Skip to main content

Prospect Nation 2014 #17: Catcher Tommy Joseph

Tommy Joseph, Image- Jay Floyd
Acquired from San Francisco in a swap for Hunter Pence in July 2012, catcher Tommy Joseph quickly became one of the Phillies' top positional prospects. In the time since that trade, however, Joseph has struggled to produce as he has dealt with injury concerns that have prevented him from getting and staying hot.

Possessing a high ceiling bat and strong backstop skills, Joseph is still a prospect that could make a big splash in the Phils system if his health allows him to stay on the field.

In 2009 Joseph was was drafted in the second round out of Horizon High School in Arizona. That season, he was recognized as an All-State player as he dominated opposing pitchers with his .494 average, 15 home runs and 36 RBI in 37 games played.

Upon making his professional debut the following year, the six-foot-one 215-pounder played with Class A Augusta of the South Atlantic League. In 2010, with the GreenJackets, Joseph posted a .236 average with 16 homers and 68 RBI in 117 games.

In 2011, Joseph batted .270, while slamming 22 home runs and driving 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 following the 2012 regular season playing in the Arizona Fall League, where he sported a .204 average with one double and five RBI in 14 games played.

Overall, Joseph, who admired All-Star catchers Mike Piazza and Jorge Posada as a child, is an aggressive batter that can really drive the ball. Having displayed impressive pop at multiple levels, Joseph entered last year with promising power potential.

The 2013 season was a tough one for Joseph, who experienced the third concussion of his career, which kept him out of action for a considerable amount of time. The 22-year-old, who began last season with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs and was sidelined after 21 games. After some time on the shelf, Joseph played several rehab games for the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies and the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers before returning to Double-A Reading in early July. The return didn't last long, as further complications from his concussion and a reported shin issue kept Joseph, who batted .179 with four doubles, three home runs and 16 RBI in 36 combined games, out of action for the remainder of the regular season.

This off-season in nine games with the Estrellas in the Dominican Winter League, Joseph batted .192 with two doubles and two RBI while striking out 10 times without a walk. His DR League numbers aren't nearly impressive, but there's certainly a silver lining coming out of Joseph's time there, as Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan has stated in recent weeks that the youngster held up under the pounding behind the plate there, taking some mask and helmet impacts with no setbacks or lasting effects.

Defensively, Joseph, who possesses a top notch work ethic that his coaches and team officials love, is strong behind the dish and is capable of leading a pitching staff. He also has a solid ability to keep the opposition's running game under control with his arm.

Joseph's skills behind the plate could be what keeps him in the big leagues, should his bat be the main tool that gets him there. However, the possibility of changing positions, likely to first base, would be considered if ever concussion issues return for the Arizona native.

On the bases, Joseph runs as a catcher would be expected to and will never be a true stolen base threat.

Joseph should see a fair amount of reps in big league spring training this year, but is probably a lock to begin this 2014 campaign back with the IronPigs once again.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...