With Joseph the likely starter, that leaves a roster spot
for a backup catcher. Besides Wieters
and Joseph, there have been six other catchers make an appearance in spring
training. Of those six, only 3 remain in
major league camp this spring: Steve Clevenger, Ryan Lavarnway, and J.P. Arencibia. Spring training statistics
don’t matter, but here’s how each has performed so far.
If one simply looks at those meaningless numbers, it would
appear that no one even wants the backup catching job to start the season. While none of the current candidates are
swinging even a luke warm bat this spring, they wouldn’t have even made it this
far if they haven’t had some previous success with the stick.
Clevenger has been a decent hitter in the minor leagues
(especially against right-handed pitching), however he has never found
consistent success or playing time in the majors, as evidenced by his
.210/.270/.295 line in 341 plate appearances.
Lavarnway is a former (almost top) prospect who showed excellent power
in the minor leagues (the guy hit 34 combined home runs in AA, AAA, and MLB as
a 23 year old in 2011), but has never been viewed by evaluators as someone who
could handle his position (he’s a catcher, but in name only). Additionally, like Clevenger, his career
batting line in the major leagues (.201/.249/.315 in 301 PA’s) fails to come anywhere
close to his production in the minors.
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| Steve Clevenger (photo via Keith Allison) |
Finally, there’s Arencibia, who actually is a former top
prospect (he was ranked #48 by mlb.com in 2011). Like Lavarnway, Arencibia’s main asset is his
power. However, unlike Lavarnway,
Arencibia has actually showed the ability to hit for power in the major
leagues. Another way that he’s similar
to Lavarnway is that he doesn’t bring much else to the table offensively or
defensively (Fangraphs has his defense being worth -1.7 runs during his career).
Yes, he’s shown he can hit for power in the majors, but when you have a
career on-base percentage of .255, it’s not going to help much.
Barring some sort of trade or major revelation in the next
two weeks, the opening day backup catcher position is Steve Clevenger’s to
lose. Not only has he performed at least as well as the other options, he also provides a platoon partner for Caleb Joseph as
the only left-handed hitting option.
Additionally, he’s likely the best defender of the 3 backup options
remaining as well (Showalter has previously praised Clevenger’s defensive work this spring). If that weren’t
enough, Clevenger has an option remaining (Lavarnway and Arencibia do not) and
is already on the “at-capacity” 40-man roster (Lavarnway and Arencibia are
not). When Wieters does return, the
Orioles could then easily option Clevenger to Norfolk, without having the
threat of him being claimed off waivers, as would be the case with the other
options.
Let’s be honest, none of these options look all that
great. However, we’re likely only
talking about a couple of weeks at most, barring any additional setbacks with
Matt Wieters’ elbow. No matter who gets the role of backup catcher, it isn’t
something that will make or break the Orioles 2015 season.
5 comments:
I agree with your article completely, but you omitted the guys who are already in the minors: Ward and Sisco at least.
Is either of them a Darkhorse for a call up?
I can't imagine Arencibia having any value at all, so I expect him to be released, which would bump the Minor fellows up a notch.
Ward could potentially be an option, but he was excluded because he had already been reassigned to minor league camp. He has the reputation of a good defender, and I agree with that, but he hasn't hit at all, even in the minors. I saw Ward a lot when I worked for Bowie in 2012 and his defense was very good. He also has a good approach at the plate (12% career minor league BB rate), and definitely is afraid to hit with two strikes. But he doesn't have power, and his swing doesn't really create much loft, which limits any future power. He could probably get a cup of coffee here and there, but he'll need to hit more to even be considered for backup status.
As for Sisco, unless I missed something, he wasn't invited to major league camp, so that's why I left him out as well. Obviously the Orioles really like him, but he just turned 20 and has yet to play in High-A, so it's a little too soon for him to be in the conversation.
just saw that my previous comment stated that Ward is afraid of hitting with 2 strikes. That's a typo, as he is VERY comfortable hitting with 2 strikes.
What about snakes?
One more thing about Brian Ward that has not been given enough emphasis - at 29. he's older than Matt Wieters.
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