Blue Jays: Looking at the catching ranks throughout the system

Danny Jansen may be establishing himself as the catcher of the future in Toronto, but there is a lot of talent behind the plate in the Blue Jays’ system.

Now that the Blue Jays have fully committed to the philosophy of “out with the past and in with the future”, fans can get excited what the future holds.

I first became truly excited and started following Blue Jays prospects in 2011 when a trio of pitchers were coming through the organization together.  These three were drafted the same season and progressed together, but I’ll save those details for a later time.

The fact is, I started getting excited about what those prospects could be.  Rebuilds are only successful when you draft or trade for youth, then develop and see the fruition of those players.  High hopes are just that, they are hopes.  In the past, the Blue Jays have had high hopes with the likes of J.P. Arencibia, Travis d’Arnaud and even of A.J. Jimenez at one point.  Once and a while you develop a catcher and you find them to be a superstar at a different position, ie. Carlos Delgado.

If you are a Blue Jays fan there is no way you don’t know of Danny Jansen, the now and future backstop of Toronto.  The Jays drafted him, developed him, found a weakness and fixed it.  But who else does Toronto have?  In this article, I’ll dive into the top 10 most important catchers currently in the organization.

1.       Danny Jansen – Toronto Blue Jays – MLB

Drafted in the 16th Round of the 2013 draft, Danny Jansen was never thought of as a high end prospect and many questioned if he would even be a MLB level catcher.  Then prior to the 2017 season Jansen put on a new set of glasses and things took off.  He started the season playing in High-A ball with Dunedin where he batted .369, and by the end of the year he was in AAA Buffalo.

Over three levels of baseball, Jansen batted a cool .323 and crushed out ten home runs on the season, three more than his previous four seasons combined.  Jansen was called up to the Blue Jays late in 2018 where he started 31 games and got a small taste of big league action, which led him into the 2019 season.

It is well known that Jansen struggled early in this season with his batting, but he has been able to turn it around over the last month. However, his biggest strength is his catching ability.  Jansen gives a big target for pitchers and has been able to throw out 34% of the base runners, while only allowing three passed balls.

2.       Gabriel Moreno – Lansing Lugnuts – A Ball

An international free agent in 2016, Gabriel Moreno decided this last year that he would fully commit to baseball as his career and the Jays couldn’t be happier.  Moreno has just 120 minor league games to his resume, but the 19-year old has been very impressive.

While many his age, if they are playing pro ball, are in the Rookie League, Moreno has already advanced to Lansing where he is batting .364 with 19 extra base hits (seven home runs) over 48 games.  What is more impressive is that the youngster has just five passed balls while throwing out 34% of the base runners this year.  Last year Moreno batted .359 between two levels of Rookie Ball with 23 extra base hits.  If Moreno keeps advancing like he has, he will likely see New Hampshire next year with the possibility (although unlikely) of Buffalo.

3.       Alejandro Kirk – Dunedin Blue Jays – High A Ball

Another 2016 international free agent signing, Alejandro is a thick, hard-hitting catcher.  Some have said that Kirk may not stick at catcher, but I am one to think he may stay at the position.

Kirk started 17 games in Lansing this year where he did not allow a passed ball and threw out 33% of the runners.  Once he was promoted to Dunedin his caught stealing percentage went up to nearly 40%, however has added five passed balls, albeit in three times as many games.  His home run totals dropped from Rookie ball where he hit 10 last year in 244 at bats to just three in 283 at bats this year.  The impressive part of his batting is he has been able to keep a high batting average of .305 in the higher levels and he has exchanged home runs for doubles as he has seen a 150% increase.

4.       Riley Adams – New Hampshire Fisher Cats – AA

One of the more popular Blue Jays prospects, Riley Adams was selected in the third round of the 2017 MLB draft and signed at slot for $542,400.  Adams has caught 56 games behind the plate this year and has allowed just six passed balls, throwing out 29% of the runners (31% in AA).  Adams has been as steady as the come and looks to be at minimum a quality MLB back-up catcher.  A year ago, he likely would have been third or even second but the emergence of Moreno has dropped him down.

5.       Reese McGuire – Buffalo Bisons – AA

One of the better trades that Ross Atkins has done, McGuire was acquired with Harold Ramirez and Francisco Liriano (later traded for Teoscar Hernandez) for dwindling Drew Hutchison.  McGuire impressed with a September call-up last year hitting .290 with two home runs in 31 at bats for the Blue Jays.

In my opinion McGuire should stay with the Blue Jays right now and should be paired with Jansen for the next few years.  McGuire is well above what Luke Maile brings, but I’m not in the organization to have my opinion (yet).  McGuire has thrown out just 26% of the base runners this year, but has not been tested all that much, which could because of his arm strength.  He is also striking out just 15.6% of his at bats (Maile is 24.1% this season and 27% for his career) so McGuire can move runners along.  Bring him up now, which will help with the MLB club, his future as well as freeing up spots for the young catchers climbing the ranks.

6.       Hagen Danner – Lansing Lugnuts – A Ball

The 2017 second round pick signed for well above slot with the Blue Jays and came out of the gates flat on his face.

Danner batting just .160 and his strikeout to walk rate was 7:1, while throwing out just 21% of the runners.  He showed that was just a small 34 game sample, as in 2018 in Rookie Ball he batted .279 and his strikeout to walk rate dropped to 1.5:1.

There were lots of expectations coming into 2019 when he started the season with Lansing.  His catching has improved a bit, but he is now splitting time between behind the plate and first base.  Danner has added some power as he has his 12 home runs this year which triples his combined stats from the two years previous, but his average has dropped to a .179.  My expectation is that he will move to first to try and work more on his bat.

7.       Ryan Sloniger – Bluefield – Rookie

One of my favorite prospects so far, and I’m not sure how you cannot love what he brings after 20 games in the Blue Jays organization.  Sloniger was taken in the 38th round in this past draft and signed a very low signing bonus, but got to work right away.

Of the 20 games he has started 14 of them at catcher and has thrown out just one of 15 base runners.  But, and that is a big but, his hitting has been outstanding, which leads me to believe the 5’11” catcher may end up seeing middle infield time, likely at second base.  Sloniger is batting .337 between Vancouver and Bluefield with five homeruns.

8.       Philip Clarke – Vancouver – Low A

Taken in the same draft as Sloniger the two are now teammates playing together in Vancovuer.  Clarke will likely see more of the time behind the plate and his bat has been just as good as Sloniger.  Clarke is batting .306 in 12 games with four extra base hits and his walk to strikeout rate through those games is 1:1.  It will be interesting to see how these two progress together, both are left handed bats, both stand 5’11” and just shy of 200 lbs, both styles are pretty similar.  Let the best man win.