Get To Know Why Mariners Third String Cather Tuffy Gosewisch Is So Important

Why is Tuffy Gosewisch important to the Mariners? I’ll explain.

At first, we are attracted to him because of a name that sounds like a difficult to eat exotic bird sandwich.

When you realize he is likely to start the year in AAA, you are surprised when to hear he is 33 years of age.

Why would someone at the age of 33 accept a position in the minor leagues?

Maybe he knows he will get a few major league at-bats because of Jerry Dipoto’s favorite word “organizational depth”.

Who wouldn’t love a few major league at-bats in their life?

He’s already spent nine years in the minor leagues riding buses and staying in second rate hotels.

Why would he subject himself to this slight form of torture for another long baseball season?

Tuffy Gosewisch is just a boy chasing his dream.

12 years after being drafted by the Phillies in the 11th round, Gosewisch has only 78 hits in the major leagues.

Tuffy, a Scottsdale, Arizona native, attended Arizona State University where he played baseball for four years.

There he was teammates with MLB stars like Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, and Andre Ethier.

During his senior year, he hit .321 while slugging .476, with 17 doubles in 67 games as his team advanced to the College Baseball World Series.

Tuffy was actually born with the name James Benjamin Gosewisch, but that’s certainly not as exciting.

Tuffy’s nickname comes from his dad because he was a rather difficult child.

Tuffy played seven and a half season in the Phillies minor league system before the Toronto Blue Jays purchased his contract mid-season.

The next season he was in the Diamondbacks organization. That season he finally got his big call to the big leagues.

Related Story: Tuffy The Next Sucre

After finishing that year with only 14 games under his major league belt, he was a full-time member of the Diamondbacks major league roster for the next two seasons.

His best season coming in 2014 when he hit .225, with eight doubles, and a 42% caught stealing rate from his defense catcher position.

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Throughout his major league career, Tuffy has always been a reputable backup catcher.

Tuffy seems to be okay with that as he continues his wild baseball rollercoaster ride that will now take him to Tacoma.

During this past offseason, the Diamondbacks placed Tuffy on waivers and was subsequently claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves.

Before he even played a game in the Braves organization he was waived again and claimed by the Mariners on January 26^th.

So far this spring training, he has an underwhelming five hits in 39 at bats including 12 strikeouts.

Tuffy will effectively replace fan favorite Jesus Sucre as the Mariners veteran organizational depth catcher.

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I can easily see Tuffy becoming a fan favorite with the Mariners if he makes it up to the big club and comes up with a few clutch hits, especially with that name.

And that is why Tuffy Gosewisch is so important to the future M’s clubs.