Mack – In Search of a Catcher

PC - Mack 

Good morning.

Let’s face it… you can count on one hand how many great catchers there are in baseball.

Why?

Well, one coach told me that, along the way, the worst ‘athlete’ was handed the catching equipment as they entered any form of organized ball. You not only have to keep your focus on the direction of the ball, but you have to survive the constant barrage of balls being fouled off your garbanzos, direct the pitchers what their next pitch needs to be, have a rifle arm to second base, keep your knees healthy, and, oh yeah, hit like Mike Piazza.

Good luck on this.

In my opinion, the Mets have had three great catchers… Jerry Grote, Gary Carter, and Piazza. That’s three in the 57 years this team has been playing baseball.

Francisco Alvarez may be the next one.

Alvarez was given a record $2.7 million bonus to sign last July as a 16-year old out of Venezuela. The 5-11, 220 beast is a power first hitter and possesses a strong arm. Weight control will be the key here.

Alvarez may come stateside and play for one of the stateside short season teams, but we will have to wait to see if that happens.

There are others in the chain that show promise. Ali Sanchez is easily the best defensive catcher in the system. Patrick Mazeika, is a bat playing both first and behind the plate behind Sanchez. St. Lucie’s Nick Meyer is hitting .266 in 64 at-bats. And 2015’s international signee, Andres Regnault, hit .333 for the DSL team last year… but the pipeline has far too little talent at this position.

So, are there any out there to draft this year?

We know of two, but they will probably go 1-2 in the draft (which may be the first time two catchers were the first two picks). Oregon State’s Adley Rutschman and Baylor’s Shea Langeliers will be long gone before the Mets pick comes up at #12.

I literally have only nine catchers on my board, six of which will be picks somewhere past the first five rounds. The other, Mississippi’s Cooper Johnson, should not be picked in the first found, but he is a viable option at #42 in the second round.

Prospect Junkies said this about Johnson in 2016 –

HITTING – Johnson’s bat is behind the glove at this point, but most human’s bats are behind Johnson’s glove.  With a wide stance and simple load, Johnson has a line drive stroke.  At the Super 60, Johnson sprayed balls to all fields and registered a 92 mph exit velocity.  Pitch recognition has been a challenge for Johnson in the past and his bat speed is below some of the other prep bats in this draft.

POWER – Johnson uses a powerful lower half to generate line drives.  He gets good extension on an uppercut swing to drive the ball into the gaps.  As the hit tool progresses, I see projection in developing additional power as a professional.

Where has he progressed to at Mississippi this season –

     45-G, 142-AB, .282/.379/.472/851, 6-HR, 23-RBI

Other catchers on my board (in order) –

      Jonathan French     -     Parkview HS

      Ethan Hearn          -     Mobile Christian

      Ivan Gonzalez        -     West Virginia

      Thomas Dillard       -     Ole Miss

      Hayden Dunhurst     -     Pearl River HS (MS)

      Jaxx Groshams       -     Kansas

***RHP Alert***

We have spent the entire mock season projecting Cypress Ranch (TX) HS RHP Matthew Thompson and Porter Ridge (NC) HS Brennan Malone as the first two righties tagged in the draft.

Well, the latest mocks have two others that are catching,

and in some mocks, passing Thompson and Malone by.

The first is Bulloch County (GA) HS’s Daniel Espino:

      PG - Daniel Espino is a 2019 RHP with a 6-3 200 lb. frame from Statesboro, GA who attends Georgia Premier Academy. Athletic build with a very strong lower half. High flexible leg raise, gets his strong hips turned well, very long arm action in back and shows the ball to the hitter, extended 3/4's arm slot. 

Fastball topped out at 98 mph, comes in hot and hard, works the top side of his velocity range the majority of the time, life and fastball command best at his highest release points, has consistently thrown this hard in numerous events thus far this summer. 

Throws both a slider and a curveball, slider is a much better pitch right now with good tightness and 2-plane bite, curveball tends to be too soft in comparison to his fastball with a slower arm at release. Flashed a firm change up that should continue to develop. Elite level arm strength, a plus second pitch in his slider and has always thrown strikes. 

Panamanian native who has been in the United States for two years. Verbal commitment to Louisiana State. Selected to play in the Perfect Game All-American Classic.

The second is Semenole (FL) HS Matt Allen –

      PG - Matthew Allan is a 2019 RHP/1B with a 6-3 210 lb. frame from Sanford, FL who attends Seminole HS. Big and strong athletic build, mature physically. Slow paced delivery with a big leg raise start, low effort mechanics, 3/4's arm slot, showed better stuff and more consistent mechanics from the wind up. 

Fastball topped out at 94 mph, gets to his velocity easily, mostly straight with the ability to throw it to spots. Breaking ball is his best pitch, slider shape with curveball depth, very consistent spin and very good feel, strikeout pitch. Very comfortable working glove side. Rare change up was firm and developing.

Remember these names. One might be the Mets’ first pick come June.