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Tale of two catchers

wildcard

By wildcard
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wildcard Hangout Grand Counsel

wildcard

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Well maybe four catchers when looking a little farther.

Looking at the year to date stats for Castillo and Joseph they look like a productive pair.   And the have been.  But they are actually two catchers going in different directions.    Since the All Star break Castillo  leads the team in average  .376,   in slugging .688 and in OPS 1.098.  That's right,  in that time frame he has been better than Manny (MLB player of the month for August), better than Schoop and better than Beckham.    You can look it up.

Meanwhile Joseph slumped in August with a 600 OPS.   The result is that Castillo is getting more playing time which allows him to widen the gap while Caleb sits more and more.

So what does this mean for the future?   If Castillo continues to hit well he will almost certainly opt out of his 7m contract for next year.   He will be eligible to test the free agent market.   And it would not be surprising to see him get a contract of 3/30m.   Since Beef has become an important part of the O's offense and in my view has improved defensive as he has worked with John Russell,  should the O's consider signing him to that kind of a contract for his age 31-33 years?

Joseph, of course,  had a poor 2016 offensive year.   If he continues to slump is he a candidate to be the O's #1 catcher next year if Castillo opts out or is he not productive enough for that role? It becomes questionable.

There is Sisco.  And at first glance it doesn't look like he is having a good offensive year at Norfolk with 267/340/395/736.   But has we saw with Mancini Norfolk stats at Harbor Park can be misleading when judging a player's offense.   Sisco's road numbers are  292/374/435/809.   That makes him look ready offensively.   However his defense has always been the biggest factor on whether he is ready for a promotion.   So far I have not heard anything that makes me believe he is ready behind the plate.   And I doubt he gets enough playing time at catcher in a pennant race to prove anything in September.  So the safe thing to do is plan for him to start the year at AAA again next year.  With a shaky starting staff the O's can't afford to have a shaky defensive catcher IMO

Austin Wynns is  known as a good  defensive catcher who is hitting well at AA.  He is 26 going on 27 years old  in December.  His numbers at Bowie are 281/381/423/804.   Its pretty hard to see him as the O's #1 catcher next year but he could be a back catcher.

So where does all this lead to?   The first thing that needs to happen is  the O's need to determine if they are willing to give Castillo a multi year contract for more per year than the 7m.   If they are everything  else is secondary.   If the aren't then is Joseph/Wynns with Sisco added in later in the season good enough for an World Series bid?  The O's will have to make up their minds shortly after the World Series is over this fall. 

What do you think?

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Legend_Of_Joey Hangout Grand Counsel

Legend_Of_Joey

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If Castillo leaves, I would pick Joseph and Wynns, with Sisco at Norfolk with either Pena, or a free agent catcher who is a solid defender.

While Joseph has slumped, he still knows a bit about hitting. Let Wynns learn a bit about that.

Let Sisco keep working on his defense and learn from a veteran in Norfolk and see how the Orioles are at the break.

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TheWall Major Leaguer

TheWall

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Beef will be an interesting FA case. I'd like to keep him, but it really depends on what he's going to command. Will have to wait and see. A lot depends on how ready they believe Cisco is. Hopefully he can fix some of his mechanical issues behind the dish.

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