Article: 2023 Brewers Farm System Positional Preview: Catcher

[clancyphile]

As April approaches, it is time to start looking at the Brewers Farm system, see which players will be where, dive deeper into each position from AAA to the full-season A, and maybe even hazard a guess as to the rookie leagues.

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

While William Contreras and Victor Caratini will be handling the bulk of the starts at catcher in Milwaukee if all goes as planned, the minors will have a lot of potential depth. Let’s look at each of the full-season teams.

AAA Nashville
The primary catcher will be former Brewers prospect Payton Henry, who was dealt to the Marlins in 2021 for John Curtiss. That deal didn’t work out for the Crew, but they got Henry back for a rookie league OF Reminton Batista. Throughout his professional career, including two brief cups of coffee in Miami, he’s shown power and OBP skills. Alex Johnson and Brian Navaretto will likely be the backups there and will get lots of playing time if Henry is called up.

AA Biloxi
The starting job could be up for grabs. Jeferson Quero is a hot prospect, hitting pretty well with the Carolina Mudcats and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. His only minus is a low walk rate in the small sample in Appleton. However, Darrien Miller has performed well at the plate, not just over his career in the United States but also during the 2022-2023 winter season as Brisbane, where he posted a .812 OPS, and his bat shows plenty of pop. Wes Clarke, who split time between first base and catcher with the Shuckers and Timber Rattlers, could also factor in behind the plate.

A+ Wisconsin
Quero could very well start in Wisconsin, despite a mostly superb performance in 20 games in 2022 due to the presence of Miller and Clarke. He would likely be joined by Jose Sibrian, who showed OBP skills and some doubles power, but will be 24 and looks more like an organization player. Australian Alex Hall could also see time in Wisconsin after a superb 2022-2023 “winter” season in Perth.

A Carolina
2022 fourth-round draft pick Matthew Wood could end up the starter here. Still, the Brewers had four catchers at the ACL in 2022, including Jhonnys Cabrera, who looks to be a 3TO option that not only played catcher but also saw action at first base and took the mound occasionally in 2021 and 2022. Blayberg Diaz, Jason Ollarve, and Felipe Valderrama also could be factors at Carolina

Rookie Leagues
Wood did not see much professional action, so he could end up in Arizona, while Edgardo Ordonez and Eric Martinez look to be the most promising from the 2022 DSL teams – and with the Brewers cutting down to one ACL team, the competition will be fierce.

Overview
The Brewers look set for the short-term at catcher between Contreras, Caratini, and Henry. Down the road, though, there are a lot of options. Quero gets the spotlight in the minors, but Darien Miller’s left-handed power bat could be a good fit for American Family Field. At the same time, down in the lower levels, Wood, Cabrera, Ordonez, and Martinez could also become factors for the Crew.

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[damuelle]

Thanks for this. You’ve probably got the #1’s correct: AAA Henry, AA Miller, High-A Quero, Low-A Wood.

I’ll keep holding out hope, though, that they let Miller (defense) and Quero (offense) work on skills development in High-A Wisconsin to start the year. They’re just 22 and 20 years old and High-A’s not exactly a cakewalk, as we saw for some prospects last year.

That would allow the old timers (Brent Diaz, Jason Lopez, Nick Kahle) and Wes Clarke to get more early season action at AA Biloxi, so we certainly wouldn’t be short of players.

6’4”, 20-year old Tayden Hall is our latest convert-to-catcher experiment, but I guess most figure it’ll go the same way Thomas Dillard’s went. I hope it works out though.

Lastly, let’s not sleep on Satchell Norman - 20 years old, $125k signing bonus last year, .854 OPS in limited time. The only position he played was catcher in the 7 times he saw the field for ACL Brewers Gold last year.

[CheeseheadInQC]

It feels like, unless they are moving Tayden Hall to 1st base, they have 15 catchers who belong on full season rosters with likely 12 spots.

Am I the only one who thinks it is 50/50 on Wood? I know catcher is a bit different, but early college picks tend to start in high-A.

[damuelle]

26 minutes ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

It feels like, unless they are moving Tayden Hall to 1st base, they have 15 catchers who belong on full season rosters with likely 12 spots.

Am I the only one who thinks it is 50/50 on Wood? I know catcher is a bit different, but early college picks tend to start in high-A.

Wood’s 8 days older than Miller and was paid a $347,500 signing bonus last year, so yeah, I think we could see him commence at High-A. But that’s probably dependent on Miller or Quero starting at AA Biloxi, as all three need to catch regularly.

[Joseph Zarr]

I will not let the Brent Diaz and Brian Navarretto omissions slide (reads article again. Calm yourself, Joseph, Navarretto is mentioned as a likely back-up. I'm going to stay with it!😂). OH NO, fine Sirs, I will not. Both ballers are two of my favorite catchers to watch in the entire system. Navarretto, in particular, was the starting mitt in the Championship semi-final - over the maligned (by that time) Mario Feliciano. He's as solid as they come and I love watching him play. His positive attitude and smile in the clubhouse is more contagious than the common cold.

[Joseph Zarr]

I also have a continually evolving take on Darrien Miller: I love everything about his game except playing catcher. I had grown sour on his game in 2022 (you'll hear about it in my 11-15 underrateds), until I saw him perform so well in lead-off. He brings so much to the table as a player and as a teammate but, gents, the defense...the arm. I really (and I mean REALLY) want to see them start working him at 1B and DH. He has the frame to add more power if he can cut down his tendency to lose a level plane in his swing. He can already take walks and fill-in at lead-off. I know he's young but I'd personally like to see them give him the 1B treatment like they did with Black in CF and Turang all over the Infield.

[wiguy94]

3 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I also have a continually evolving take on Darrien Miller: I love everything about his game except playing catcher. I had grown sour on his game in 2022 (you'll hear about it in my 11-15 underrateds), until I saw him perform so well in lead-off. He brings so much to the table as a player and as a teammate but, gents, the defense...the arm. I really (and I mean REALLY) want to see them start working him at 1B and DH. He has the frame to add more power if he can cut down his tendency to lose a level plane in his swing. He can already take walks and fill-in at lead-off. I know he's young but I'd personally like to see them give him the 1B treatment like they did with Black in CF and Turang all over the Infield.

Miller's arm feels very problematic in a game that seems to be trending towards having more steals. You can improve framing/blocking. Can't really make a guy's arm significantly better through training.

[Joseph Zarr]

5 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Miller's arm feels very problematic in a game that seems to be trending towards having more steals. You can improve framing/blocking. Can't really make a guy's arm significantly better through training.

This is my overarching sentiment: We already have a problem there and this is before the new rule changes that absolutely do not help him in this department. He can improve his jump, of course, but (and I don't like saying this) the arm is just not very good. I think he's a wonderful baseball player and I truly enjoy watching him play but given his age I think it's a mistake to not give him more reps in other places.