Triple-A Catching Battle Brewing At Pirates Alternate Training Site
While the Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off their home schedule this afternoon with a 0-0 tie against the Chicago Cubs, there is another battle brewing just up the river. It isn't a battle of two teams, but a battle to see who would be the first catcher called up of either Jacob Stallings or Michael Perez got injured. There are four catchers currently at the alternate training site, and after the battle between Michael Perez and Tony Wolters for the Major League backup job, none is the other catchers got a lot of time at the plate. But now, under the watchful eye of Alternate Site manager Brian Esposito, these four men will battle it out to see who the third catcher will be for the Pirates in 2021.
The four men battling for the job down at the alternate training site are Andrew Susac, Joe Hudson, Christian Kelley, and Jason Delay. Of the four players only one, Susac, has a full year of MLB service time under their belt. With limited opportunity during Big League Spring Training, the time is now for them to show what they can do as the alternate site plays games and goes through workouts. None of the players listed have really broken out offensively in their careers, but all four of them are very solid defensive catchers. With defense being a priority for the Pirates, this is a good problem to have, but ultimately it is going to come down to who hits the ball more. Today, we look at all four of these players and what skills they bring to the Pirates in 2021.
Andrew Susac
Of the four catchers battling for that third catcher spot distinction this season, the only one with a full year of MLB service time is Andrew Susac. Susac started his career out with the San Francisco Giants back in 2014, when he served as back-up catcher to none other than Buster Posey. He is also the only guy to have played in a World Series. However, over the course of his six-year Big League career, offense has not been his strong suit as he is a career .219 hitter with seven home runs and 54 RBI. Last season, he made an appearance in the last game of the year as Manager Derek Shelton rewarded him for being on the taxi squad all season. He would go 0-2 with two walks in the game, ending his 2021 season on a high note.
If there was an immediate injury to Stallings or Perez and the Pirates required a call-up from the alternate training site, Susac is probably the one who would get the call. He has the most experience of any of the other four catches and has regularly been a member of the Pirates taxi squad since last season. However, Susac's spring stats didn't help him out much as he hit just .100 with no home runs and no RBI. However, defensively he is one of the best options available to the Pirates with a career .990 fielding percentage. He has committed just five errors in six seasons and just needs to find his bat to separate himself from the rest of the pack. If he can do that, he will ensure that he is the one who gets the call to Pittsburgh should the team need some reinforcements throughout the year.
Joe Hudson
The guy on this list who did show a decent bat this spring for the Pirates is catcher Joe Hudson. Hudson was signed to a Minor League deal by the Pirates this off-season, after spending the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, and Seattle Mariners. In limited opportunities this spring, Hudson did show an ability to hit the ball and his average reflected that. In nine Spring Training games this season, Hudson hit .375 with a home run and four RBI while collecting two extra-base hits during the spring. While he has played in the Big Leagues during parts of each of the last three seasons, he has only combined to have 18 games of Big League experience.
Out of the four guys mentioned on this list, Hudson is the only one who showed any offensive prowess in Spring Training. He swung the bat well and was rewarded for it with his .375 batting average. As he enters his age 29 season, he is looking to show what he can do at the Major League level and is looking for the team that will give him that chance. He appeared in a career-high nine games for the Mariners but just couldn't get his bat going as he hit .176 with three singles. His biggest asset defensively is his strong throwing arm, which was on display in the Minors in 2019. He threw out nearly 40% of would-be base stealers in Triple-A and has a very strong arm behind the plate. This combination of offensive potential and defensive game might earn him a call to the Pirates roster at some point this season.
Christian Kelley
The longest-tenured Pirates farmhand on this list, Christian Kelley joined the Pirates for his fifth Spring Training this season. However, because of COVID regulations and a shortened game schedule, he didn't really get a chance to show himself this year. He got just one at-bat, but he was able to make the most of it by hitting a double in that plate appearance. Kelley was an 11th round draft pick by the Pirates in 2015, and while his defensive game is Major League ready, his offense is what has been holding him back. In five Minor League seasons, Kelley is a career .229 hitter with 17 home runs and 152 RBI, however, the higher he has climbed in the organization the worse things have gotten for him. It all led up to 2019 when he posted a career-worst .179 batting average with five home runs and 21 RBI.
If there is any Pirates Minor Leaguer that the shut down may have actually helped, it is Kelley. It gave him a chance to take a step back and look at things in his swing that may be hurting him. He was one of the catchers working at the Pirate's alternate training site last season, and really took some time to work on his offensive game. In the lower levels of the Minor Leagues, Kelley was a guy who routinely had a batting average ranging in the .230-.240 range, which still isn't great but it's better than .179. His defensive side is what has helped him rise through the Minor Leagues as he has a career .990 fielding percentage. Kelley specializes in being an excellent blocker behind the plate, allowing just three passed balls in 2019. His defense has substantially improved every year, and if his offense can follow suit he might soon make the jump to the Major Leagues in 2021.
Jason Delay
The final catcher featured at the Pirates alternate training site is 26-year-old catcher Jason Delay. Delay has spent the last four seasons in the Pirates Minor League system and has climbed as high as Double-A Altoona. Out of the homegrown Pirates catching prospects, Delay has the most offensive potential with a career .237 batting average with 11 home runs and 70 RBI. His offense has been a pretty consistent part of his game throughout his career, and in 2019 he hit .234 with eight home runs and 37 RBI. Delay has a knack for putting the ball in the gap and showed that last year when he recorded a career-high 21 extra-base hits. If all goes according to plan, Delay should be getting his first taste of Triple-A ball, where he will split time with Kelley in 2021.
While Delay features the best offensive numbers of the bunch, he also possesses some of the best defense in the group. He has a career .990 fielding percentage but, much like Kelley, he has gotten to improve the higher he has gotten in the organization. He doesn't have the dominant arm strength of some of the other guys on this list, with a caught stealing percentage of just 23.9%, but he is a great pitch framer and blocker begin the plate. He had a career-high fielding percentage last season of .993 and is looking to continue that success into 2021. If Delay can continue to hit the ball in Triple-A, it could open the door for him to leapfrog Kelley and make the move to Pittsburgh by the end of the season.
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