Five minutes with Erik Kratz

Playing at: Lehigh Valley (AAA)

Position: Catcher.

Height: 6-4. Weight: 255.

Age: 31.

Born: June 15, 1980, in Telford, Pa.

Bats: Right. Throws: Right.

High School: Christopher Dock.

College: Eastern Mennonite (Va.).

Resides: Harrisonburg, Va.

How obtained:

Signed as free agent on Dec. 1, 2010.

This season: He came into last night hitting a career-best .299 . . . His 13 home runs this season are three shy of his personal mark . . . Kratz, a highly regarded defensive specialist, is hitting .328 since May 24.

Check this out: Lehigh Valley is 42-22 (.656) when Kratz starts this season and 14-17 (.452) when he doesn't.

Career at a glance: Kratz was a 29th-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2002 . . . Played in the Pirates organization in 2009-10 before joining the Phillies.

Career highlight: Kratz appeared in nine games for the Pirates last year. "Getting called up validated all the hard work and sacrifice my wife [Sarah] and I went through," he said. "There are a lot of players that are better than me that will never see a big-league field. There are so many things that are out of your control."

Best memory: Survived a collision at the plate with Milwaukee's Prince Fielder (275 pounds). "He came with a little bit of heft to the plate," Kratz recalled. "It was a good collision. The place [Pittsburgh] was almost sold out. He ended up on the ground and I ended up still standing. The crowd was juiced. It was just one of those snapshot memories."

The Buster debate: Kratz would not be in favor of any rules changes geared toward protecting the catcher on plays at the plate. "Absolutely not. I feel bad for Buster Posey, but I don't think any player who has any competitive juice in him [would favor a change]. It's two guys who want to win the game. It's about getting that win."

Seeing stars: Kratz was an International League All-Star for the third consecutive year. In 2009, he was the IL's game MVP and last year he was called up to the majors in the middle of the All-Star Game.

Family life: Will be married 10 years on Dec. 15. He and his wife have two sons: Brayden (4) and Ethan (2).

Simple lesson: Kratz jokes that Brayden has taught him that it is sometimes best not to think too much at the plate. "I toss him the ball and he just hits it," Kratz said. "Why don't I do that?"