Chance Sisco 2018 Starting Catcher

[interloper]

If only he could play the Catcher position.

[UpstateNYfan]

The defensive liabilities were also placed on Caleb when he was at AA. They Dh'ed him and put him in the outfield as I recall. To some extent ML pitchers are more refined and have better control than MiL'ers and easier to catch. Arm strength is what it is..some players with great arms get away with "poor" mechanics, others with weaker arms get by with great mechanics. I haven't seen Sisco, but hopefully he'll become more like CJ.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Roll Tide said:

If only his defense and throwing were good

From what I've heard, his defense is good other than his throwing.    I've seen two or three minor league evaluations this season that have said that.    Also, while I can't access them right now, BP keeps stats on pitch framing and pitch blocking for AAA catchers and Sisco scores well in both categories.

[NCRaven]

39 minutes ago, interloper said:

If only he could play the Catcher position.

This is like a broken record.  You keep repeating it without facts and only two year-old reports to back it up.  Even after people like FRobby and Can-of-Corn have repeatedly tried to explain why you're wrong.

[Beef Supreme]

36 minutes ago, UpstateNYfan said:

The defensive liabilities were also placed on Caleb when he was at AA. They Dh'ed him and put him in the outfield as I recall. To some extent ML pitchers are more refined and have better control than MiL'ers and easier to catch. Arm strength is what it is..some players with great arms get away with "poor" mechanics, others with weaker arms get by with great mechanics. I haven't seen Sisco, but hopefully he'll become more like CJ.

I was talking with  friend recently about how rare it is for a catcher to improve his defense after promotion to mlb. Joseph seems to be the exception to the rule, meaning I wouldn't use his example of what to expect from another player. Any other catchers improve defensively from sub-par to above average in the majors?

[Beef Supreme]

8 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

This is like a broken record.  You keep repeating it without facts and only two year-old reports to back it up.  Even after people like FRobby and Can-of-Corn have repeatedly tried to explain why you're wrong.

Fallacy: Appeal to Authority

[NCRaven]

22 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

Fallacy: Appeal to Authority

Unless Interloper has actually watched Chance Sisco with some regularity, I think his repeated comments about his catching ability is based on outdated information that has since been shown to be no longer accurate.

I did not appeal to authority in that I am not citing either posters opinion.  I simply mentioned that they have pointed out that more recent scouting reports have indicated that Sisco's catching ability is no longer a major concern.  If citing professional scouts vs. accepting Interloper's questionable statements counts, then guilty.

[Cumberbundy]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

From what I've heard, his defense is good other than his throwing.    I've seen two or three minor league evaluations this season that have said that.    Also, while I can't access them right now, BP keeps stats on pitch framing and pitch blocking for AAA catchers and Sisco scores well in both categories.

Calebs "offense was ahead of his defense."

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/baseball/2014/05/16/caleb-joseph-orioles-catcher-lipscomb/9173305/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin=

[Cumberbundy]

This is a great Sisco article with a good story from a hs playoff game. Unique reaction to a home run.

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/sports/level/professional/quiet-intensity-fueling-sisco-s-rise-on-o-s-farm/article_62aa8c8d-d6a1-5e0c-b4d4-77b0e0c38b9c.html

[Legend_Of_Joey]

I watched him in person last year and in a lot of video this year.

His bat is not an issue. He is a catching version of Kim, with slightly more power. 

His defense has gotten a bit better. How much of it has been helped by better pitching staffs as he rose up? I'd say that helped. But I also noticed how pitchers tend not to throw a lot of stuff in the dirt with him. Last year and this year, pitchers looked like they were throwing far fewer breaking balls low in the down and in the dirt compared to when there was another catcher.

As far as his arm, I don't think his arm, overall, is a problem. His mechanics are slow. He has slow footwork, a slow rise up to bring the ball to his throwing hand, and a slow release. He also has the tendency to stand almost straight up while throwing. As a taller, lanky guy, this really causes the ball to either tail, sail, or drop, depending on the grip. 

[NCRaven]

1 hour ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

I watched him in person last year and in a lot of video this year.

His bat is not an issue. He is a catching version of Kim, with slightly more power. 

His defense has gotten a bit better. How much of it has been helped by better pitching staffs as he rose up? I'd say that helped. But I also noticed how pitchers tend not to throw a lot of stuff in the dirt with him. Last year and this year, pitchers looked like they were throwing far fewer breaking balls low in the down and in the dirt compared to when there was another catcher.

As far as his arm, I don't think his arm, overall, is a problem. His mechanics are slow. He has slow footwork, a slow rise up to bring the ball to his throwing hand, and a slow release. He also has the tendency to stand almost straight up while throwing. As a taller, lanky guy, this really causes the ball to either tail, sail, or drop, depending on the grip. 

Thanks.  Also need to keep in mind that he switched to catching in his senior year of catching and is still learning proper mechanics.  I think he could benefit from more time in Norfolk, at least to start, next year.  He'll likely always be a bat first catcher.  There's value in that.

[ChuckS]

Sisco seems to have trouble turning on good fastballs, but has decent power to the opposite field.  He'll probably send quite a few out that way in Camden Yards. 

I know he's been a 5-6 home run guy in the minors, but I see him hitting 10-12 in a full season in Baltimore given our dimensions and some physical maturity.  

[Legend_Of_Joey]

1 hour ago, NCRaven said:

Thanks.  Also need to keep in mind that he switched to catching in his senior year of catching and is still learning proper mechanics.  I think he could benefit from more time in Norfolk, at least to start, next year.  He'll likely always be a bat first catcher.  There's value in that.

His switching was a good thing and a bad thing.

The good is that his bat now seems more valuable. Top contact hitting catchers are one of the most valuable things.

The bad thing though, is that he is now well behind players that grew up as a catcher and who have developed these skills their whole life and who have been able to adapt all the training they got to fit themselves.

He is several years, possibly a decade, behind where other catchers start at. His bat is the biggest thing going for him. If he was a .230 hitter in the minors with his defense, he might be in the Atlantic or Frontier League right now.

While he may grow with his skills a bit more, he will always be lagging well behind. Which is unfortunate because he could probably do a whole lot more with batting if he was at a familiar position and was able to have less on his plate and less of a "get beat up" position.

[Cumberbundy]

1 hour ago, ChuckS said:

Sisco seems to have trouble turning on good fastballs, but has decent power to the opposite field.  He'll probably send quite a few out that way in Camden Yards. 

I know he's been a 5-6 home run guy in the minors, but I see him hitting 10-12 in a full season in Baltimore given our dimensions and some physical maturity.  

Easily 10-12 with decent contact and this non juiced juiced baseball. He'll hit more than 10-12

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Cumberbundy said:

Easily 10-12 with decent contact and this non juiced juiced baseball. He'll hit more than 10-12

Mmmmm, I don't know.    This is a guy with 24 homers in 1852 PA in the minors.    It's not just a Norfolk thing, he's never hit more than 6 in a season at any level.   Nor does he hit a ton of doubles.    He's a high average, good OBP guy and that's fine with me.