CHIP

Tuesday at 17:18

On 6/8/2024 at 6:51 PM, Legend_Of_Joey said:

Handley was placed on the injured list today due to a concussion, stemming from taking a foul tip to the mask yesterday and being removed from the game.

I went back and watched that series of events. 94 mph fastball tipped and stuck in the mask. So 100% of that force was absorbed by the mask/helmet/head. He casually pulled it from the mask and they had him start using Hunt's cap/mask. Everything seemed okay in the 3rd and 4th after that. Including him catching a pop up behind home. In the top of 5, he looked fine hitting as he smacked a hit to LF and ran to first. It was an obvious single but after he rounded first you can see him shaking his head at the 1B coach in disappointment. Few seconds and Buck Briton is sprinting from 3B coaches box across the field and he and the 1B coach are trying to keep him standing upright as they walk to the bench. Trainer comes out and helps him further.

This was not as scary as Payton Henry (Toronto AAA catcher in Buffalo) who just a week before took a bat (follow thru) to the base of his skull where it connects to the neck. He went down immediately and within seconds started to shake/sieze. Cameras panned away until he was on a backboard being carted off the field. Taken to the hospital and released the next day.

Handley uses the Hockey Style. Henry uses the traditional cap/mask. They say the Hockey is less forgiving on the foul tips but protects the head better from the bat. The traditional is better on foul tips but not so much against the bat.

Hoping Handley and Henry recover quickly and safely

June 3

I don't know why... but Norfolk just can't seem to play well at home this year. Of the 6 games vs. Gwinnet, the team went 2-4. With Hunt catching, they were 0-3. With Handley, they were 2-1. The biggest difference I saw was Handley's ability to block the ball and control the running game more. Gwinnet was/is one of the top teams in the IL in stolen base attempts. Handley had more CS and he also had a PO. During the 6/29 game, Handley's pitchers (Young and Strowd) both had POs over at 1B. If you watch, you can see Handley call the PO and then punch his glove. At that time, the pitcher throws over. It didn't win that game... but it kept it closer.

From an offensive perspective... as a whole, the team was awful (excluding Holliday). 167 AB's and only 29 hits. A team average of 0.165. If you take away Holliday's 7-17, the team avg was only 0.138. For the Catchers, Handley hit in 4 games (1 @ DH) he his 2-14 (0.143) with a double. 4 K and 1 BB. Hunt was 0-11 with 5 K and 0 BB.

Hunt's numbers don't seem to be carrying over from the PCL league... at least not early on. It seems he likes to chase the low and outside pitch while watching those right down the middle of the plate. He just looks to be 'over' trying for power.

Handley had some good contact but hard hit right at people. He did struggle with the Knuckle Ball pitcher on Friday.

Still, 1 week and a game in is too early and too small of a sample size but right now, overall Handley is playing better defensively and offensively. Hunt's lone bright spot was a HR ball on a new pitcher in his first game the week before.

May 31

22 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Nice job in the comparisons. I need to see more of Hunt before making any definitive statements. To me they are very similar profiles in the sense that they are both probably backup catchers at best in the majors. Handley certainly throws better, and Hunt has more power. The rest I will need to see by watching Hunt behind the dish.

This, on paper, seems to be the first 'competition' at the catcher position at the same level in a few years (age/skill). I have to go thru the game video but on paper this week so far has been bad for both catchers against Gwinnett... but also offensively most of the team has struggled this week. But I don't just like to look at the box score. I want to see the ABs, swings/not swings, throw downs (slow POP or slow delivery by P, etc), game calling, body language, etc.

May 29

Mr. Billy Cook made a couple great plays yesterday for the Tide. Both times with Bases Loaded a ball was hit down the RF line and Cook snags the grounders behind 1B, steps on 1B moving toward home and makes perfect throws to Hunt for the tag play at home. I thought both were well fielded and well thrown. Kept the game a lot closer than it should have been otherwise.

After his 0-5 game (with 5K) 'Platinum Sombrero'? on 5/26 he was able to forget that quickly. The last 2 games he has gone hitless in back to back games. This is the only other time besides earlier in May when he went 0-10 in 3 straight games. Otherwise, he hits and gets on. As said above... solid defense flexibility and bat to ball contact.... he may get that cup of coffee before he is done. And if he gets a cup... he may get some more. He reminds me of Andrew Vaughn with the White Sox but with not as much power.

May 29

As a reminder, my son was a catcher and played until his HS junior year. He loves the game and also has Asperger's... so he has a gift and he compiles the stats for me and I then get to go thru what we talk about here on the board. (he is actually going to get to do this in college next year also).

We have the overall stats and we have the head to head stats. I have been able to watch these games from the archive and get to the plays/ABs with Handley and Hunt so this is more about the head to head stats..

This is a small sample size but we have to start somewhere...

Handley has played in 3 games, Hunt has played in 2 games.

Handley was 4-14 with 1 BB, 3 K, 1 SB, 2 RBI, stole a base offensively, and had 2 caught stealing defensively.

Hunt was 2-9 with 1 HR, 4 K, 1 RBI, and defensively had 3 SB vs 1 CS.

The HR has given Hunt the SLG advantage. Handley as usual has a good AVG and OBP with low K rate.

Handley laid down on nice bunt 1B on 5/23 but at the same time has top 5 EVs of 104.1, 103, 102, 100.5, & 91.9. Hunt's top 5 EVs are 103.8, 103.5, 99.6, 92.6 & 88.5.

Handley seems steady and doing what he has done all year. We have noticed a significant change in bat path from last year to this year.

Hunt in his SSS seems to be a very different hitter. He is watching a lot of pitches that are on the middle of the plate and chasing a lot of pitches off the plate. This really happened yesterday. It is early so he may be pressing with his new team.

Defensively... Hunt receives well (in my opinion) but when the ball is moving and not where he is set up, he seems to have trouble moving to catch/block the ball. These pitchers are all new to him so this could be some unfamiliarity and currently gets the benefit of the doubt. Gwinnett seemed to run on him freely as there were 5 attempts yesterday (1 was a double steal that he got the guy at 2nd so other SB didn't count).

Norfolk posted a strike em out throw em out of the 5/24 game which wasn't actually a throw em out as there were 2 outs when the strike out happened. His actual CS earlier in the game was even better. You can also see Handley calling the pickoffs and keeping runners close even with Hoffman and Charles pitching.

May 29

From May 24th:

Comparing Hunt and Handley there are 'pieces' that can be pulled from both as positives and negatives. Two different style catchers for sure and two very different paths.

Age: Handley is 8 months older than Hunt. 3/10/98 vs. 11/10/98

Draft: Hunt got $1.6M out of HS. Handley went to Stanford and got $250K. Hunt is now in his 4th professional organization. Drafted by SDP (6/17), traded to TBR (12/20), traded to SEA (11/23), traded to BAL (5/24). Handley drafted by BAL in 2019. Only other catcher still in the BAL system since his draft is Adley. Value becomes perspective.

Size: Hunt is 6'4" 215# while Handley is 5'10" 205#. Both players are hit/throw R/R. Hunt has the projectable size over Handley without a doubt.

For the comparisons below, I am going to 'trim' the statistics to 2021 and later. Handley was in college and short season in '19. Hunt was in rookie, short season and low A thru '19. These are development years for both and not really comparable (my opinion) as it waters down the 'same' timeframes/levels. I have done my best to equally balance the data for an neutral comparison.

Since 2021, both players have been in High A and above. Hunt has played 248 Games with 989 PA. Handley has played 245 Games with 958 PA.

A+ Games: Hunt 59, Handley 60

AA Games: Hunt 135, Handley 82

AAA Games: Hunt 54, Handley 103

SPEED: Hunt has a total of 5 SB. 1 in A+ and 4 in AA. Handley has a total of 30 SB. 12 in A+, 7 in AA, 11 in AAA.

BB Rate: Hunt 7.9% in AA and 6.6% in AAA. Handley 11.7% in AA and 14% in AAA.

K Rate: Hunt 25.6% in AA & 15.6% in AAA. Handley 22.2% in AA and 17% in AAA

HITTING: In AA, Hunt was .232/.310/.364/.674 and Handley was .237/.351/.423/.774. AAA is a bit different but sample set isn't quite the same. Hunt .275/.340/.524/.863 and Handley was .243/.373/.362/.735.

DEFENSE: Hunt has caught 220 games (1904.1 innings). Handley has caught 212 games (1805 innings). Hunt has caught 56 of 252 runners (22%). Handley has caught 81 of 198 runners (41%). But since the new pick off rules, etc. In AAA, Hunt has caught 5 of 35 (14%) and Handley has caught 17 of 50 (34%). Passed Balls are Hunt 17 and Handley 18.

Overall, it is my opinion, that Hunt's ranking in Seattle's system doesn't push him over Handley in the O's system. Handley has more experience with the O's staff and AAA ball in general. Stats between PCL and IL are not created equal.

Biggest advantage Hunt has is physical size and already coming in on O's 40 man roster.

Outside of this... pending no injuries at MLB level, the Tide are playing Braves (Gwinnett) next week and Yankees (Scranton) the following week. Seeing when Hunt comes in and how the O's divide playing time as Handley was getting 4/6 games per week will show a lot. How Hunt/Handley are taking the competition and how the O's are setting up the comparable game time. Will they be doing a 50/50 catching split or giving one or the other more time at C? With our other prospects, we do not have a lot of DH time available and neither Hunt or Handley play 1B.

May 29

Baumann and Perez were traded for Blake Hunt on May 22nd and Hunt was activated and assigned to AAA Norfolk on May 23rd. I did a comparison in the trade topic on Orioles Talk page on May 24th. I have posted it below. I thought a new topic to compare the two (the good, the bad & the ugly) without cross referencing our existing MLB Catchers or lower level prospects. Here we can do more of a head to head tracking as this is now a somewhat interesting topic as McCann's future is unknown and Basallo is likely not making the MLB team this year... so we can compare what we have at the AAA level and who is positioning themselves as the back up catcher (at this time without any trades).

May 24