Part one of our Detroit Tigers Positional Overview on catchers can be found here.
West Michigan Whitecaps
Josh Crouch – Crouch at one time seemed to be a diamond in the rough for the Tigers. The former 11th round pick blossomed into a great bat in 2022 for West Michigan, slashing .290/.367/.445 and 10 home runs in 90 games. This hasn’t been the same story in 2023 though. Crouch has only hit 3 home runs all year with one being in Erie.
His OPS in West Michigan is .682, and he seems to have lost all power, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better with Crouch turning 25 in December. His ability to play the catcher position well is what keeps him in the lineup.
We at the Tigers Minor League report ranked Crouch as the organization’s 30th ranked prospect as a 50 grade fielder with a 60 grade arm and poor hitting grades. He’s a good defender, but he’s running out of time to hit himself out of West Michigan.
Eliezer Alfonzo – The 23-year-old out of Venezuela has been in the Tigers organization for quite some time. A defense first catcher, Alfonzo isn’t the best hitter. Once upon a time he was supposed to develop power, but that day has not yet come, and the clock is ticking. He doesn’t strike out a lot as he only has a 7.4% strikeout rate in 2023, but that comes with a huge cost due to Alfonzo’s .262 BABIP.
Alfonzo’s slash line this season is .258/.321/.366 with 7 home runs. Unless his power numbers take a huge step next season, we can be looking at another organization catcher in Alfonzo.
Erie Seawolves
Mario Feliciano – Our first catcher with major league experience is Mario Feliciano. He only has 3 career major league games but it is major league experience nonetheless. Feliciano was claimed off waivers from Milwaukee back in December and has spent all of 2023 in Erie. He has a short stocky build that many scouts thought would help him create lots of power, but that power hasn’t been seen since 2019 when he went yard 19 times. His hitting struggles have been no secret this year.
Feliciano has an OPS below .600 on the year and has hit 0 home runs. Obviously if his bat continues to wallow he’ll have trouble advancing through the final steps of the system but his defense may put that case to rest. He has a great arm. His framing definitely needs some work, but he catches an electronic strike zone most days of the week.
He has been a fantastic pitch caller this year though. He has been the backbone of the Erie Seawolves pitching staff that has seen good developmental years from pitchers like Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Ty Madden, and Wilmer Flores. He likely isn’t a part of the future for the Tigers at the major league level but that can change with a few tweaks at the plate.
Toledo Mud Hens
Donny Sands – Sands is the first catcher listed that is on the 40-man roster. He is also the only minor league catcher on the Tigers 40 man roster. Sands was a part of the Gregory Soto to Philadelphia trade and was a nice throw into the deal. He slashed .309/.413/.428 in 2022 for Philadelphia’s Triple-A ballclub. It’s been a different story in 2023, however.
Sands has slashed .236/.315/.351 for Toledo in 2023. His ability to get on base and ability to hit the ball well has seemed to diminish. Sands is only getting older as well. He turned 27 in May. Now, one bad season doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road because he is still on the 40-man roster and in AAA, but the bat is going to have to improve for sure.
Dillon Dingler – Here is one hell of a player. Dingler, 24 years old, was a 2nd round pick out of The Ohio State University in the 2020 MLB Draft and has been a notable prospect for a few years. Dingler was once upon a time going to flow through the system with Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, but his stop in Erie in 2021 halted everything. Dingler lost all feel at the plate and his struggling woes continued in the 2022 season as his K rate finished the season at 31.9%.
Dingler picked things back up in 2023 by putting up an .833 OPS through 51 games in Erie earning him a call up to Triple-A Toledo. Dingler is ranked No. 16 at your very own Tigers Minor League Report. We have him as a 55 grade defender with a 60 grade arm. He calls his own games and has built good relationships with pitchers in Erie that are going to carry over to Toledo and eventually Detroit. Dingler gets on base well, calls his own games, hits for power well, it’s just a matter of time until he’s ready to get the big call to Detroit.
Detroit Tigers
Jake Rogers – Rogers seems to fit the new catcher archetype. He hits for power, gets on base at a fair amount, strikes out a lot, calls games exceptionally well, and frames very well. He has hit 15 home runs this year with a 95 wRC+ and 8.1 framing runs according to FanGraphs. Pitchers have a 4.96 ERA when Rogers is behind the plate, which is extremely misleading given the context of each game.
The Tigers are glad to have Rogers back from Tommy John surgery due to his middle of the order presence that also works well with pitchers. On a playoff team Rogers would be a back of the order guy, but he wouldn’t be labeled a “free out”. Rogers is likely to be the Tigers Opening Day starting catcher in 2024 and the catcher of the future until further notice.
Carson Kelly – The new Tigers catcher signed with the team on Saturday with a $3.5 million club option for 2024 to replace struggling backup Eric Haase. Carson Kelly is most known for being a main piece of the Paul Goldschmidt trade back in December 2018. He has had a wRC+ of over 100 twice in his major league career with both seasons containing good sample sizes.
In both of these seasons, Kelly clipped a walk rate of over 12%. His best attribute is his numbers against lefties. He has a career .817 OPS and a 137 OPS+ against lefties as opposed to his .620 OPS and 81 OPS+ against righties. He is replacing Eric Haase on the roster, which leads to a big question mark… what do the Tigers see in Carson Kelly?
He most certainly didn’t out hit Haase. What kept Haase on the roster for so long appeared to be his way to command the pitching staff so well. Carson Kelly’s pitchers have a 5.01 ERA when he is behind the dish. He had a 3.82 ERA in 2022, but the margin of error is huge due to the recent ban of the (extreme) shift. Kelly is a low risk, high reward player, if he doesn’t work out there’s no penalty. If he works out, then who knows what he can hold.
Recap
Along with many teams throughout the entirety of Major League Baseball, the future for their organizations catching staff remains a day-to-day discussion. So much can change a year, months, or days. The Tigers have a lot of guys who are likely to be organizational catchers unless big changes are made. There are a few guys in the FCL and DSL that have a lot of upside, but with how long catchers take to develop, nothing is a certainty. Josue Briceno has a great bat, but his defense is very lackluster, and the Tigers can afford to move his bat elsewhere due to how valuable it is. He certainly doesn’t hit like a catcher.
The catching situation has taken a huge twist in the past couple days due to Eric Haase recently being designated for assignment. Jake Rogers being a part of the Tigers next season at the minimum is a guarantee. The backup catcher position remained a huge question mark for the majority of the season. Are the Tigers going to take a flier in free agency? Is Dillon Dingler going to be ready?
Maybe we just got an answer with Carson Kelly. Signing Carson Kelly for a league minimum salary with a club option as a test trial for the 2024 season may be the answer. What hurts about this signing? Much of this season has been throwing things against the wall and seeing if they stick while players develop throughout the minor leagues. All in all there are many questions as to what this position holds for the future. Once you’re set at this position you can’t come back.