u2019s promotion from Triple-A to The Show.<\/p>\n
That said, development doesn\u2019t stop because a player reaches the big leagues. And whether it\u2019s continuing to refine and improve every facet of his game or continuing to learn the ins and outs of the Sox\u2019 pitching staff, there\u2019s plenty more for Quero to achieve as the organization looks at him as a potential cornerstone of their long-term rebuilding project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the one thing about this year, in particular, that we really got from him in Charlotte, at the minor league level: He was acknowledging that he is open and wants to continue to get better,\u201d Janish said during a Saturday media session. \u201cHe\u2019s not going to tell you that he\u2019s a finished product defensively. And that\u2019s pretty much in all facets, if we\u2019re talking about framing or game-planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, we\u2019re not hiding here, there\u2019s going to be a lot from that standpoint that he needs to learn about a new pitching staff at the major league level, new hitters at the major league level. All of those things go into the equation. But the one thing that stuck out was his openness and acknowledgement that there\u2019s a lot that goes into it and he wants to continue to get better at it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n