Blue Jays 2019 Top Prospects: #24- Reese McGuire

Our staff here at Jays Journal has ranked the top 30 Blue Jay prospects of 2019, and today we have a look at #24, Reese McGuire.

Reese McGuire, acquired along with Francisco Liriano in 2016, was another one of the prospects that benefited from the Blue Jays dismal season last year, as he gained some valuable major league experience over 14 games in September.

Position: Catcher                                 Age: 23
Height: 5-foot-11                               Weight: 215-pounds
Throws: Right                                       Bats: Left
Acquired: 1st round pick in 2013 (Pittsburgh), traded to Toronto in 2016

McGuire was another one of the success stories in his big league stint, along with fellow catcher Danny Jansen, and showed he’s not just a one dimensional player. The left-handed catcher looked very comfortable across 31 at-bats with the Jays, getting a hit in five of his six complete games behind the dish, and got on base in all six. He batted .290 with two doubles, two home runs and a wRC+ of 146. Obviously it’s not sustainable and he didn’t show that kind of production at the dish with the Bisons, but it was definitely a positive from a catcher primarily known for his defence.

His catching mate in Buffalo this past season, Jansen, will obviously play a big role in figuring out where McGuire’s future is with this team. Jansen is the third-ranked prospect in the organization behind Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, and is the fifth best catching prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.

Hitting

As mentioned before, McGuire’s value comes more from his defensive game and despite having some success with the Jays, he had a slash line of .233/.312/.339 over 96 games in Triple-A. He struck out in about 21 per cent of his at-bats in the minors this season and over 27 per cent in the majors, but it’s never been an issue during his pro career and MLB Pipeline still values his hitting at 50.

Power

Flashed some extra-base with two doubles and two homers in September with the Blue Jays, but he likely will never be regarded as a power hitter. With his hitting making improvements though, a little more pop has come from the 5-foot-11, 215-pound catcher. His power gets a 35 but this tool isn’t quite as important at this position compared to others.

Speed

Speed is definitely not one of McGuire’s strengths despite stealing 14 bases in 2015 with Single-A Bradenton, and three more this season with the Bisons. His minor league stolen base percentage is under 50 per cent, while the major league average this season was over 60 per cent. Stolen bases are declining and are rare at the catching position anyways, with only two big league catchers stealing more than 10 bases in a season since 2010, Yadier Molina and J.T. Realmuto.

Fielding

As mentioned a few times in this piece, there’s some tools that don’t matter as much to catchers but if there’s one that matters the most, it’s this one. Thankfully for McGuire it’s his forte and MLB Pipeline raved last season about how complete his game was defensively. His report went on to say this…“An excellent blocker and receiver who garners high praise for his game-calling and his ability to handle a staff, McGuire also is adept at controlling the running game with his plus arm and efficient pop technique.”

Future Value

McGuire’s defence should surely net him a chance to become a starting catcher at some point throughout his career, but the question is whether it’ll be in Toronto. He obviously sits behind Jansen in the depth chart, but Luke Maile quietly put together a solid campaign with the Jays last year and will likely leave McGuire as the odd man out, beginning the season in Triple-A Buffalo. This will allow him a chance to start on a regular basis and develop a little more. While it looks like there could be a log jam of major league caliber catchers in the Jays system over the next year or so, none of the three have ever held a starting gig at the level so if McGuire could really take his game to another level, who’s to say he doesn’t one day find himself in the number one role?