Rivera ready for the season

Tom Haudricourt has a nice article on Mike Rivera today. I honestly forgot that Rivera was even with the team half the time I was watching the games. While totaling 62 at-bats for the season under Yost while batting a .306 AVG.

Rivera's ears perked up when he heard manager Ken Macha say this spring that he would like to assign his backup catcher to one pitcher in the rotation throug the season. That would assure Rivera of playing every fifth game and allow Kendall more rest.

Macha said he was leaning toward assigning Rivera to right-hander Dave Bush, the No. 5 starter in the rotation.

"That would be great," Rivera said. "That will help me stay sharp. And that should help Jason, too. I feel ready for more playing time.

I'd like to see what Rivera can do with a season of 300 at-bats and more opportunity to play the game. Hopefully, for Mike Rivera, skipper Ken Macha decides to let him catch once every five games.