Around the System–Catchers

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Not much to talk about at this stage behind the plate.  The two guys to really watch this year, Valle and Rupp have been average at best early on.  Next stop is the starting pitching, early next week.

Lehigh Valley

Tuffy Gosewisch, 28, Phils 11th round pick in 2005; .235/.297/.368 in 68 AB’s; 2 HR 9 RBI; 6%bb/19%k rates; .231 vs. LH, .238 vs. RH, .300 with RISP.  21 games caught with 2 errors (.989); Thrown out 6/24 basestealers (25%). Gosewisch has given Lehigh Valley exactly what was expected.  Very good defense and a mediocre bat.

Erik Kratz, 31, Re-Signed as a free agent in 2012; .267/.323/.533 in 60 AB’s; 4HR 10 RBI; 5%bb/13% k rates; .400 vs. LH, .222 vs. RH, .235 with RISP.  16 games at C with 1 error (.991); Thrown out 4/18 basestealers (22%). Kratz hasn’t seen nearly as many AB’s as last year because of a stint with the Phils and the platoon with Gosewisch but when he has played, he has played well, hitting for power and doing his typical nice job calling the game.

John Suomi, 31, Re-Signed as a free agent in 2012; .250/.273/.406 in 32 AB’s; 1HR and 2 RBI. 4 games caught with 1 error; 0/2 throwing out basestealers; Has also played 3 games at first. Suomi has done his typical serviceable job filling in at C and 1B when needed.

Reading

Sebastian Valle, 21, Signed as a free agent in 2006; .231/.274/.333 in 108 AB’s; 2HR 11 RBI; .250 vs. LH, .219 vs. RH, .237 with RISP, .159 in May, 6%bb/24%k rates. 28 games caught without an error; Thrown out 7/30 (23%);  Valle has been really struggling over the last several weeks. Too early to pass judgment on Valle transition.  The jump from High A to AA is the most significant in the system…lets give it another month or two.

Stephen Lerud, 27, Signed as a free agent in 2011; .265/.405/.353 in 34 AB’s; 0 HR 2 RBI. 35% k rate. 11 games caught without an error; Thrown out 8/18 (44%). Has done an excellent job defensively.

Clearwater

Cameron Rupp, 23, Phils 3rd round pick in 2010; .245/.324/.340 in 94 AB’s; 1HR 13 rbi; .278 vs. LH, .224 vs. RH, .280 with RISP, .205 in May. 10%bb/19%k rates.  Caught 27 games with 3 errors (.989); Thrown out 11/46 baserunners (24%). Rupp has been ok, but more is expected out of him.

John Hill, 23, Phils 19th round pick in 2011 draft; .179/.214/.205 in 39 AB’s between Lakewood and CLearwater. 0HR and 5 RBI.  Has caught 9 games with 2 errors (.971); Thrown out 2/11 runners (18%). Moved up to CLearwater after Lafrenz was placed on the DL.  Backing up Rupp.

Kyle Lafrenz, 25, Phils 22nd round pick in 2009; .185/.241/.259 in 27 AB’s; 0 HR and 2 RBI; 7 games at C with 1 error; 2/11 throwing out runners. Has been out of action for the last two weeks and was struggling before being placed on the DL.

Lakewood

Logan Moore, 21, Phils 9th round pick in 2011 draft; .198/.356/.309 in 81 AB’s; 1 HR 10 RBI;  .235 vs. LH, .188 vs. RH, .160 with RISP, .241 in May; 16%bb/25%k rates.  25 games at C, 1 error (.995); Has thrown out 8/48 baserunners (17%). Like most Blueclaws, Moore has struggled with the bat, but has shown an excellent eye at the plate.

Bob Stumpo, 24, Phils 33rd round pick in 2010; .350/.400/.433 in 60 AB’s between Lakewood and Clearwater; 0HR 8 RBI; 8%bb/10%k rates. 8 games at C with 1 error (.985); Has thrown out 1/10 baserunners (10%); Has also played 6 games at 1B with 1 error.  Stumpo has done what he has been asked to do well.

20 thoughts on “Around the System–Catchers”

  1. Will easily give Valle a few more months and probably another year or so in Reading. He’s a 21 year old playing the toughest defensive position in AA ball. He has plenty of time to struggle and still be ahead of most.

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    1. Agreed. Even if he played another position he could stay another year in AA without it being a problem. As long as he shows improvement he’s fine for now.

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  2. Seems the trend these days in the major leagues is to have catchers come up to the bigs after many more years of minor league development, especially the defensive side of the game, more so then the offensive side. With that in mind, having Valle’s ETA to the majors as 2015 would not surprise me.

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  3. Like the ’11 draft, the team must devote the coming draft to—instead of infielders in ’11–concentrate on catchers and pitchers early on. The learning process for Valle shows time is needed and Rupp isn’t even living up to his reputation as a superior defender with poor OBA and little display of power, less than expected.

    The loss by trade of the best of our catcher crop (D’Arnuad) has had consequences, not good, for the Pharm system….and ultimately for the big club.

    The draft is only 3 weeks away. I figure that the org is well aware of the catching situation in our pharm and will take steps in the draft for a cure. I believe we will get some picks early for the loss of Madson. And another for the looss of Ibanez. We lose our 1st round choice for signing Paps.

    Hopefully, PP will still participate in the draft discussions here. As well as the current brave crop of executives for the site and, of course, we posters.
    IMO, the emergence of a new 3rd base prospect in Asche reminds us of the good effort made to locate best prospects for the big club. With the 3rd base needs to be resolved among the several 3rd base draftees in ’11, let’s get those catchers, pitchers, and a few outfielders in June ’12.

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    1. Phils get the 40th and 54th overall picks for losing Madson and Ibanez, agreed on hoping that they concentrate on getting some catchers at the draft.

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        1. yes, 2 for Madson, 1 in the sandwich round (40th overall) and 1 in the 2nd round 77th overall. 1 for Ibanez (54th overall).

          The Phils draft order looks like this for the first 5 rounds,

          40th overall
          54th overall
          2nd round- 77th (Madson)
          2nd round- 95th
          3rd round- 125th
          4th round- 158th
          5th round- 187th

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      2. FWIW, Keith Law feels that teams should not draft by position need. Instead they should just get the best prospect available. Baseball drafting is much different than FB or BB, where the prospects are more ready to play right away.

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        1. absolutely agree. Need to draft based on how guys are rated, regardless of position. Prospects already have such a high failure rate that trying to draft a player due to current positional need is foolish.

          Who knows where the big club’s shortcomings will be in 5-6 years.

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  4. I may be wrong, but i trully believe in best available ,no matter what positon, If you look at the eagles drafts and how they reached for need, it hurt them, if you draft best available and have more than two good prospect at a positon, what is so bad about that?

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    1. I agree, especially with the failure rate of prospects. I would rather have 4 guys of the same position if they have a higher ceiling or are thought of as better prospects since all 4 would never make it, and even if they did you can switch positions or trade for a positional need.

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  6. For me, Valle is no longer in my top ten and I question whether he’ll ever make the majors. I’m not seeing enough to be so sure of his future success. I had high hopes for Rupp but I’m not seeing enough here either.

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    1. Valle is 21 and turns 22 this summer…he is still relatively young, Another year at Reading (2013) and time at LHV in 2014 and he may be ready by 2015 for MLB. He will get bigger and stronger…already listed at 205 lbs. Ruiz was not rushed.

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      1. How old was DArnaud at Reading last year? That’s what a prospect looks like. Valle has plenty of time but he doesn’t look like a top ten prospect right now.

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        2. That’s what an ‘elite’ prospect looks like. Valle isn’t one, but it doesn’t mean he’s not a prospect at all. And it’s not like there are 10 elite prospects in the Phillies’ system.

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    2. Valle tantalizes early on that fades late. This year the fade happened a little sooner. Even in the winter leagues he jumps out to a torrid start than struggles.

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  7. The draft can be such a crap shoot, drafting for a specific need can be dangerous. Better to get your ducks in a row, figure out your top players and signability, then start ticking them off as the draft progresses. If it happens that a position needs pops up with the position you draft, nice. But don’t push it.
    Having said that, one guy we might want to keep an eye on is Kevin
    Plawecki, a catcher with Purdue, who is predicted to be in teh top 50 picks. I saw him last summer playing in the Cape Cod League, and he was solid defensively and had a pretty good bat. A bit of power, and good average. Might fit my description above perfectly.

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  8. I agree 100% with this. There are so many rounds and so much uncertainty that trying to draft for any one position is very difficult. Pick who you think is the best and move on. Baseball is very different from football in this regard.

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