The Twins this offseason have, as noted in Monday's post, shed three catchers who have bounced between Triple A and the majors the past three years -- Eric Fryer, Chris Herrmann and Josmil Pinto. They also, during the season, moved Dan Rohlfing to the Mets organization.
This essentially clears the deck for the trio of catchers the Twins selected in the first nine rounds of the 2013 draft: Stuart Turner (3rd round), Brian Navarretto (6th round) and Mitch Garver (9th round).
Turner, who turns 24 next month, figures to be the primary catcher at Triple A next year. He didn't hit much at Double A Chattanooga (.223 batting average with a .306 slugging percentage), and he didn't hit much the two previous years either. Drew Butera is probably a good comp to him: the defensive chops to catch in the major leagues, not enough bat to be a useful regular.
Garver can expect to move up a rung to Chattanooga. He'll turn 25 in January. He has shown a good bat in the past, but his production fell off notably when he moved from Low A Cedar Rapids to High A Fort Myers. That's not a plus, obviously, but some decline is always likely with that transition because Fort Myers is a notoriously difficult hitting environment, while CR is one of the more hitter-friendly venues in the Midwest League. Anyway: Garver is certainly a better hitter than Turner, and also said to be weaker behind the dish, He's also been consistently old for his level of competition.
Navarretto was the one high schooler of the three, which is why he's a level behind the other two. He turns 21 next month. He will probably be the No. 1 catcher for Fort Myers. What he showed in Cedar Rapids was an excellent throwing arm and a weak stick -- .217/.256/.281. I happened to witness one of his two homers.
If there's a major league regular in that trio, my money's on Navarretto, but that's strictly on the basis of his youth, But the Twins can't count on any of the three emerging, which is part of why they traded for John Ryan Murphy. I think it likely that Murphy will split time with Kurt Suzuki in 2016, then become the regular in 2017, perhaps with Turner as the backup
I also think it likely that the Twins will be targeting catchers again in the 2016 draft.
Showing posts with label Brian Navarreto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Navarreto. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Thursday, August 13, 2015
A trip to Cedar Rapids: Photographic evidence
Yeah, you're tired of Cedar Rapids posts. Tough. I ain't done yet.
I warned you on Sunday that photos were coming. Here they are. Unless otherwise stated, they were made by my wife, Linda Vanderwerf.
I warned you on Sunday that photos were coming. Here they are. Unless otherwise stated, they were made by my wife, Linda Vanderwerf.
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| Brian Navaretto takes a pitch. (Photo Edward Thoma) |
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| Felix Jose delivers a pitch. |
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| There were fireworks after two of the four games. |
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| Luke Bard fires his warmup pitches Saturday night, when the Kernels wore special jerseys for "Jimmy Buffett Night." |
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| Navaretto sets up behind the plate. He's listed at 6-2, but he folds up nicely. |
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| Nick Gordon in the on-deck circle. (Photo Edward Thoma.) |
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| Australian right-hander Sam Gibbons ran a scoreless innings streak past 28 innings before allowing two runs in the seventh inning on Saturday night. |
Friday, August 7, 2015
A trip to Cedar Rapids: Brian Navarreto
Brian Navarreto is, for me, one of the more intriguing players on the Cedar Rapids roster. Maybe it's not so much Navarreto who intrigues me as the idea of Navaretto -- a young, projectable catcher. The Twins really haven't had one since the Wilson Ramos trade half a decade ago.
Navarreto is one of three catchers the Twins took in the first nine rounds of the 2013 draft, A Puerto Rican who attended high school in Florida, he was the only high schooler among the three backstops. The college guys, Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver, got the higher assignments and remain higher on the organizational totem pole -- Turner at Double A, Garver at High A.
Navarreto is 20 now and still rather young for the Midwest League. He hasn't hit all that well at Cedar Rapids: .242/.271/.301 slash line entering Thursday's game, with just one homer.
Navarreto had two hits in four at-bats Thursday; this followed a one-for-four performance on Wednesday. He struck out once in those eight plate appearances, and hit ground balls in the other seven. He was reputed when drafted to have good power, but power and ground balls don't go well together.
Hitting is only part of the catching job, of course, It's not only a premium defensive position, it is perhaps the most technical and the most difficult for an outsider to evaluate.
But to these decidedly amateur eyes, Navarreto looks like he can be a competent receiver. He did have an awkward passed ball in a crucial situation Thursday -- putting the go-ahead run on third base with no outs in the ninth inning -- but he looks like a quiet, stable receiver.
He certainly throws well. On Wednesday he gunned down a pair of base stealers and picked off another base runner. He's thrown out more than half the would-be base-stealers this year and did the same last year. Throwing is the easiest part of catching to see and perhaps the least important of the defensive skills a good catcher has, but he does have that tool.
The Twins have a catching problem in the majors -- they're going back to Chris Herrmann as Kurt Suzuki's backup -- and there doesn't seem to be a good all-round alternative in the advanced minors. Turner looks like the second coming of Drew Butera, and Josmil Pinto's not only a flawed receiver, he's missed literally months with a concussion.
Navaretto's youth gives him a chance to develop into that kind of catcher, but if it happens, it won't be soon,
Navarreto is one of three catchers the Twins took in the first nine rounds of the 2013 draft, A Puerto Rican who attended high school in Florida, he was the only high schooler among the three backstops. The college guys, Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver, got the higher assignments and remain higher on the organizational totem pole -- Turner at Double A, Garver at High A.
Navarreto is 20 now and still rather young for the Midwest League. He hasn't hit all that well at Cedar Rapids: .242/.271/.301 slash line entering Thursday's game, with just one homer.
Navarreto had two hits in four at-bats Thursday; this followed a one-for-four performance on Wednesday. He struck out once in those eight plate appearances, and hit ground balls in the other seven. He was reputed when drafted to have good power, but power and ground balls don't go well together.
Hitting is only part of the catching job, of course, It's not only a premium defensive position, it is perhaps the most technical and the most difficult for an outsider to evaluate.
But to these decidedly amateur eyes, Navarreto looks like he can be a competent receiver. He did have an awkward passed ball in a crucial situation Thursday -- putting the go-ahead run on third base with no outs in the ninth inning -- but he looks like a quiet, stable receiver.
He certainly throws well. On Wednesday he gunned down a pair of base stealers and picked off another base runner. He's thrown out more than half the would-be base-stealers this year and did the same last year. Throwing is the easiest part of catching to see and perhaps the least important of the defensive skills a good catcher has, but he does have that tool.
The Twins have a catching problem in the majors -- they're going back to Chris Herrmann as Kurt Suzuki's backup -- and there doesn't seem to be a good all-round alternative in the advanced minors. Turner looks like the second coming of Drew Butera, and Josmil Pinto's not only a flawed receiver, he's missed literally months with a concussion.
Navaretto's youth gives him a chance to develop into that kind of catcher, but if it happens, it won't be soon,
Friday, March 21, 2014
On the minor league side, Part II
As lengthy as this morning's post was, it didn't exhaust the topic. (It merely exhausted me; I had to quit writing and go to bed.)
Here's some more ...
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When the Twins drafted a high school catcher named Brian Navarreto in the sixth round last June, I looked at the name and figured: Italian.
Nope. Black kid. Big (listed at 6-3, 220) and said by Baseball America to have the best power bat among the Twins draftees last summer — which isn't all that impressive, as the Twins spent most of their high picks on pitchers.
Still, Seth Stohs was telling me about a massive shot Navarreto hit that was ruled foul. Tom Kelly said, according to Seth, "That was too long anyway."
I watched Navarreto catch a couple of bullpen sessions. Presumably he's a bit raw behind the dish, but he seemed to move well.
He was working with the Cedar Rapids crew, but the catching assignments are particularly fluid; the most likely catchers in Triple A were still in the major league camp at that point, so there will be a downward flow of backstops as the Twins pare the numbers.
Navarreto spent last summer with the Twins GCL team, at the bottom of the ladder, and is probably more likely to be in Elizabethton than in CR this year.
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Tyler Grimes caught in CR last year. It was his third season in the Midwest League. But the first two were as a shortstop. Last year the Twins switched him to catcher, and he hit a little better overall than he had as an infielder.
He was drafted out of college, so it's not like he's got lots of time to dawdle in the low minors. I thought he looked pretty good behind the plate in the limited time I saw him last summer, and I rather expected him to be one of the extra catchers invited to major league camp this spring.
He wasn't.
Presumably he'll finally step up the ladder a notch to Fort Myers this year. By the end of last season, he was getting some infield time again, and I saw him playing third base in a game last week, so maybe he's ticketed for a multi-use role. Or maybe he's on his way out the door.
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One of the four non-roster catchers early in big league camp was Stuart Turner, the Twins' third-rounder last June. Turner draws raves for his defensive tools, but there's less certainty about his bat.
Turner spent last summer in Elizabethton, with one game in Double A (skipping two levels). I expect him to go to Cedar Rapids, where he figures to be handling a staff of great importance to the Twins future.
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The Twins drafted Dereck Rodriguez in the sixth round of the 2011 draft as an outfielder. The son of the catching great Pudge Rodriguez hasn't hit in three years of Rookie ball, so now he's converting to pitching. I didn't see him throw.
He's 21 now, and I wonder where they'll send him. Probably E-town again (where he played last year), but 21 is fairly old for the Appy League. But he's new to mound work, at least as a pro, and the Midwest League is probably too much of a reach for him.
Here's some more ...
---
When the Twins drafted a high school catcher named Brian Navarreto in the sixth round last June, I looked at the name and figured: Italian.
Nope. Black kid. Big (listed at 6-3, 220) and said by Baseball America to have the best power bat among the Twins draftees last summer — which isn't all that impressive, as the Twins spent most of their high picks on pitchers.
Still, Seth Stohs was telling me about a massive shot Navarreto hit that was ruled foul. Tom Kelly said, according to Seth, "That was too long anyway."
I watched Navarreto catch a couple of bullpen sessions. Presumably he's a bit raw behind the dish, but he seemed to move well.
He was working with the Cedar Rapids crew, but the catching assignments are particularly fluid; the most likely catchers in Triple A were still in the major league camp at that point, so there will be a downward flow of backstops as the Twins pare the numbers.
Navarreto spent last summer with the Twins GCL team, at the bottom of the ladder, and is probably more likely to be in Elizabethton than in CR this year.
---
Tyler Grimes caught in CR last year. It was his third season in the Midwest League. But the first two were as a shortstop. Last year the Twins switched him to catcher, and he hit a little better overall than he had as an infielder.
He was drafted out of college, so it's not like he's got lots of time to dawdle in the low minors. I thought he looked pretty good behind the plate in the limited time I saw him last summer, and I rather expected him to be one of the extra catchers invited to major league camp this spring.
He wasn't.
Presumably he'll finally step up the ladder a notch to Fort Myers this year. By the end of last season, he was getting some infield time again, and I saw him playing third base in a game last week, so maybe he's ticketed for a multi-use role. Or maybe he's on his way out the door.
---
One of the four non-roster catchers early in big league camp was Stuart Turner, the Twins' third-rounder last June. Turner draws raves for his defensive tools, but there's less certainty about his bat.
Turner spent last summer in Elizabethton, with one game in Double A (skipping two levels). I expect him to go to Cedar Rapids, where he figures to be handling a staff of great importance to the Twins future.
---
The Twins drafted Dereck Rodriguez in the sixth round of the 2011 draft as an outfielder. The son of the catching great Pudge Rodriguez hasn't hit in three years of Rookie ball, so now he's converting to pitching. I didn't see him throw.
He's 21 now, and I wonder where they'll send him. Probably E-town again (where he played last year), but 21 is fairly old for the Appy League. But he's new to mound work, at least as a pro, and the Midwest League is probably too much of a reach for him.
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