Boston Red Sox select Kyle Teel in the 2023 MLB draft.

Just a bit outside

Just a bit outside

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 6, 2011
8,013
Monument, CO
The only qualified catchers with a WRC+ above 110 with a positive DWAR are William Contreras, Will Smith, Raleigh, Murphy, Rutchman, and Heim. Contreras and Rutchman make it because of their framing, not throwing.

I’m excited about Teel but that throw on the shortstop side of the bag probably isn’t a caught stealing at the major league level. A pop time of 1.91 is great but accuracy is important. Realmuto leads the majors in pop time at 1.84 but has only thrown out 1 guy above expected because his accuracy hasn’t been great. Wong is 6 above with a pop time of 1.90 because his accuracy has been fantastic.

I’m using caught stealing above expected because there are so many variables in caught stealing percentage that I don’t think it tells us much about catchers. For example, Wong’s caught stealing percentage is 33% but he hasn’t thrown on 10 steal attempts where he had no chance or was told not to throw. Take those out and he has caught 14 of 33 for a cs% of just under 43%.
 
Niastri

Niastri

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 14, 2007
616
Yankee blackout country! Syracuse NY
LogansDad said:
It's interesting. I don't think a truly great defensive catcher is as rare as a truly great defensive shortstop. But a great defensive catcher who can also hit well? Those are basically unicorn dragons.

Who in the league even counts as that these days? Realmuto and Murphy?

I am a huge O'Hoppe fan, but based off what little I have seen of them both, I am way more excited for Teel.
Click to expand...
The amazing thing is the Sox could have both in just a few seasons.
 
JM3

JM3

often quoted
SoSH Member
Dec 14, 2019
15,321
The guy he caught has 36 steals this season, too.
 
RG33

RG33

Certain Class of Poster
SoSH Member
Nov 28, 2005
7,247
CA
<Chaim Bloom sucks and needs to get his shit together.>

That was fun to watch. Can’t wait to see him at Fenway in 2025.
 
Fishy1

Fishy1

Head Mason
SoSH Member
Nov 10, 2006
6,161
He threw that sidearm, right on target. Jesus.

Also would note that he's doing the thing: just as many BB's than K's in limited time. K rage is sub 20. We'll see how that changes in AA, but very encouraging so far.
 
ookami7m

ookami7m

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
5,682
Mobile, AL
Off-balance, sidearm, laser precise throw that nails the runner by 2+ steps - ALL OF THAT on a ball that was non-competitively low.
The sound you hear was prospect hounds collective heartrates increasing.

If the kid can keep up the hype he's generated in the first few months of his pro career then this will be very fun.
 
soxhop411

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
46,539
BigSoxFan said:
Love how he just walks away. He knew the runner was gunned. And he’s hitting like .380 so far. Portland is going to have a fun team next year with Mayer, Anthony, and him.
Click to expand...
Is that the catcher equivalent of a batflip for throwing out a runner?
 
Rovin Romine

Rovin Romine

Johnny Rico
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
24,626
Miami (oh, Miami!)
Niastri said:
Knowing the Red Sox current management, they'll try to maximize their chances of additional draft picks when promoting to prospects.

Mayer 24

Teel 25
Click to expand...
It's really just going to depend on how they adapt to the upper minors. Mayer had the injury setback and wasn't setting AA on fire before that. Maybe Teel will hit a similar road-bump. But that said, if both of them happen to sync up so that they're ready at the same time, I doubt they'll keep one on the shelf just to preserve their rookie status for the next year.

It's worth noting the Sox also used Wong in a very limited role in 2021 and 2022. Some of that was having him back up, but some of that may have been to get him acclimated to ML pitching and routines. So maybe we see Teel in a more limited call-up at some point before he's fully ready.
 
Red(s)HawksFan

Red(s)HawksFan

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 23, 2009
20,949
Maine
I think the one thing working in Teel's favor in terms of speeding along his ascent is he's about to get 12 games of experience with the Sea Dogs then have a whole winter to adjust and prepare. That might not be a lot, but I have to imagine it's been a whirlwind for him so far going from college to Ft Myers to Greenville. Getting a taste of Double-A and then time to catch his breath and process it all can't be a bad thing.

That said, I wouldn't pencil him into the big league plans until 2026. If he forces the issue sooner, fine. I think he's going to hit a bump in the road at some point though.
 
simplicio

simplicio

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 11, 2012
5,320
Rovin Romine said:
It's really just going to depend on how they adapt to the upper minors. Mayer had the injury setback and wasn't setting AA on fire before that. Maybe Teel will hit a similar road-bump. But that said, if both of them happen to sync up so that they're ready at the same time, I doubt they'll keep one on the shelf just to preserve their rookie status for the next year.

It's worth noting the Sox also used Wong in a very limited role in 2021 and 2022. Some of that was having him back up, but some of that may have been to get him acclimated to ML pitching and routines. So maybe we see Teel in a more limited call-up at some point before he's fully ready.
Click to expand...
Mayer's AA performance also came attached to a BABIP 120 points lower than he's had at any other level, I'm not concerned.

But it's definitely unfortunate that he's lost so much time to injury this season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom