RYAN DOUMIT
4/3/81; '99 2nd; Moses Lake, WA (HS)
S/R; 6-0, 180
| Level |
BA |
OBP |
SA |
AB |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
K |
SB |
CS |
| 1999 R |
.282 |
.410 |
.376 |
85 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
15 |
14 |
4 |
2 |
| 2000 A- |
.313 |
.371 |
.439 |
246 |
15 |
5 |
2 |
23 |
33 |
2 |
2 |
| 2001 AA |
.250 |
.400 |
.250 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| 2001 A |
.270 |
.333 |
.351 |
148 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
10 |
32 |
2 |
1 |
| 2001 R |
.235 |
.316 |
.353 |
17 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2002 A |
.322 |
.377 |
.453 |
258 |
14 |
1 |
6 |
18 |
40 |
3 |
5 |
| 2003 A+ |
.275 |
.351 |
.434 |
458 |
38 |
1 |
11 |
45 |
79 |
4 |
0 |
| 2004 AA |
.262 |
.343 |
.489 |
221 |
20 |
0 |
10 |
21 |
49 |
0 |
1 |
Doumit so far has been plagued by injuries. After a strong season in 2000 established
him as a prospect, his 2001 season was largely wiped out by back problems. He was
bothered by knee problems in early 2002, then missed the second half with a broken
finger. The Pirates nevertheless added him to the 40-man roster to keep from losing
him in the Rule 5 draft. He managed to stay healthy in 2003 and had a good season,
but the bug returned in 2004. He missed the first week of the season due to mono,
then developed tendonitis in his throwing elbow. He was limited for much of the
season to DH and PH duties and, when the elbow didn't improve, he was shut down.
He ended up catching only 25 games. Doumit has been a strong hitter with good power.
He's hit for a decent to good average—his average at Altoona dropped while he was
struggling with the elbow problem and only playing sporadically. He's hit a lot of
doubles the last two years, and they often turn into HRs as a player gets older.
The weak points for him have been his plate discipline, which is only fair and declined
a little in AA, and hitting RH. He's far better LH; in fact, he hit in the low .100s
RH in AA. The team might do well to consider getting him to drop switch-hitting.
Doumit was considered a very good defensive player with an especially strong arm
while he was at Williamsport, but possibly due to the missed development time, he's
now regarded as subpar behind the plate and in calling games. His arm remains strong,
but he has trouble throwing runners out, possibly due to weak mechanics. The lack
of playing time in AA will obviously set him back further. The Pirates may face
some tough decisions with Doumit. Ideally, he'd go back to AA, but he has only one
option left, so the Pirates sent him to AAA. He drew some attention with a string
of HRs during the exhibition season, and the Pirates clearly regard him as their
best bet, other than Neil Walker, to become a first string catcher. Fortunately,
his elbow was fine during the spring, so with some luck he may be able to put in
a full season, and then compete for at least part of the regular catching job in
2006.
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