When Pirates second baseman Josh VanMeter agreed to having the emergency catcher designation, he probably never expected to actually find himself behind the plate in a big-league game. After all, it would take something extraordinary to have the Pirates turning to the journeyman infielder for catching duties.
Uh, something extraordinary happened on Saturday.
In Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Reds, the Pirates lost backup catcher Andrew Knapp in the sixth inning when he was ejected by home plate umpire Will Little for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout. So, just like that, the Pirates were down to one catcher. That nightmare scenario was realized in the eighth inning when starting catcher Roberto Perez got hurt diving into second base.
