Cincinnati Reds #11 Prospect: C Chris Okey

When the 2016 season opened up, Chris Okey was not in the Cincinnati Reds organization. He began his season with Clemson as a junior, where he hit .339/.465/.611 before being drafted by the organization in the 2nd round (43rd overall).

After being drafted and signing the Reds sent Chris Okey to join the Billings Mustangs. He got out to a slow start, going just 2-24 in the first six games for Billings. Over the final three games of June he had four hits in 13 at-bats. The catcher would be promoted to Dayton as the month came to an end.

Much like June, July got out to a slow start. In the first three games of the month, now with the Dragons in the Midwest League, Chris Okey went 1-11 with a double. It was the next three games that really busted the catcher out of a slump and put his month on the right track, going 5-13 with two home runs and a double. From July 17th through July 28th he would really catch fire, hitting .323 with two doubles and four home runs, posting an OPS of 1.157. That would push his line for the month to .250/.341/.556 as the power really showed up.

For some reason Chris Okey struggled to get going at the start of the month again, going 2-21 over the first six games of August (.095). The next six games went much better for the former Clemson backstop, going 10-21 (.476) with five extra-base hits. Things slowed backed down from there as Okey would go just 6-34 (.176) the rest of the season. Two cold stretches wrapped around a hot one led to a .237/.306/.316 line in the 21 games played in August and September.

The professional debut for Chris Okey was a solid, but unspectacular one. He had some ups-and-downs  after being drafted. He showed some good signs along the way, including showing off good power once he joined Dayton in the second half of the year. His average wasn’t anything to write home about, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio wasn’t the best, but in his debut he was playing at a higher level than most other 2016 draft picks so you can adjust those a little bit with that context. Behind the plate he threw out 17 of the 50 attempted base stealers (34%) in his debut.

For all 2017 Prospect Ranking Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out one per weekday over the offseason).

Chris Okey Scouting Report

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Hitting | While he had some struggles in hitting for average in his debut, he projects to be an average hitter. He can use the entire field and he can hit the ball hard to all parts of the field.

Power | This is where Chris Okey could shine. He’s got above-average power potential, with 20-25 home runs not being out of the question in a couple of years.

Running | He’s a below-average runner, though as a catcher that won’t come into play too frequently.

Arm | The arm strength is fairly average, though it’s been accurate.

Fielding | He’s generally considered average when it comes to his work behind the plate from a physical standpoint, but his work with handling the pitching staff and leading the team has been praised.

From a pure scouting standpoint, Chris Okey has mostly average tools, but his above-average power potential really stands out at the catcher position. The ball jumps off of his bat, particularly when he’s pulling the ball to left field. As a catcher who shouldn’t hurt you defensively, if his power develops as expected and he can hit for a solid average, he’s going to bring plenty of value at the position.

In his debut his strikeout-to-walk ratio wasn’t the greatest. As he moves forward you’d like to see that improve, and if it does it’s probably going to lead to a higher average than he showed in his debut average. It was more of a making contact thing than it was a lack of walks thing, striking out 29% of the time with Dayton. His swing has some length to it, but it’s quick, so I’d expect his strikeout rate to improve some moving forward. While he’s a college catcher who is reasonably advanced, he’s still a catcher and is still a few years away from reaching the big leagues.

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