JUPITER, Fla. -- Unless something changes in the next few days, the Marlins are not leaning towards carrying three catchers. But if something changes, Tomas Telis could find himself breaking with the big league club.

 

Miami had been open to carrying an extra catcher, mainly because A.J. Ellis has dealt with a left hamstring strain since late February. But Ellis has been catching in Minor League games, and could be in Grapefruit League action as early as Tuesday.

 

"At this point, we're not going to need the third catcher," manager Don Mattingly said. "We think A.J. is going to be ready. But obviously, there are different options. We've talked about a number of things."

 

Telis, who switch-hits, gives the Marlins an interesting option. He catches and can play some first base.

 

The Marlins are set behind the plate with J.T. Realmuto and Ellis backing up. Realmuto also is expected to play some first base.

 

At this stage of his development, his hitting is further advanced than his receiving. In Grapefruit League play, he's batting .308 with a .379 on-base percentage. Last year, in 13 big league at-bats, he also hit .308.

 

"With Tele, he's going to hit here, from either side," Mattingly said. "He can hit. That's not really an area we're concerned about."

 

Defense is.

 

So Telis is finding his days split between working with the big league club and the Minor Leagues.

 

"I'm going to do everything with the big league guys up here, but then when the game starts, I go with the Minor League guys," Telis said.

 

Telis is catching the Minor Leagues on consecutive days, and then he gets some work at first base. On Saturday in a Minors game, he hit a home run.

 

"What we're working on is to continue all the aspects of catching -- calling the game," Mattingly said. "Everything that happens on the field is running through him. We want him to have a good feel for that. That's our main thing with him.

 

"There's some technique stuff that they're working on -- presentation and things like that. In general, we want to continue to help him grow as a catcher."

 

http://m.marlins.mlb.com/news/article/220966064/marlins-tomas-telis-ready-for-chance-in-majors/

 

 

That last part is quite telling. Nice way of way of saying Tellis sucks as a receiver.

 

 

Telis some more

 

 

Realmuto was one of the worst in the national league last year as a receiver. How back could telis be, really?

 

 

Realmuto was one of the worst in the national league last year as a receiver. How back could telis be, really?

 

who was the QB?

 

 

who was the QB?

 

Tim Tebow.