Media Day: Austin Romine

On making his Double-A debut: “Opening night is always fun, it’s only once a year.  It’s a long wait after a long spring training.  So yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

On the hype surrounding him going into 2010: “I definitely see a change in attention.  I get a little more, which is not a bad thing.  It’s not a bad thing to be recognized for playing well.  I don’t think about it, though.  You can’t let it go to your head, you know.  There are five guys behind you ready to take your job.  The little number next to your name doesn’t mean anything.”

On being behind Jesus Montero in the system and prospect lists: “Wherever I go, I’ve still got to perform.  If I dont perform, it doesn’t matter.  I keep telling people that if I don’t play well, it doesn’t matter who’s ahead of me or who’s behind me.  If I keep performing well, it should all take care of itself.”

On his style of play: “I’m hoping when they come and watch, or when my teammates look, they see a guy who’s busting his butt behind the plate.  I don’t like passed balls, I don’t like anything that shouldn’t happen.  I hope they see a guy that they can respect out there, who works hard and who wants to win.  Every time I go on the field, I want to win.  Without a doubt.”

On how he became a catcher: “When I was little, I always had to touch the ball.  I pitched a lot when I was little.  I pitched in high school, too…I closed.  I always had to touch the ball, I always had to be in control or feel like I was in control, but you never really are in control.  But I always had to be involved, and it felt like I was quarterbacking the team.”

On his development: “When I was young, I hit.  I always hit three hole, and I enjoyed hitting.  When I got drafted by the Yankees, they stressed that catching comes first.  They stressed that catching’s first, hitting’s second.  I’ve really been working my butt off, because I’ve never really had any catching instruction until I got drafted.  My dad was an outfielder, and he did his best and got me to where I was.  But I made strides getting in with all these guys who are really working hard to make me better.  I feel like I’ve made big strides behind the plate.”

On if the organizational depth at catcher motivates him to improve defensively: “Yeah.  I don’t ever want anyone to be able to take anything away from my game.  It’s always he’s a good hitter, but he can’t really catch or he’s a good catcher, but he can’t really hit.  I want people to say he does both good.  He’s a great defensive catcher, and he does his job at the plate and he’ll drive in some runs and he’ll hit some home runs.”

On his big league dad: “I was in full uniform on the field at one or two.  It’s a big luxury to have had a dad that played and brought you up on baseball and told you about the grind and told you what to expect.  I felt like I had a leg in the door already.  When I got drafted by the Yankees, he said you’re going a to a team that knows how to take care of their players.”

On comparisons with Montero: “We lived together in Tampa.  We’re good friends.  It’s funny, because everybody always asks if there’s competition between you guys or if there’s something there.  There’s nothing there.  We’re really good friends.  We both know that we have to play well and we both know that, God willing, we’ll both get to the big leagues.  We’re both doing the best we can.  I’ve got nothing but respect for him, and I’m sure he respects the way I play too.  We both want the same job.  So yeah, there’s a little drive to perform better.  They sent me to Double-A, so I’ve got to do my best here.  My comfort level has definitely gone up going to the park and knowing what to expect every day.  It will allow me to settle in and pursue catching every day, which is what I want to do.  I want to be in the big leagues, I want to catch every day.”

Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com