Jeff Clement Starting At Catcher In Indianapolis

I'm sure we'll eventually find out what the significance of this is:

Jeff Clement catching game 1. 1st time behind plate since April...of 2009. He been waiting for this & is excited

Hmm. I'm not aware of any problem that might be affecting either of Indianapolis' usual catchers (Erik Kratz and Luke Carlin). So what are the Bucs doing here? They went into 2010 with Clement as their major-league starting first baseman and, as you know, that didn't work out. He still has some potential with the bat, though, and the Pirates sent him to Class AAA to iron things out. He has hit well there so far.

Clement came through the minors as a catcher, but knee problems and a subpar defensive reputation bumped him from the position. It could be that the Pirates are now trying to mold him into a bench player along the lines of former Twin and National Matt LeCroy, having him catch occasionally while also picking up stray at bats at first. There is also the possibility that the Pirates could be preparing for a potential trade of regular catcher Ryan Doumit - the trading deadline is in a few weeks. So watch out for that.

Then again, it might not mean anything at all. We'll see.