PHILLIES SIGN BRIAN SCHNEIDER

Mandy Housenick of The Morning Call is reporting that Northampton graduate Bran Schneider has signed a two-year free agent contract with the Phillies after passing a physical on Tuesday.

Schneider, who grew up a Phillies fan, hit .218/.292/.335 with three home runs and 24 RBI in 170 at-bats with the New York Mets last season while being slowed down by back, calf and knee injuries.

The 33-year-old left-handed hitting catcher is a career .251/.323/.697 hitter while playing for the Mets and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.

He’s regarded as an excellent defensive catcher, committing only 36 errors in 877 career games. He caught 437 innings, and had a .997 fielding percentage while throwing out 34% of base stealers.

Schneider has always been a Phillies killer in his career, hitting .273/.354/.412 against Philadelphia while slugging six homers and driving in 54 runs in 108 games.

I think this is a good move on the part of Ruben Amaro Jr. , who has done nothing but good things since taking over as general manager last winter. Schneider provides a bat and defense at backup catcher.

Interestingly enough, this happened one day after former Phillies catcher and fan favorite Chris Coste agreed to sign with the rival Mets.

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