A look at the catchers around the organization with plenty of disappointing numbers during the early going.
Lehigh Valley
Tommy Joseph, 21, Acquired in 2012 from San Francisco; .209/.264/.358 in 67 AB’s; 3HR 14RBI; .167 vs. LH, .218 vs. RH, .438 with RISP; 6%bb/21% k rates. 21 games with 1 error (.993); 9 passed balls; 5 of 23 baserunners CS (22%); After a very rough start to the season, Joseph was beginning to come around before going down with a concussion last week. He is currently on the DL. Notable production with RISP.
Steven Lerud, 28, Signed as a free agent in 2012; .260/.362/.420 in 50 AB’s; 2HR 7RBI; 12%bb/26% k rates. 15 games caught with 3 errors (.971); 2 passed balls; 4 of 17 baserunners CS (24%); Lerud has done a good job in his role, adding a bit of offense to very good receiving skills.
Humberto Quintero, 33, Signed as a free agent in 2013; Hitting .263 with 1HR and 1RBI in 19 AB’s (6 games). 6 games caught without an error; 1 passed ball; 4 of 7 baserunners CS (57%); Quintero is your prototypical third catcher in an organization. He will perform well at AAA and become a reasonable defensive backup when called upon in the majors.
Reading
Cameron Rupp, 24, Phils 3rd round pick in 2010; .227/.306/.412 in 97 AB’s; 5HR 12RBI; 8%bb/23% k rates; .063 vs. LH, .259 vs. RH, .250 with RISP. 19 games caught with 3 errors (.981); 1 passed ball; 5 of 17 baserunners CS (29%). Rupp has been holding his own but is still adjusting to AA pitching.
Sebastian Valle, 22, Signed as a free agent in 2006; .209/.258/.363 in 91 AB’s; 2HR 8RBI; .333 vs. LH, .190 vs. RH, .194 with RISP; 6%bb/31%k rates. 19 games caught with 1 error (.995); 5 passed balls; 5/27 baserunners CS (19%); Valle has nearly dropped off the radar screen as of late with Rupp getting most of the starts at catcher. It is easy to forget that Valle is still only 22 because he has been around forever but still has many of the same problems that we have seen in his 6 years with the organization.
John Suomi, 32, Signed as a free agent in 2010; Hitting .190 with 1HR and 4RBI in 21 AB’s. Extremely limited playing time for Suomi, as the RPhils cant find enough AB’s for Rupp and Valle, let alone Suomi. 1 game caught without an error, 1 passed ball.
Clearwater
Logan Moore, 22, Phils 9th round pick in 2011; .168/.252/.221 in 95 AB’s; 0HR 12 RBI; 10%bb/22% k rates; .107 vs. RH, .194 vs. LH, .290 with RISP. 27 games caught with 1 error (.992); 1 passed ball; 16 of 34 baserunners CS (47%). Just abysmal offensively, but Moore has very good defensive skills which are keeping his job safe for now.
Bob Stumpo, 25, Phils 33rd round pick in 2010; .294 with 1HR and 4RBI in 17 AB’s. 5 games caught without an error; 2 passed balls; 5/10 baserunners CS (50%).
Lakewood
Chace Numata, 20, Phils 14th round pick in 2010; .320/.374/.464 in 97 AB’s; 2HR 17RBI; 2SB; 8%bb/14% k rates; .471 vs. LH, .288 vs. RH, .308 with RISP. Numata has been outstanding offensively since struggling to get going out of the gate. Hitting .343 over his last 10 games. 27 games caught with 8 errors (.968); 9 passed balls; 20 of 64 baserunners CS (31%)
Josh Ludy, 23, Phils 8th round pick in 2012; Hitting .231 in 26 AB’s between CLearwater and Lakewood; 1 HR and 2 RBI. Has caught 4 games with 1 error (.967); 0 of 15 baserunners CS (0%). For thoose looking for Ludy to play more, the CS rate is what is striking.
Chad Carman, 24, Phils 24th round pick in 2012; Hitting .375 in 32 AB’s with 0HR and 1RBI before being placed on the DL with a fractured finger that required surgery. Will be out awhile. 9 games caught with 1 error (.986); 2 passed balls; 5 of 15 baserunners CS (33%)
Justin Dalles, 24, Signed as a free agent in 2013; Hitting .333 in 6 AB’s. Has caught 2 games without an error. 3/3 baserunner CS (100%)
Phuture Phillies 
The caught stealing stat can be deceiving but in Ludy’s case, I think your spot on. The other catchers at Lakewood are 30% or greater. Ludy has an 0’fer. I think Franco could steal a base against him. The guys on this site ride Logan Moore but his defensive stats are off the charts. When he was drafted , that was the knock or should i say that was the no knock. He probably won’t ever hit well enough to play in the show but if you want to steal against this guy… you better get a permit.
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Good point on Moore. Good defensive catchers, especially ones who can help a young pitcheing staff, are certainly nice to have in the minors, but unfortunately hitting gets you to the majors. Maybe he he can just bump himself up to a poor hitter and see if he can get to the show.
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Lino and Grullon are also in the mix.
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Numata is nice to dream on but has to still be considered a huge long shot. Even with a great year this year I’d like to see him repeat it.
I expected Ludy to hit better and stick at CLW. Phillies have control of Ludy and Carman for two more years to see if they can get to Rupp’s level and give themselves a chance as a backup.
I think the Phillies resign Ruiz (just not sure for how much though) so Joseph will have another year to figure it out in AAA. Rupp still seems like he could be a MLB backup, just not sure where they put him next season.
Valle is the most disappointing to me. I really was hoping he’d hit for power at Reading. The walk rate is better so that is a small plus. He’s still young but he might have had his highest trade value during this past offseason. Not sure what the Phillies do with him from here.
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Should Ruf regain last season’s latter half soon, he’d be a possible piece in a trade to an AL (DH) team at least. He would be of real value to the Phils IF Dom could play a good RF; though he does have a good arm for the position the question remaining is whether he will take good routes to the ball. But Dom’s developing offense will have to remain in the lineup–somewhere.
Errors in RF cost more than in LF because there one can easily turn into a 3 bagger. Ruf’s “average” play in LF w Dom questionable in RF will make the OF a horror chamber. That’s why IMO Ruf being ’12s Ruf should be best used as a trade piece to the AL.
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Oh, and Yes, Ruiz needs to be re-signed for 2 yeas. Joseph is far from ready and there are likely some “new” pitchers to be eased into the rotation-Ruiz is a fine catcher to work with for ALL pitchers, especially the newbies .
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