35 Reasons to Believe

The Phanatic Magazine kicked off its 35 straight days of Phillies on February 25, one article per day detailing each member battling for position as the season begins. Also, look for Michael Rushton's season outlook, which will cap the offseason look at the Phillies on Opening Day -- April 2nd against Atlanta.

DAY 17: Chris Coste

By John McMullen
The Phanatic Magazine

When the Phillies made their run late last season, they did it with a 33-year old rookie catcher.

It was a fairytale year for Chris Coste, who hit a gaudy .328 in 198 at-bats with Philadelphia after spending 11 long years in the minor leagues, five of them in the baseball purgatory known as the Independent Northern League. But, real life doesn’t always cooperate with fairytales and the ending for Coste is looking like it will be far from storybook.

Despite his excellent 2006 season, the Phillies went out and signed veteran catcher Rod Barajas and made it clear that Barajas and the highly-touted Carlos Ruiz would be the handling the bulk of the catching duties. That left Coste in a precarious roster position. Third catchers aren’t exactly plentiful in the majors, so Coste would have to make the club as a right-handed pinch-hitter off the bench.

And, maybe that doesn’t sound so bad, since it’s nice to have a guy who hit .328 popping up late in the game. Except the Phillies also brought in guys like Jayson Werth, Karim Garcia and Greg Dobbs to provide that pop off the bench..

It almost seemed if the Phillies were predisposed to believe what Coste did last year was a fluke and were bracing themselves for the Fargo, North Dakota native to actually look like a 34-year old guy who has spent the majority of his career riding buses to unfamiliar outposts.

''Even with a good spring, it might not matter,'' Coste told the Associated Press. ''I pay attention. I know who has a chance, and who has less of a chance. It's tough to see them filling the roster with a third catcher.''

And, it hasn’t been a great Spring. Coste -- who was cut last season after hitting a sizzling .462 in Grapefruit League action -- is hitting just .250 in with no home runs and one scant RBI in 16 at bats. Meanwhile, his main competition (the left-handed hitting Dobbs) is lighting up Clearwater with a team best .400 batting average along with three dingers and nine RBI.

''This year, I could be Canadian,'' Coste deadpanned, alluding to the Phillies' new Triple-A affiliate in Ottawa.

Barring injury ‘could be’ is quickly turning into 'should be.’

Tomorrow - Carlos Ruiz