White Sox: Who will earn backup catcher spot?
May 30, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox catcher Adrian Nieto (17) during the first inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
With spring training taking place next month, now is a good time to start looking toward some battles that will be taking place in late February and all through March.
One of the battles to look forward to this spring is who will be the catcher who earns the backup spot behind Tyler Flowers for the Chicago White Sox.
Sep 22, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers (21) throws out Detroit Tigers center fielder Ezequiel Carrera (not pictured) on an attempted butt in the seventh inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s assume Flowers will be the starting catcher for the White Sox, as they just avoided arbitration with him this past week. The White Sox and Flowers agreed to a $2.675 million one-year deal, so most likely his spot as the top catcher for the White Sox is safe.
Now that leaves Adrian Nieto, Rob Brantly and Kevan Smith as the other three catchers on the 40-man roster who will be battling for the one spot behind Flowers on the White Sox MLB roster.
Also this offseason, the White Sox signed George Kottaras to a minor league deal on Dec. 20, as he’s not on the 40-man roster.
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Last season, Nieto was the backup catcher, and this offseason the White Sox claimed Brantly off waivers from the Miami Marlins on Dec. 8. Smith was drafted by the White Sox in the seventh round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
Looking at these four catchers (excluding Flowers), it should be interesting to watch as spring progresses, but here are my rankings of who I believe the ’15 backup catcher for the White Sox will be and why.
Aug 13, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher George Kottaras (26) returns to home plate after tagging a batter out on a dropped third strike in the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
No. 4
George Kottaras
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Height: 6-0
Weight: 200 pounds
My fourth-ranked catcher is Kottaras, as he’ll have the toughest road to travel for the White Sox because there is so much competition ahead of him. He’s also on an MiLB deal, and most likely he’s going to fill a need at some level of the White Sox minor league system since they traded Josh Phegley this offseason to Oakland in the Jeff Samardzija deal.
Kottaras played for three teams in ’14 for a combined 18 games at the MLB level. He played in 10 games with the Cleveland Indians and four each with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Toronto Blue Jays.
He has seven years of part-time MLB experience amounting to 313 games, with the most games in a season coming in 2012, where he played in 85 games for the Milwaukee Brewers and Athletics. That season, his MLB totals were as follows:
• 85 games
• 209 plate appearances; 171 at-bats
• .211 BA, .351 OBP, .415 SLG, .766 OPS
• 36 hits (six doubles, one triple, nine home runs)
• 31 RBIs
• 37 walks
• 26 strikeouts
• 71 total bases
• 0.6 WAR w/MIL (58 games), 0.3 WAR w/ OAK (27 games)
In ’13, he played in 46 games with the Kansas City Royals, batting .180 with 18 hits (five home runs) and 19 RBIs.
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As for this past season, Kottaras batted a combined .233 with the Indians, Cardinals and Blue Jays, where he had an OBP of .351 and .533 SLG. He hit three home runs in the 18 games he played, so that’s a positive for the seven-year pro.
As aforementioned, Kottaras seems to be a player who will most likely be in the minors in ’15, so let’s look at his numbers from the minors.
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With Columbus and Buffalo in ’14 (both of the International League), Kottaras played in a total of 27 games, where he batted .190 with four home runs and 13 RBIs. In his 84 at-bats, he had just 16 hits with one double and the previously mentioned home runs.
Since he’s on a MiLB deal, it could be tough for Kottaras to even earn a spot on the roster of the Charlotte Knights, with Luis Sierra also on the Knights’ current roster and most likely one of the other catchers previously mentioned ending up on the Knights’ roster as well.
But the great thing about spring training is each of these players should get the opportunity to prove they belong with the organization.
Mar 28, 2014; Birmingham, Al, USA; Birmingham Barons catcher Kevan Smith (21) attempts to tag Chicago White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie (12) at Regions Field. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
No. 3
Kevan Smith
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6-4
Weight: 230 pounds
Smith has yet to reach the MLB level since being drafted by the White Sox in ’11. He played the ’14 season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons, batting .290 in 106 games.
In those games, Smith had 389 at-bats, where he totaled 113 hits with 21 doubles, three triples and 10 home runs. With those hits, he collected 48 RBIs. Smith also forced 46 walks and struck out 68 times.
Before the ’14 season Smith played two seasons in Winston-Salem with the Dash, where he had batting averages of .273 ’12 and .286 in ’13. In those two seasons of Advanced Single-A baseball, Smith totaled 15 home runs, 30 doubles and five triples in 124 total games.
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Also in the parts of two Advanced-A seasons, he scored 74 runs and collected 96 RBIs.
Like with Kottaras, I just don’t see Smith at the MLB level this seasons with players like Nieto and Brantly in front him on a White Sox team that is in win-now mode.
One plus with Smith is he’s fairly consistent at whatever level he’s playing at. In Kannapolis Single-A baseball, he has a .282 average in 86 games during the ’12 season. In ’11, he batted .396 in 26 games at Bristol and .318 at Great Falls, both rookie ball levels.
I’m not saying Smith won’t make the MLB roster at some point this season, but with the current mindset and look of the White Sox roster for the upcoming ’15 season, it most likely will be an uphill climb for Smith.
Jul 2, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Miami Marlins catcher Rob Brantly (19) fields a ground ball for an out in the sixth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
No. 2
Rob Brantly
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Height: 6-1
Weight: 195 pounds
If there is one catcher on the current White Sox 40-man roster who will really compete for the backup catchers role it will be Brantly, whom the White Sox claimed off waivers from the Marlins this winter.
Brantly is 25 years old and has played parts of the past two seasons at the MLB level, where he’s batted .290 in 31 games during the ’12 season and .211 in ’13 (67 games).
Last season, Brantly played 101 games with New Orleans in the Pacific Coast League, and at the Triple-A level, he finished with a .255 average with 93 hits, including 15 doubles and two triples. Brantly also hit four home runs and forced 20 walks.
During his time in the majors with the Marlins, Brantly has a WAR of 0.6 in ’12 (31 games) and -1.1 (67 games) in ’13.
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His fielding numbers behind the plate aren’t bad, either, with a .990 fielding percentage with a combined seven errors in 93 combined MLB games.
What I’m interested with Brantly this spring is seeing how he competes with Nieto for the backup role, and if he’s able to show enough progression from his past season in the minors to show the White Sox he’s capable of being the full-time backup catcher on the South Side.
Jul 27, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Chicago White Sox catcher Adrian Nieto (17) gets congratulated after his first career home run in the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
No. 1
Adrian Nieto
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right
Height: 6-0
Weight: 200 pounds
When spring training begins, the backup catcher’s role is Nieto’s to lose, I think. In 48 games played last season, he batted .236 with a .296 OBP and .340 SLG in his first MLB season.
His stats don’t jump off the page, so that’s why I like seeing the White Sox bringing in some competition for this spring, because this team is all about improving from 73 wins in ’14, and a .236 average from the reserve catcher might not cut it.
As for Nieto, he had 25 hits in 106 at-bats, where he hit five doubles and two home runs last season. The incumbent to the backup catcher’s role, Nieto had just seven RBIs and did walk eight times.
Nieto also struck out 38 times, but let’s be honest, he never got the chance to get any consistent at-bats behind Flowers at the MLB level, who had a vast majority as the catcher for the White Sox in ’14.
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Nieto had a -0.1 WAR for the White Sox last season.
Before last season, Nieto played Advanced-A ball at Potomac for 110 games. In that time, he batted .285 with a .373 OBP and .449 SLG. In what was his most recent MiLB season, Nieto had 111 hits (29 doubles, one triple and 11 home runs).
That’s the thing though with all four catchers … whomever the White Sox choose to be the backup catcher must be able to come off the bench at a moment’s notice and be prepared to produce for the ball club. That is no secret.
Like this article has mentioned numerous times, the White Sox are in a win-now mode, and most likely anything else won’t cut it with GM Rick Hahn and the rest of the front office of the White Sox.
In all honesty, if anyone on this list other than Brantly or Nieto gains the backup catcher’s role, I’d be surprised. This, and the battle for the starting second baseman job, might be the two biggest spring training battles, or at least the most interesting.
Spring training cannot arrive fast enough.