White Sox: Who will earn backup catcher spot?

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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.

Next: Ways the White Sox can use Emilio Bonifacio

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.