Prospect Nation 2013: #7 Catcher Tommy Joseph

Tommy Joseph, who was acquired from San Francisco in the Hunter Pence trade last July, quickly landed among the Phillies' top positional prospects upon joining the organization. Joseph now rounds out a collection of young talent that has the Phils extremely deep at the catcher position in the minors.

The 6-foot-1 215-pounder, was the Giants' second round draft selection (55th overall) in 2009. Upon making his professional debut the following year, Joseph played with Class A Augusta of the South Atlantic League. That year, with the GreenJackets, Joseph posted a .236 average with 16 homers and 68 RBI in 117 games.

In 2011, Joseph batted .270, smashed 22 home runs and drove in 95 runs in 127 games for Class A Advanced San Jose. Over the off-season that followed, he was ranked as San Francisco's 5th best prospect by MLB.com.

An All-Star in the Double-A Eastern League in 2012, the righty hitting Joseph tallied a .257 average with 11 home runs and 48 RBI in 108 games between Richmond and Reading. Joseph spent a month this past off-season playing in the Arizona Fall League, where he sported a .204 average with one double, five RBI in 14 games played.

Overall, Joseph, who grew up admiring All-Star catchers Mike Piazza and Jorge Posada, is an aggressive batter that can really drive the ball. In his past two seasons, Joseph sports solid marks in OPS (.758) and ISO (.173). Having displayed power at multiple levels, many feel that the 21-year-old projects to be a 20+ home run guy.

Defensively, Joseph, who possesses a top notch work ethic, is strong behind the plate and is capable of leading a pitching staff and keeping the opposition's running game under control with his arm. And while Joseph might reach the big leagues because of his bat, it will be his skills as a backstop that keep him there.

On the bases, Joseph runs like a catcher and will never be a true stolen base threat.

Currently, the Arizona native is in Major League camp with the Phillies and should get some solid reps in spring training games. With Sebastian Valle expecting a light work load, due to a fractured finger, Joseph could get a nice chance to impress the entire organization with some extra playing time. Having caught all of the Giants' aces last spring, Joseph may now get to see game action with the Phils collection of elite hurlers.

Look for Joseph to begin the 2013 back in Double-A, with Valle occupying the starting catcher spot at Triple-A, with both men possibly ready for the next level at any point. The Phils' depth at the position could result either man being a trade chip this year as well.

Comments

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page . For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature. Thank you. On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool. Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island. However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon. Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...

Weekend Preview: Phillies at Yankees

The Phillies (22-17) head up to New York to take on the Yankees (24-17) in their new digs this weekend. It should be a fun Memorial Day weekend at the new Yankee Stadium. A record 75 homeruns have been hit at Yankee Stadium in the first 20 games there. The Phils haven't visited the Bronx since 2000. Read on for pitching match ups, game times, and plenty more notes. Friday, 7:05pm. Brett Myers (3-2, 4.50 ERA) vs. AJ Burnett (2-1, 5.02 ERA). Myers has had one career start against the Yankees. He won that game, in June 2006, by throwing 6 2/3 innings, striking out 11 and giving up just 2 earned runs. Myers is 3-0 on the road this season. Burnett has a 5-7 record in 16 career games against the Phils with a 4.57 ERA and 2 complete games. Burnett at home this season has no record in 4 starts, with a 4.15 ERA. Greg Dobbs is 4-for-6 in his career against Burnett with a double and 2 RBI. Matt Stairs is 2-for-8 off Burnett...both hits are homeruns . Saturday, 4:10pm. "Jay" Hap...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog