Phillies Spring Training Position Preview: Catchers
The Phillies have created a very interesting situation at one of the most important positions on the field.
For the first time in a decade, the Philadelphia Phillies will open a season without one of the most important pieces to the team’s success. Carlos Ruiz will be all the way across the nation playing with Seattle when Spring Training begins in ten days. Now, to be fair, the job was not his last season, but the idea of not having Chooch in the clubhouse is a difficult pill to swallow.
With the starting job all but sealed, the Phillies do have a nice amount of depth at the catcher position. Thanks to some creativity this offseason, the Phils will have five catchers with a legitimate shot at the big-leagues this camp. While teams normally only bring two backstops up north with them to start the season, the Phils very well could decide to bring three back to Philadelphia.
As the preseason is set to get underway in just under ten days, the catching situation is still a blurred line. While it seems the starting position is locked down, there are many questions that will soon be answered.
Internal Options: Andrew Knapp
Andrew Knapp is the catcher in this group of five that I am most interested in following as 2017 gets underway. He has long been thought of as a bat first type of player. While most people seem to believe that Knapp is walking into a backup catcher position, the argument can be made for him to play a different role in 2017.
The Phils originally took the 25-year old in the second round of the 2013 draft. He played in college at University of California, Berkeley. The Phils liked Knapp because they saw an advanced bat that may be able to move quickly through its system. He did just that.
The switch hitter’s ability at the plate has led him to the opportunity he sees in front of him this spring. His best season was split between Clearwater and Double-A Reading in 2015 (.308/.385/.491 with 13 homers and 84 RBI). Last year’s promotion to Lehigh Valley was met with some challenges, but Knapp was able to overcome and be a steady bat (.266/.330/.390).
Knapp’s best chance to play at the big league level is through his bat. The 107 strikeouts (24% of his plate appearances) have to be cut down if he wants to find consistent playing time. He has a strong gap stroke that will not lead to much power output (max 12-15 homers), but should bring a ton of doubles.
His defense behind the plate, albeit improved, leaves something to be desired. While he has played some first base, he is not skilled enough at the position to change completely. However, it does add to his flexibility as a professional player, which could lead to quite a unique spot for the soon to be rookie.
The Phillies have a ton of positional flexibility on their roster. With the flexibility of Howie Kendrick and Andres Blanco, and five outfielders, the Phils could very well carry three catchers. Knapp, who has the ability to hit both righties and lefties equally well, could catch a few times a month, play first base against a tough righty every once in awhile, but mainly focus on the idea of pinch hitting in major spots.
While it seems like an odd spot to take on a big league roster, the Phils could turn Knapp into the next era’s Greg Dobbs/Matt Stairs role. Find him spotted playing time, but use him to mainly hit.
Internal Options: Jorge Alfaro
Let’s suppose Jorge Alfaro maxes out his potential when he arrives in Philadelphia. What does that mean for the Phillies? Well, simply put, it will mean they have one of the best catchers in baseball. When the Phils traded for the powerful catcher, the above is what they hoped for. The question remains as to whether or not it is what they will get.
The Texas Rangers signed Alfaro as an international free agent in 2010. Five and a half years later, the Phils swooped in on the prospect when they sent Cole Hamels to Texas. Alfaro came back in a package with four other Texas prospects. However, he is the player the Phils are heavily counting on moving into the next generation of Phillies baseball.
On the diamond, teams are fortified defensively up the middle of the field. Catchers, middle infielders, and center fielders are crucial to a team’s success. In 2008, it was Carlos Ruiz, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Shane Victorino. The Phillies are hoping for Odubel Herrera, J.P. Crawford, Scott Kingery, and yes, Alfaro to be the next version of that success.
Alfaro can absolutely fit the bill defensively. He has vastly improved his receiving, and while he tends to struggle blocking pitches, it will not be an ongoing issue back there. His arm strength is superior to any catcher this organization, or possibly any other, has seen in a long time.
Offensively, Alfaro is an interesting case. After missing most of 2015 with an injury, the 23 year old took major steps forward with his bat in 2016. Alfaro did improve his walk rate throughout the course of the season. In the first two months of 2016, Alfaro walked only two times. In the next 76 games, he took 21 walks. In short, the Phils expect him to hit balls much further than his first major league hit featured above.
The low walk number should not be a surprise because he is an aggressive swinger at the plate. Alfaro’s 15 homeruns does not seem as eye-popping as Reading teammates, Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins, but he was able to show power to all fields. His swing is much calmer and controlled, which allowed him to hit the ball more to the middle of the field and the other way.
Alfaro will spend most of 2017 at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. His progression will be one that Phillies fans will want to keep a very close eye on throughout the season. His path to success is key to the future in Philadelphia baseball.
External Options: Bryan Holaday
It would be a lie to say that the minor league contract of Bryan Holaday means more than simply providing depth. Holaday’s signing was just that when it happened. A fan could assume Holaday will head to Lehigh Valley to back up Jorge Alfaro for the season. However, it became confusing with a future addition to the catching stable.
The Detroit Tigers drafted the right-handed bat out of TCU in the sixth round of the 2010 draft. They took him as a close to MLB-ready product. He was not someone with a high ceiling, but came with very little risk involved. Long story short, Holaday has never broke through his cemented ceiling.
The Phillies are Holaday’s fourth team since 2012. He started with the Tigers before being traded to Texas in 2016. The Rangers would later designate him for assignment when they brought Jonathon Lucroy over in July. The Red Sox claimed him at the beginning of August.
By far, his most successful stint has been his four years in Detroit where he produced .251/.283/.340, four home runs, and 30 RBI in 108 games played. The other two stops along the way were simply as a filler for a team in need.
Defensively, the 29-year old has thrown out 28% of the 99 runners who have attempted to take a bag against him. He is not a liability behind the dish, but also provides very little that makes him stand out to the naked eye.
While the Phillies have some other options in for backup at the minor-league level, like Gabriel Lino and Lance Moore, the Phillies may be looking at Holaday as a “next man in” type if there is an injury to one of the big club catchers. Holaday is likely going to be in a competition with the other outsider for Triple-A or MLB backup.
External Options: Ryan Hanigan
It became very obvious that the Phillies organization was dead set on finding themselves a veteran catcher this offseason when the added 36 years young Ryan Hanigan. The experienced catcher has played spent time with three teams in his nine MLB seasons.
Hanigan spent seven seasons in Cincinnati before being traded to the Rays near the end of 2013. Tampa Bay immediately signed him to a three year extension worth nearly $11 million. Then, things got really confusing for Hanigan. Almost a year to the day later, the catcher was dealt twice in the same day, eventually landing with the Red Sox.
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Hanigan was a staple in Cincy mainly for his pitch handling. He caught 70 or more games in six of his nine seasons. In his nine seasons (647 games played), he has been below average offensively (.250/.345/.334 with 28 homers and 202 RBI). The good news for Hanigan was that he was on the roster to mainly handle pitchers. His ability to do so has kept him around for nearly a decade. That ability is the reason the Phillies brought him in on a minor league deal.
He will be competing with Bryan Holaday for a backup spot on either the Triple-A or big league roster.
Honestly, the upper hand has to go to Hanigan. While both catchers have struggled throughout their careers offensively, Hanigan has the upper-hand defensively and in the all important realm of pitch calling. In 2009, he led the league in fielding percentage (.998) and threw out 43% of base stealing efforts. Less than five years ago, Hanigan called both of Homer Bailey’s no-hitters.
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While there is a very slim difference between Hanigan and Holaday, the defensive difference is enough for Hanigan to have a slight advantage as the Phils head into camp next week.