Skip to main content

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #21 Catcher Rodolfo Duran

Rodolfo Duran, image- Jay Floyd
Catcher Rodolfo Duran made some big impressions last season and finds himself earning recognition among the Phillies' top rising prospects.  The righty batting Dominican helped lead the remarkable pitching staff for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws and was a considerable contributor to that team's offense.

Signed as an international free agent in 2014 at age 16, Duran made his professional debut in 2015 with the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies.  In 36 games there, the five-foot-nine 181-pounder posted a .185 batting average with three doubles, a triple and 10 RBI.

The following year, Duran repeated the GCL, appearing in a pair of games with Class A short-season Williamsport.  In 34 combined games, he batted .315 while slamming three home runs and driving in 14 runs.

In 2017 the Santo Domingo native sported a .252 average with nine doubles, three triples and six RBI in 48 games with Williamsport.

Last year he made the jump to Class A Lakewood, where he had a breakout season.  Showing big improvements in the power department, he pounded 18 home runs.  Duran also notched a .260 average with 48 RBI through 88 games. 

In June, he hit .397 with seven homers and was named South Atlantic League Player of the Month for his efforts. 

He homered in back to back games five times during his BlueClaws campaign, including June 27-29 when he launched round-trippers in three consecutive contests. 

Duran also added three more homers during the BlueClaws' postseason run, in which they were runners up for the league championship.

The Lakewood pitching staff that Duran handled recorded a league-best 2.74 season ERA and many of the team's hurlers credited their battery mates for much of the success.

Defensively, Duran, who turns 21 years old this month, stands out as a sniper for opposing base runners.  After erasing 48% of potential base stealers in 2017, he threw out 39 of 93 (42%) with Lakewood last year, which was the highest percentage among qualified catchers and he threw out the most runners of anyone in the Sally League.

At the plate, Duran will need to improve his efforts against lefties, as he posted an OPS of just .472 against southpaws in 2018 in 98 at bats.  An .866 OPS at Lakewood's FirstEnergy Park, which has a reputation as being favorable to pitchers, shows loads of promise, however.


Duran should be expected to move up a level and start the 2019 season at Class A Advanced Clearwater.  The future is bright for the youngster, especially if he can iron out the concerns at the plate.

Track this year's complete Phillies prospects countdown by clicking this link.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

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...