Today we are taking a look at catcher Joe Hudson, right hander Alejandro Chacin and right handed pitcher Tim Crabbe.
Joe Hudson was the Reds 6th rounder in 2012 but never saw playing time last year after breaking his wrist days before the season began with Billings and missed the entire season. The Reds sent Hudson to Dayton to begin this season and so far, the results haven’t been good offensively as Hudson is hitting .218/.308/.297 in 117 plate appearances. He hasn’t hit for any power at this point and he has suffered from a low BABIP of .242 despite a solid amount of line drives (17%). On the good side of things, he has 11 walks and just 10 strikeouts. He is making plenty of contact and his walk rate is solid.
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He has been a little pull happy when he hits the ball on the ground, but when he gets the ball in the air he is spreading the ball around well (seen below).
So, why exactly is Hudson struggling to hit at this point? Well, as noted above, his BABIP is a bit lower than you would expect. But he just isn’t hitting for any power and it is really tough to put up good numbers when you can’t hit for power and aren’t also a speed demon who can beat out infield hits with some kind of regularity. Coming out of college, Hudson had scouting reports that suggested he had solid power, especially for a catcher. So far, we simply haven’t seen it. However, we also know that wrist injuries tend to sap power for about a year as well, especially major ones and Hudson missed half of a season with his wrist injury. Watching the video (Above), his swing looks alright but one thing stood out to me: Hudson uses the double step loading mechanism and at times his timing seemed to be off and his hands were already coming down toward or through the zone by the time his front foot had fully planted in his swing. That will sap your power and leave you with mostly an all arms power as your weight simply can’t be shifted correctly when that happens. While Hudson certainly could still be feeling the effects of the “one-year” sapping of power from the wrist injury, his timing is also very likely a big part of why he hasn’t hit for much power to this point in the season. It will be worth watching where his power is during the second half of the season as he gets closer to a year out from the broken wrist.
Behind the plate he has been solid. His caught stealing rate is just 25%, but in the minor leagues especially, that rate isn’t always indicative of a catcher as it also relies on the pitchers not only holding runners on, but being able to throw a catchable ball so the catcher has a chance to make a throw to the bag. Hudson has had slightly-above average to average pop times behind the plate this season. As a receiver he is relatively quiet behind the plate and blocks the ball well most of the time.
Tim Crabbe is off to a strong start to his 2013 campaign for Pensacola. The Blue Wahoos right hander has a 2.88 ERA in 50 innings with 12 walks and 38 strikeouts. In the past Crabbe has been clocked up to 95 MPH out of the bullpen, but as a starter he tends to work in the 88-91 MPH range and touches a tad higher and has been there for his time in 2013 as well. He mixes in a curveball as his main secondary pitch in the 77-82 MPH range. When the pitch is at its best, it is a put away pitch. At times it can still be inconsistent though and is more looping than biting like when the pitch is at its best. Crabbe will mix in a change up from time to time as well that has good tumble on it, but he throws it in the 83-85 MPH range which may be too close to the fastball velocity.
While Crabbe has had an outstanding start to the season, his future will likely be in the bullpen where he can air it out for one inning at a time and hit mid 90’s with his fastball and mix in his curveball rather than as a starter where his stuff is not overpowering and when accounting for his entire arsenal rather average.
Alejandro Chacin jumped onto the Reds prospect scene in 2011 when he posted a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings with 7 walks and 34 strikeouts for the Arizona League Reds as at age 18. Last year he took a step backwards, but was still quite good in Billings at 19 with a 3.41 ERA, 15 walks and 29 strikeouts in 29 innings. He is off to a strong start in Dayton this season at age 20. In 23.1 innings so far he has a 0.81 WHIP and 2.70 ERA with 9 walks and 27 strikeouts. Despite strong strikeout numbers, Chacin doesn’t throw very hard as he works in the 88-91 MPH range with his fastball. He does however get outstanding movement on his fastball, which you can see in the video below. He mixes in a curveball in the low 70’s as his secondary pitch with short but tight breaking action to it. While he will never be a closer candidate at the Major League level and he may not light up the radar gun, he has the stuff to pitch in the Majors one day.
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