Cincinnati Reds State of the Farm: Catcher

Today begins one of my favorite series each offseason. We will look at the farm system, position by position, to get an idea of how it stacks up for the future. Each Wednesday will see a new position review for the next eight weeks, leading right into the heart of spring training (C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, OF, SP, RP).

We will start at the bottom rung of the minors. In Arizona the Reds had three catchers get between 15 and 23 starts behind the plate. That group didn’t include the best prospect of the bunch, Jake Turnbull. The 18-year-old Australian was injured much of the season, getting just 40 plate appearances. Pabel Manzanero got the most starts behind the plate. The 20-year-old hit .303/.339/.403 and threw out 34% of opposing base runners. Derik Captillo and Ernesto Liberatore got 17 and 15 starts behind the plate. 21-year-old Capitillo hit .308/.367/.385 and threw out 29% of opposing base runners. 20-year-old Liberatore struggled at the plate, hitting .085/.122/.170 in 49 plate appearances while throwing out 24% of opposing runners.

Billings saw most of the action behind the plate go to Cassidy Brown and Mitch Trees, who combined to start 57 of the 75 games. Brown made 36 of those starts and played very well in his pro debut. The 12th rounder hit .322/.409/.383 and threw out 35% of opposing base runners. Mitch Trees struggled at the plate, hitting .194/.257/.355, but he threw out 36% of opposing base runners.

Chris Okey was the Reds 2nd round draft pick in 2016. He began in Billings, but only played in a handful of games there before joining Dayton. With the Dragons he hit .243/.323/.432 in 42 games. He was clearly worn down in the final month and a half of the year after playing nearly every day since his college season had begun. He showed off plenty of power and threw out 34% of opposing base runners between his two stops. 2015 1st rounder Tyler Stephenson also saw time in Dayton, but a concussion in April, then a wrist injury in May cost him almost the entire season. When he was healthy, before the wrist injury, he showed some off some skills rather briefly – but trying to play through the wrist injury a few times before being shut down led to overall offensive struggles. Stephenson hit .216/.278/.324 on the year, but never played three consecutive weeks during the season due to the injuries. He threw out 22% of opposing base runners.

Daytona found themselves on the lucky end, employing just two catchers all season long. Garrett Boulware and Chadwick Tromp split time evenly, both playing in 69 games. In the tough hitting league, Boulware hit .223/.292/.305 on the season with a 35% thrown out rate. He struggled to hit for power, but showed solid plate discipline. Tromp hit a .215/.249/.352 on the season, showing more power but had some plate discipline issues. He threw out 37% of opposing base runners.

In Pensacola a majority of the time was split between Joe Hudson and Chad Wallach. Hudson struggled at the plate, hitting just .203/.315/.290. He showed off good plate discipline, but didn’t show much power. Behind the plate he threw out 40% of opposing runners. Chad Wallach performed much better at the plate, hitting .240/.363/.410. Wallach showed off good pop and plate discipline at the plate. He threw out 33% of opposing base runners.

Louisville saw most of their action go to Chris Berset, but he is now a free agent. As are the other three guys who saw action behind the plate with the Bats.

The wild card is Rule 5 pick Stuart Turner. The Reds picked him up from the Minnesota Twins. He spent the year in Double-A with Chattanooga. He hit .239/.322/.363 in 97 games with the Lookouts. Behind the plate he threw out 40% of opposing base runners. He will need to stick to the 25-man roster all season if he’s going to remain in the organization.

Overall Thoughts

The Cincinnati Reds have two high end draft picks at the catcher position with Tyler Stephenson and Chris Okey. They are at different points on the developmental paths, but both represent plenty of upside. In terms of prospect depth, the guys who were in Double-A are both potential big leaguers, but for different reasons. Joe Hudson and Stuart Turner are both defense-first catchers who have big league tools behind the plate, but questions about just how the bat will play for both. For Chad Wallach, the bat seems like it could play at the position, but the question is can he be a big league defender back there? There were so intriguing guys in rookie ball that could provide organizational depth over the next few years and are worth keeping an eye on to see how they develop.

There is depth within the organization. There’s upside potential with multiple catchers. What’s keeping the overall grade from being higher is the lack of certainty with any one guy at this point. The higher upside players are all in the low minors. Those guys all have questions with them as well. It’s an improved position from last year, but there’s still room for growth at the toughest position on the field.

Grade: B

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I was able to get pop times on most of the catchers this season, but not all of them. The guys in rookie ball were tougher as I didn’t see them outside of spring training and didn’t get a chance to see all of them throw in game action. Let’s be sure to note that these are my own times, so they are just the best one that I got and not necessarily the best time put out by the catcher. Major League average pop time is considered to be 2.0 seconds.

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