Clevenger never strikes out - what else do we know about him

[badnews]

Legitimate defensive catcher? With the bat, a 21 year old in Advanced A striking out two times in 103 ABs is sick. Even if you jump on the first pitch every time, that's really tough to do.

 

So what's up with Clevenger? Next Polanco, or next Aaron Miles?

[the splendid splinter]

Legitimate defensive catcher? With the bat, a 21 year old in Advanced A striking out two times in 103 ABs is sick. Even if you jump on the first pitch every time, that's really tough to do.

 

So what's up with Clevenger? Next Polanco, or next Aaron Miles?

7TH rounder from last yr, was actually the Cubs 4th pick overall. Played at U of Texas his frosh yr, transfer to Chipola jc in Florida his soph yr where he played ss, Cubs tried him @ 2B. Looks to be a good hitter with some extra base hit potential. Cubs put him behind the plate in extended spring and its been an ongoing experiment. Looks like quite the hitter,

[craig]

We don't know a lot, other than what you've noted from the stats. He's quite a contact hitter. He's caught 5 games out of 28 at Daytona, 11 out of 22 at Boise.

 

I've been watching carefully on the occassion when he's caught. I haven't noticed an inordinate number of passed balls or errors. And I haven't seen any stolen bases against in his last couple of starts. So it's not obvious that he's a butcher. Still, that they use a guy with his bat so little at catcher, that makes me a think they probably don't project his catcher defense as being that great.

 

Combine that kind of contact hitting skill with a catcher who can catch and you'd have something. Obviously he only started catching last fall. So I'm hoping their limited usage of him at catcher doesn't really reflect on his catching potential. That by next summer he'll be catching regularly, and will be on track to be a quality major-league defensive catcher. If that were to happen, he'd be a pretty valuable prospect.

 

I'm a little uncertain where he might find regular catching action next year, though. Wellington Castillo is the best position prospect at Peoria and has good potental both defensively and as a hitter. He's gotta be regular catcher at Daytona next year. Often they do catchers every-other-day, so if Clev and Castillo were alternate-day catchers for Daytona, that would be great for Clevenger. That's probably his best hope. I assume Donaldson might be regular for Peoria, so perhaps Clev could also drop back there and be an alternate-day catcher. While Clevenger's bat could likely handle Tenn, it seems unlikely they'd want to entrust the AA pitching staff to a catcher with less than 20 games of pro catching experience, and less than 10 in full-season ball. If he does go to AA, I'd guess it would be more utility and 3rd-string catcher action.

 

Not likely, but one possiblity would be to skip Donaldson up to A+ and make him the alternate-day catcher with Castillo. That seems unlikely, since Donaldson still has a ways to go defensively, so I think they'll likely step him along more slowly. And, if both Donaldson and Castillo were at Daytona, it would be impossible for both to get anything beyond half-time catching practice. But if they did go that way, then Clevenger could have an obvious shot to fit into Peoria's catcher rotation. Having hit well at Daytona, that wouldn't make sense as a hitter. But since defense is his issue, that might work for him. Not likely, though.

 

If he never gets beyond 3rd-string catcher, then his future isn't as bright. so I'm really hoping that he has what it takes to catch, and that the Cubs do what it takes to give him the opportunity to develop as a defensive catcher and find out whether it could be possible eventually.

[Guest]

Craig, here are the numbers for Clevenger between Boise and Daytona: 3 passed balls, 1 error, 4/23 CS (17%).

 

At Boise, he was competing for playing time with two other catchers (Donaldson and Mercedes), so to catch half the games there isn't too bad. At Daytona, he's competing with two catchers also (Muyco and Reed) and Jake Muyco is widely regarded as the best defensive catcher in the Cubs minor league system so I'm sure it's tougher for the guy new to the position to get a lot of playing time. Still 5 games at C out of 28 is bad (it's also 5 of his last 18 since his first 10 were at 1B/DH...hopefully he spent those first 10 games working on his catching before getting in-game action).

[Guest]

And if any of you are interested, some of the other catching prospects and their defensive numbers:

 

Geovany Soto (Iowa): 4 PB, 3 E, 16/53 CS (30%)

Wellington Castillo (Peoria): 12 PB, 13 E, 29/68 CS (43%)

Josh Donaldson (Boise): 9 PB, 4 E, 15/45 CS (33%)

Carlos Perez (Mesa): 6 PB, 0 E, 18/34 CS (53%)

Edited August 16, 2007 by CaliforniaRaisin

[Pushfrog98]

And if any of you are interested, some of the other catching prospects and their defensive numbers:

 

Geovany Soto (Iowa): 4 PB, 3 E, 16/53 CS (30%)

Wellington Castillo (Peoria): 12 PB, 13 E, 29/68 CS (43%)

Josh Donaldson (Boise): 9 PB, 4 E, 15/45 CS (33%)

Carlos Perez (Mesa): 6 PB, 0 E, 18/34 CS (53%)

but how are their game calling skillz?

[craig]

thanks for the defensive breakdowns, cal. Perez and Castillo looking pretty good on the CS/SB angle. And Soto with low PB and low errors.

 

Mark Reed has been a high draft and they've liked him. So perhaps Fleita and those guys have been reluctant to give up on him. But I'd think that if they liked Clevenger defensively, he'd be 20 times the prospect that Mark "Cesar Izturis" Reed is. If he can't beat out Reed for playing time, perhaps that speaks to how little they think of his defense. But, hopefully that's changing and Reed has kind of gotten that action on basis of tenure and past hype.

[Quakers]

I haven't seen Clevenger catch, but I did see him at second last season for Boise. Let's just say that I thought his defensive skills at second were part of the reason his was attempting to catch this year. Also, IMHO you should throw his offensive numbers this year at Boise out the window. He was playing below his level, so that he could work on his catching skills. That being said, he showed promise of being a fairly good contact hitter with gap power. I would loved to be proven wrong, but I would need to see him suceed at a higher level before I would get too excited.

[Roast]

And if any of you are interested, some of the other catching prospects and their defensive numbers:

 

Geovany Soto (Iowa): 4 PB, 3 E, 16/53 CS (30%)

Wellington Castillo (Peoria): 12 PB, 13 E, 29/68 CS (43%)

Josh Donaldson (Boise): 9 PB, 4 E, 15/45 CS (33%)

Carlos Perez (Mesa): 6 PB, 0 E, 18/34 CS (53%)

 

WHAT BOUT CERA!

 

 

/roasts useless post.

[TruffleShuffle]

8 strikeouts in 50 games is pretty ridiculous. Keep it up Steve.

[badnews]

Where can you find minor league defensive statistics like that? I've looked in vain.

[badnews]

Clevenger was lifted for Mark Reed as a pinch-runner in the 9th of a close game, so that may tell us he's a bad runner with little speed if Reed, who runs well for a catcher, but still, is pinch-running. Usually they don't pinch run just for the heck of it.