Best Catchers in "The Sally" 2009
by ScoutingTheSally on Sep 19, 2009 3:20 PM EDT
23 comments
S.T.S's Best: The Catchers
As the weeks pass, I'll be breaking down the Sally's best by position. As a former catcher, I found it fitting to begin with the best catchers the Sally had in 2009. Please keep in mind, this will not be based on potential fantasy value, but on the combination of offensive/defensive ability combined with the chance the player has to stay at the position. Players I haven't seen in person will be italicized as I want readers to know I'm going strictly from reports and statistics which are much different than watching a player in person. I usually shy away from writing about prospects I haven't seen, but if I want a complete list, I find I have no choice.
1. Tony Sanchez, Pirates - The 4th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Sanchez batted a robust .316/.415/.561 in just over 150 at bats. From all accounts, he performed awfully well earning his second promotion since being signed. He should be in Pittsburgh by 2011 and will likely be entrenched as Pittsburgh's starter by 2012. I hated this pick when it was made. In retrospect, the Pirates ability to sign Sanchez immediately, along with their over slot signings turned out fantastic for the Bucs.
2. Travis D'Arnaud, Phillies - Quite possibly the best all-around player I've seen pass through Savannah this season, D'Arnaud left a great impression on me. He hit the ball hard to all fields, played stellar defense, and excellent athleticism for a catcher. I know a .255/.319/.419 line is pretty blah, but his .279 BABIP seems awfully low considering his .330+ mark in 2008 and strong K%. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't break out in a big way in 2010.
3. Derek Norris, Nationals - With a .286/.413/.513 line, Norris was probably the best power prospect to pass through the league during the 2009 season. However, his glove is apparently shotty at best and few would be surprised if he's moved out from behind the plate and over to first. As a first baseman, he would rank the leagues top prospect at the position. Too many questions about his catching ability remain for me to rank him any higher than 3rd.
4. Tim Federowicz, Red Sox - After starting a bit slow, Federowicz caught fire and was promoted to Salem after posting a .345/.393/.562 line in 226 at bats. The best defender behind the dish I've seen this season, he worked well with his staff and completely shut down the Savannah running game. At the plate, he drove the ball to all fields and was the best hitter on the field in two of the three contests. His current age (22), plate discipline, and struggles with Salem keep him from a higher ranking.
5. Josh Phegley, White Sox - The 38th overall selection in the 2009 draft, Phegley's ability to handle a pitching staff, throwing arm, and propensity for driving the ball hard to the opposite field really impressed me. With his poor defensive reputation, I watched him from a number of different angles and saw nothing which would lead me to believe he could not be a serviceable big league backstop. He's not Jackson Williams behind the plate, but he certainly is not Jesus Montero either.
Honorable Mention - Jesus Sucre, Braves - in 169 Sally at bats, Sucre posted a .325/.352/.432 line prior to earning a promotion to Myrtle Beach. With excellent contact skills and solid, but unspectacular defense, I can see him becoming a solid big league backup down the road. However, he needs to work on controlling his emotions behind the dish as he showed up his pitchers on a handful of occasions.
MVP, MVP - Jordan Pacheco, Rockies - Yes, Pacheco was the Sally MVP. No, he's not a legitimate prospect at this point as his age (23) is just too old to warrant serious prospect consideration.
Catcher in Listing Only - Ryan Lavarnway, Red Sox - In posting a .285/.367/.540 line in Greenville, people have asked about Lavarnway as a catching prospect. In actuality, Lavarnway has played plenty of DH, 1B, and even enough OF for me to comfortably say his future does not lie behind the plate.
Big Disappointment - Jacob Jefferies, Rays - Jefferies contact tool is his best asset, his .261/.326/.359 line was downright crummy for a high round college pick. Even more worrisome is that he was not even the starting catcher in Bowling Green. Yikes!
Vultures Circling the Carcass - Kyle Skipworth, Marlins - In speaking with a couple of people who have seen Skipworth on multiple occasions, I have heard nothing but bad things about his all-around game. Long swing, poor contact tool, difficulty defensively, I've heard it all. He's still young, but his triple slash line has been equally awful since his signing and he's going to need to repeat the Sally at 20. At this point, he's looking like the dud of the 2008 draft class.
Check out Scouting The Sally for more on MILB's top prospects.
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D'arnaud does not exist
im tired of searching for him on milb
by jarjets89 on Sep 19, 2009 5:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
he's there
Any unusual name, like one with an apostrophe (D’arnaud) or with 2 parts (Chin-Lung Hu), is tough to find with their search. You have to go to the team page and find the player there.
by my dixie wrecked on Sep 19, 2009 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Were you able to see Norris? I thought I’d read somewhere that he was much better defensively than last year, though that wouldn’t necessarily mean he was adequate behind the plate. Obviously his value as a prospect is heavily dependent on where he winds up defensively, but if he can stick at catcher, his bat will really, really play there.
Anyway, good stuff here. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
by PhillyFriar on Sep 19, 2009 5:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Did not see Norris
on the blog, I had italicized guys I have not seen as I do not like to discuss players I haven’t seen in person.
by ScoutingTheSally on Sep 19, 2009 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Lavarnway is not done yet at C
The Red Sox have only let him play there and at DH since he has signed(40 DH to 70ish C). He may never be an average catcher but at 22 he has plenty of time to work on it. Lavarnway has pretty interesting offensive potential to counter whatever negatives he bring defensively. I severely doubt the Red Sox would risk impairing his offensive development and increase injury woes if they did not sincerely believe he has a chance at sticking at C.
Federowicz has his own defensive issues when it comes to recieving skills and his CS % is not exactly inspirational. His BABIP at Greenville was .391, hardly sustainable, and if his line is normalised it would less impressive. He also has a less than encoraging BB % of 6 at Greenville. His BABIP at Salem is lower than normal but his ISO and OBP drop significantly in a 200 PA sample.
Right now the only thing going for Federowicz over Lavarnway is that his K % is at 11 % at Greenville. Lavarnway has a higher ISO and BB %, same age practically, and a more sustainable BABIP of .349. Lavarnway’s pre-draft offensive potential and numbers are also better than Federowicz. There defense is the sole other factor in Federowicz’s favor, but unless Lavarnway’s defense has continued to atrofiy since college, then I would take him over Federowicz. I would be interested if you have seen either play to comment on it. Lavarnway is a sleeper for me so I am intrigued.
Norris is #1 for me overall. Sanchez’s college pedigree means he should have less difficulty preforming at this level. If Sanchez continues to hit at AA then he goes ahead of Norris. I would have D’Arnaud and Phleghley 3 and 4 with Lavarnway following.
by tdot mariner fan on Sep 19, 2009 8:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Lavarnway at C
He has an average arm at best and isn’t particularly athletic. At 6’4", 225 lbs., he’s too big to stay back there since he lacks the athleticism of a Mauer or Wieters.
by ScoutingTheSally on Sep 19, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
At draft he was listed at 6'3 210
so the weight gain is not encouragin. Regardless, I still hold out hope for him for he is still fairly new to catching and is raw. If he manages to stick he won’t last long there if unless he looses weight unfortunately.
by tdot mariner fan on Sep 19, 2009 11:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
We'll see
I spent about a dozen years catching through college and my career ended there because of an arm injury. As a guy who knows what to look for in a backstop, I really saw nothing which would lead me to believe he could stay there.
by ScoutingTheSally on Sep 20, 2009 8:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
D'Arnaud
rarely ever gets talked about in the community (at least compared to Norris), but his elite defensive ability could actually make him a better current prospect than Norris, who may eventually become relegated to 1B.
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by Frederick0220 on Sep 19, 2009 8:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Sanchez
I don’t know if I buy the bat yet. He had a great season for sure, but I think we’ll learn a lot more about him at higher levels. The scouting reports were so down on his bat that 155 ABs in the SAL just isn’t enough information for me.
by jar75 on Sep 20, 2009 2:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Question
first off, thanks for doing this.
What kind of power do you like for Sanchez as he develops (15-20 guy, or 20+?). Is there a guy you’d compare him to currently.
Norris has 20+ maybe 30+ power. I read that he only began catching a year or two ago? From someone who caught, would you say it’s fair to say that’s a short period of time and he’s making strides? Also from what I read, he did very well throwing out runners and has a cannon arm, but it’s the blocking balls that’s a problem.
by MightyMoose on Sep 21, 2009 5:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Not sure about the power ceilings...
However, from a catching standpoint, 2 years isn’t long at all. There are so many intricacies to the position, two years seems like a REALLY short learning curve. Of course there are exceptions like Buster Posey, but the guy was a converted SS and phenomenal athlete. Those guys don’t exactly grow on trees.
An even steeper learning curve comes with learning the cerebral aspects of the position. Pitcher body language, managing a staff, calling games, etc. I see guys in the Sally with no idea of the “game within the game” so to speak and I would want catchers to know how to manage a ball game.
by ScoutingTheSally on Sep 21, 2009 9:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
With respect to the “game within the game” — is this a strength of d’Arnaud’s that draws you to him? I ask because the scouting reports on his defense are generally very good, and people who watch him play come away with the general impression of “this guy knows what he’s doing.”
by PhillyFriar on Sep 22, 2009 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
D'Arnaud
He was a VERY impressive all-around performer. More than anything, I didn’t expect his hitting to be as strong as it was. He has 20-25 HR power in my eyes. His only question mark on offense is the ability to handle balls in. He showed significant power to center/right-center, but couldn’t get any lift on balls in on the hands.
Defensively, he had no holes. His staff also performed well and I can’t remember any pitches being thrown during counts which would make me go “what”? In watching Savannah catchers, there have been many a time where I would wonder what the signal caller was thinking as an 0-2 fastball was lined back through the box for a single. I never thought twice about a pitch D’Arnaud called.
by ScoutingTheSally on Sep 22, 2009 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
In Depth
That’s a nice, substantive, detailed scouting report. Thanks! (It’s “shoddy” btw, not "shotty.)
It’s interesting to me that both Sanchez and Jason Castro were considered huge overdrafts but have performed well. I’m wondering if polished college catchers are the new undervalued commodity.
by DavidS on Sep 22, 2009 1:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i wrote a piece....
I think something overlooked at the lower levels is the importance of a college catcher handling a young staff. These younger international arms and top high school prospects need a catcher with experience.
Do you want your million dollar arms throwing to a 23 year old college catcher who played in the ACC or a 19 year old kid from the Dominican. The vast majority of the time, my answer would be A.
by ScoutingTheSally on Sep 22, 2009 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Norris
Before we move Norris off catcher, can we at least let him learn the position first? Maybe once he learns the position we’ll be able to see if his defense can cut it.
by psugator on Sep 22, 2009 12:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Yes, let Norris learn the position
Just don’t rank him first until he projects to actually stay there. If I ranked 1b’s right now, he would be #1.
by ScoutingTheSally on Sep 22, 2009 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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