MiLB Catchers (AAA, AA, A+, A-)

[CHIP]

AAA - NORFOLK

Bemboom:  Down in Aberdeen on a Rehab assignment.  Went 0-2 on Tuesday in A+.  At AAA before IL (concussion protocol) he was .290 avg .786 ops.  Throwing out runners at a 20% clip.  4-20.  Has caught 149 innings, 1 PB

Godoy:  From NYY Dev Squad on 6/2/23.  in 7 games he is 6-21.  .286 avg .829 ops  in 56 innings 8 runners have stolen with 0 CS  0% rate (easy math).  2 PB already.  The offense is not making up for the defense.  Starting to realize why relegated to the Developmental Squad at NYY.

Handley: Back from IL in AAA this week.  Has raised his AVG to .250 (.693 OPS) after is 0-5 (5Ks) on 4/13.  Has caught 4-12 (33%) plus 2 CS at AA last week.  only 2 PB in 188 innings.  Not throwing the ball around like he did early.

Kolozsvary:  Gets the Frequent Flier Award.  Demoted to AA before Handley got hurt.  Since May 26th, he is 1-22 dropping his AAA avg to .162 with a .515 OPS.  If anyone has seen him the past couple weeks he looks like trash in the batters box.  He has thrown out 5-19 for a 26% CS in 161 innings.  He was moved to Taxi Squad and then added to the 26 man then optioned 19 hours later to be DFAd 1 hour after that

Not sure  who stays and goes between Godoy and Kolozsvary.  Offense or 'defense'.  

AA - BOWIE

Rodriguez:  Returned from IL stint in Delmarva after Handley returned to Norfolk.  in 18 games/51ABs at AA he is hitting .255 with .710 OPS.  In 137 innings 1 PB and 3-16 CS 19%

Susnara:  Brought in when Handley went on IL and Kolozsvary moved back to AAA.  In 13 games/40AB hitting .150 with .494 OPS.  Has caught 112 innings.  0-9 Caught Stealing.  Susnara hadn't played in 2022 after being release in 2021.  May take some time... but see traits of why he was released in 2021

Pavolony:  Been on IL since April 6th.  Before that hitting .111 (2-18) .222 OPS.  Only light to see was 3-6 in CS 50%

A+    ABERDEEN

Ardoin:   42G/129AB so far.  Hitting .202 w/ .633 OPS.     In 286 innings, he has 2 PB and caught 16-53 base stealers.  30%

Retzbach:  Put on IL on 5/25.  just put on rehab assignment at Delmarva (0-4 in 2 G so far).  While in Aberdeen, 28G, 94AB, .213 avg .661 OPS  123 innings caught, 4 PB, 8-34 caught stealing. 24%

Willems:  Promoted to Aberdeen on May 30 after his .302/1.057 Delmarva display.  In 13G, 40AB in Aberdeen just hitting .175 but 3 of 7 hits are HR. so POS of .720.  SO rate is 2X hit rate.  Has caught 6 of 22 runners in A+ in 59 innings.  27%.  They have him catching about 1/2 the games he plays. Others are split between 1B and DH

A-   DELMARVA

Basallo:  18 YO that was just added to BA100.  6'3" 180lb.  If he grows,,, he may grow out of Catcher.  In 2023, 207 AB in 53 games.  Hitting .280 with .763 OPS  Of his 53 games, he has caught 30, 17 @ 1B, 4 @ DH.  While catching he is throwing out 33% as they test his arm plenty.  24-72 in 252 innings.  5 PB.   From the videos on his throws, he has a strong arm but a quicker transfer would help and of course better accuracy doesn't hurt anyone.

Others are filler

 

[emmett16]

It was painful watching Godoy catch GROd today.  He’s an awful receiver.  
 

A good combo of defense and offense in the group.  Pretty good looking catching pipeline. 

[CHIP]

Fun times behind home for the boys in orange and black.

Quite Possibly the O's are preparing for Bemboom not to make it thru waivers after he is DFA'd soon not that he got his 'BemBloop' the other night and is surely to be highly coveted by other teams more desperate for catching depth than the O's.

Kolozsvary was DFAd on June 14th and chose free agency on 16th and signed with Twins (St Paul Saints AAA) on 20th immediately going 0-4 and making Tides magic number 1 which they promptly secured the 1/2 half season for AAA.

Rodriguez removed from IL on June 13th and moved to AAA on 20th to fill after Bemboom moved to MLB club

Godoy gets assigned to Taxi squad and McCann goes down on 10 day IL.  Gets selected  on 18th and Optioned on 20th (Swapped for Bemboom) and clears outright waivers and reassigned (accepted) to Norfolk Tide on 26th

And then O's do their best Romancing the Stone romp thru Colombia and sign their next AAA catcher Meibrys Viloria.  22 days with Angels org, 39 days with Cleveland org (4 PAs in MLB this year going 0-3 w/ BB, SF Giants in November of 2022, Texas in 2021, and KC before that.  But I am sure the O's and Matt Blood's catcher development program can turn this one around.

[CHIP]

1 minute ago, CHIP said:

And then O's do their best Romancing the Stone romp thru Colombia and sign their next AAA catcher Meibrys Viloria.  22 days with Angels org, 39 days with Cleveland org (4 PAs in MLB this year going 0-3 w/ BB, SF Giants in November of 2022, Texas in 2021, and KC before that.  But I am sure the O's and Matt Blood's catcher development program can turn this one around.

 

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by CHIP

[MCO'sFan]

This guy is just filler like the other signings were. Easily replaced parts that serve a purpose but are not in any sort of development plans. 

[jabba72]

Aneudis Mordán in the FCL is doing pretty well through 9 games. 3 HR's 3 2B and 7 Walks.

[CHIP]

Update after 35 days

AAA - NORFOLK

Handley:  Since coming back from Bowie on the IL around Mid June,  played 10 games in June and 9 in July.  Hitting .294/.368/.382 in June and  .292/.485/.583 in July.  So taking the 19 game average over the past 5 weeks of .293/.423/.466 equating to .898 OPS.  That is over 58 ABs with 2 HR's, 4 doubles.   These are the numbers that start to get opportunities.

Bemboom:  Looking at his stats...  Started hot in April with only 11 ABs with 5 hits.  May was high use with 58 ABs but only 15 hits.  Hitting .259 in May with .397 slugging.  0-3 in June and 1-8 in May.  Overall his avg continues to drop to .263 with a .707 OPS.  Bemboom is truly the O's back and forth and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes back on Taxi Squad sooner than later.  He isn't helping Tides at all. 

Godoy:  Hasn't played since July 1.  Has been on Taxi Squad.  3 week Taxi rotation with Bemboom is maybe about due?

AA - BOWIE

Rodriguez:  Was reactivated about a month ago from IL.  Has bounced between AA and AAA.  Hitting .260/.375/.452 in AA with .381 in limited action at AAA but 0 walks in 21 ABs.  He has spurts of offense but in AA is 4-31 in CS and in AAA is 0-3.  His defense is almost non existent to make up for average offense.

Susnara:  Had one solid week from 6/23 to 6/30 going 6-15 and then 2 HR on 7/4 to boost his OPS.  But barely above Mendoza line at .207 and only 1-26 runners caught.  Hasn't played since Pavolony back from IL

Pavolony:  Returned from IL and went 1-13 in FCL, 0-8 in Delmarva, and is 0-10 in Bowie.  

Opinion:  One of the last two listed is not going to get many more chances.

A+    ABERDEEN

Ardoin:   19 games since last post getting 62 more ABs getting 15 hits (.242) during that stretch.  But went 11-16 in a 5 game stretch 6/29-7/5 with 3 HR.    Currently sitting at .215/.366/.330.  Maintaining the 30% caught stealing with 20-67

Willems:  33G in A+ and hitting .242/.317/.444 with 7HR at this level.  Last week left a game after striking out.  I wondered why he was pulled and during his last AB he was really shaking his left arm out.  Hasn't been placed on IL yet but he wasn't acting like it was minor.  CS% has improved to 33% from 27% but can he stay healthy enough to stay behind the dish?

Retzbach:  OUT FOR THE YEAR on IL

A-   DELMARVA

Basallo:  Hitting has gone up .013 points with OPS rising .107.  So he is sitting at .293/.372/.498 thru 74 games with 283 ABs.  18 YO that was just added to BA100.  6'3" 180lb.  CS rate dropped a small amount but still above 32%.  With signing of Cole Urman out of Cal State Fullerton... does this let Basallo move to Aberdeen sooner than later?

 

[RZNJ]

My feeling is that Handley can be a ML backup and Ardoin is trending that way with significant hitting improvement.   Willems and, moreno, Basallo are starter options but 3-4 years away.

[btdart20]

23 minutes ago, CHIP said:

Basallo:  Hitting has gone up .013 points with OPS rising .107.  So he is sitting at .293/.372/.498 thru 74 games with 283 ABs.  18 YO that was just added to BA100.  6'3" 180lb.  CS rate dropped a small amount but still above 32%.  With signing of Cole Urman out of Cal State Fullerton... does this let Basallo move to Aberdeen sooner than later?

 

Thanks for the positional summary.  Basallo looks much bigger than 180 lbs.  If that's an accurate weight, this dude's going to get much stronger.

 

What's the deal with the taxi guys?  I know they're insurance policies basically, but do they get paid more than AAA guys?  I would think so because they aren't traditional prospect types in general.

[CHIP]

8 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

What's the deal with the taxi guys?  I know they're insurance policies basically, but do they get paid more than AAA guys?  I would think so because they aren't traditional prospect types in general.

My understanding is they make the same as their normal minor league salary but get an additional Per Diem for food. In 2020 it was $110 but that may have gone up with recent contract changes.  Bemboom likely has a pretty decent AAA contract to keep accepting DFAs and Reassignments.  Godoy would likely still earn a decent AAA salary because of his history of 2 times on 26 man.  The AAA contracts are public anywhere I have found.

[interloper]

I've been thinking lately that Handley feels like the kind of almost-prospect that could get moved in a deadline deal. He's a guy who can be at least a serviceable catcher right now in the big leagues.

[RZNJ]

34 minutes ago, interloper said:

I've been thinking lately that Handley feels like the kind of almost-prospect that could get moved in a deadline deal. He's a guy who can be at least a serviceable catcher right now in the big leagues.

I would imagine that Handley is more important as catcher emergency depth than the very little he would move the needle as part of any trade. 

[emmett16]

Mavericks OBP  is .403 which is .142 over his avg.  only 142 ABs but still notable.  He’s getting his walks and hitting with a little thump.   The D is solid.  Imagine they let him season next year in AAA and is next man up after McCann. 

[Just Regular]

Looks like Meibrys Viloria had some Man vs. Boys fun in a complex game this afternoon.

I've heard one of the drags changing even backup catchers in August is pitcher familiarity, but if we had say Scott Barlow, Carlos Hernandez and Jordan Lyles next week....

[Tony-OH]

12 hours ago, Just Regular said:

Looks like Meibrys Viloria had some Man vs. Boys fun in a complex game this afternoon.

I've heard one of the drags changing even backup catchers in August is pitcher familiarity, but if we had say Scott Barlow, Carlos Hernandez and Jordan Lyles next week....

As a former big leaguer, he probably should look like a man vs boys. I'm sure once he's considered fully ready they will move him up to AAA.