The Cincinnati Reds have been splitting time at the catcher position in both Low-A Dayton and Advanced-A Daytona in the early part of the 2015 season. Garrett Boulware has been splitting time behind the plate with Jose Ortiz down in Dayton, while Joe Hudson is splitting his time in Daytona with Chad Wallach. Despite splitting time, Hudson and Boulware are out to strong starts at the plate for their respective teams.
Joe Hudson struggled last year in Dayton, hitting just .216 and slugging just .316. His plate discipline was strong and he made contact at a high rate, but he didn’t hit for any power at all. Despite some struggles he got a promotion for the last month to Bakersfield in 2014 and he took full advantage of the California League, hitting .289 and slugging .689 thanks to five home runs in 14 games.
The 23-year-old catcher has carried that power forward with him so far in 2015 despite going from one of the most hitter friendly leagues to arguably the least hitter friendly league in all of the minors. In just 46 plate appearances Hudson has smacked two home runs already (he had just 3 in 311 plate appearances in Dayton in 2014) and added two doubles as well, carrying an isolated power (SLG-AVG) of .195. His .811 OPS is well above the league average of .659.
Garrett Boulware had a better 2014 than Hudson, but he too has taken his production up a level in 2015. With the Billings Mustangs last season, the catcher hit .266/.361/.386 in 183 plate appearances. Like Hudson he showed solid plate discipline, but didn’t hit for too much power.
This season, in the early going the power has been about the same, but he has gone from a hitter friendly league to a much more pitcher friendly league. The biggest difference early on has been an improved approach at the plate where he’s really cut down on his strikeout rate, going from a solid 18% strikeout rate in 2014 to a very low 12% rate in 2015. More contact has led to a boost across the board for Boulware, who is hitting .304/.407/.413 in 55 plate appearances for the Dayton Dragons. His .820 OPS is well above the league average of .658.
Things are still early, particularly for guys that are sharing time at their position, but the Reds currently have two catchers off to good starts in A-ball. Both guys are showing early differences in skillsets that they if they continue to show will lead to good performance moving forward.