Baseball: Calling the shots

Sam Mulroy knew that he had big shoes to fill. After playing 19 games in his rookie season as primarily an outfielder, the sophomore was assigned to start at catcher for the baseball team this season. Mulroy’s job previously belonged to Jack Murphy ’09, who was twice named first-team All-Ivy and was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays organization last summer.

Through the first half of this season, Mulroy has continued the Princeton tradition of having a strong presence behind the plate. The righty has moved seamlessly into his new role, starting all but one of the Tigers’ games this season at catcher while leading the squad in hits and runs scored.

“Last year, I wasn’t expecting to catch much, just because of how good Jack was,” Mulroy said. “But after he was gone, I kind of knew it was my job, so I was able to prepare myself and get ready for the season.”

The sophomore clearly prepared himself well, as he got off to an outstanding start. In his first two games, Mulroy reached base safely seven times in 11 plate appearances, scored five runs and swatted a homer in each contest.

Though he has not been able to maintain that torrid pace, Mulroy has proven himself to be one of Princeton’s most consistent hitters. He ranks second on the team in batting average at .324 and is tied with senior designated hitter Brian Berkowitz for the team lead in on-base plus slugging at .875.

Mulroy’s batting average has not dropped below .300 all year, but he has recently added another dimension to his game at the plate: After drawing just a pair of walks in his first 55 plate appearances, the sophomore has earned five free passes in his last 22.

“I like to be aggressive at the plate; I think it’s something that I have to do in order to be successful,” Mulroy said. “But at the same time, I’m not always going to see good pitches to hit. Being able to lay off them and draw the walk, instead of forcing it and swinging at a good pitch, has helped me and helped the team.”

But, as with all catchers this side of Mike Piazza, Mulroy will be judged first and foremost on what he does behind the plate. In this way, too, he has been impressive.

“His receiving has improved so much in the past year,” head coach Scott Bradley said. “He’s very good in terms of blocking ball in dirt, and his relationship with pitching staff has continued to grow in a positive way.”

Under Bradley, a former backstop himself, Princeton catchers are given tremendous responsibility in preparing for and managing games. While some managers call for pitches from the dugout, Mulroy is in charge of handling the pitching staff during games himself.

So far, he has had very good chemistry with his pitchers.

“[Mulroy] has done a great job managing games,” junior pitcher David Palms said. “Sam has done a great job working the inside and outside parts of the plate, and calling pitches in counts to keep hitters off-balance. He’ll call change-ups in 1-0, 2-0, 2-1 counts, where hitters are looking for a hard fastball, or a hard breaking ball.”

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“Sam has a very calming effect on everybody,” junior pitcher Dan Barnes said. “He’s a great catcher and a great kid. He definitely has a lot of leadership qualities about him.”

Mulroy has had the advantage of working with a relatively experienced rotation this season. Princeton’s pitching numbers are not quite what many had hoped for — the Tigers rank second-to-last in the Ivy League with an 8.28 ERA, a full three runs higher than last year’s final mark — but Mulroy is confident that the staff will turn things around soon.

“It’s tough early on in the year, because we always try to play really tough teams, and we’ve done that this year,” Mulroy said. “It’s a lot of fun, catching guys like Barnes, Palms and [senior pitcher] Langford [Stuber], who all started for us last year. They know what they’re trying to do, and they’re all really good pitchers who need to be big this year.”

While catching at any level is a difficult job, playing the position in the Ivy League requires tremendous stamina. During league play, which starts this weekend when the Tigers host Harvard and Dartmouth, teams play two doubleheaders each weekend. Princeton will be counting on Mulroy to be behind the plate every game.

“The way the Ivy League is set up, with all these doubleheaders, it physically takes its toll,” Bradley said. “He’s one of our top hitters, so he’s a guy that we have to have in the lineup. On the spring trip and everywhere else, we got him acclimated to catching two games in a day, and this weekend will be first time he’ll catch a doubleheader on Saturday and a doubleheader on Sunday.”

“League play is a grind,” Mulroy said. “The whole season — 20 games — is in five weekends, so you have to be ready to play every weekend. You have to bring intensity to all your games, because one bad weekend may be the difference between going to a regional and ending the season early.”