1 minute ago, Jose Abreu said:

The Cubs have a long term catcher. The Yankees have a DH in Sanchez. So it's really just one team. 

I was being generous.  

Sort of amazing to think the Sox picked this guy up in the MINOR LEAGUE PHASE of the Rule 5 Draft. Most R5 pickups don't end up as much, and minor league phase pickups virtually never do. Some pro scout who pushed for him should get a pat on the back.

 

I'd say his ceiling is slightly worse hitting than this and a better job of keeping the ball in front of him behind the plate.

Per Baseball Prospectus, this year he ranks:

102 out of 102 in runs from blocking balls (includes passed balls on pitches that didn't literally require a block)

95 out of 102 in runs from framing

36 out of 102 in runs from throwing

102 out of 102 overall catcher defense (just a fraction worse than Willson Contreras)

Last year, he was 106 out of 111.

Note that the largest component of catcher defense (in terms of how much influence it has over how many runs get scored) per most current research is pitch framing and both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference do not incorporate any framing metrics into WAR.

Why Narvaez sucks nuts at catching.  

On 8/15/2018 at 11:05 AM, ChiSox59 said:

Why Narvaez sucks nuts at catching.  

Still going with this I see even though several posters called you out about that pitch and how it wasn't on Narvaez It was mostly on the ump and even Rodon for missing his spot. In no way shape or form should Narvaez be blamed. That pitch couldn't even have been framed.

1 minute ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Still going with this I see even though several posters called you out about that pitch and how it wasn't on Narvaez It was mostly on the ump and even Rodon for missing his spot. In no way shape or form should Narvaez be blamed. That pitch couldn't even have been framed.

Lol, I made the post days ago within minutes of the pitch. 

Yes Narvaez was positioned inside. Yes Rodon missed his spot. Yes the umpire blew the call. Yes the catcher who ranks near the absolute bottom in pitching framing in baseball could have caught the ball better. 

Moving along..

4 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Lol, I made the post days ago within minutes of the pitch. 

Yes Narvaez was positioned inside. Yes Rodon missed his spot. Yes the umpire blew the call. Yes the catcher who ranks near the absolute bottom in pitching framing in baseball could have caught the ball better. 

Moving along..

Caught it better ? It was a fastball around a foot away from where he set up . Reaction time on that prevents a catcher from doing anything but lunging for the ball. Moving along now...

Still don't believe two guys came to Chicago and became good hitters. 

I think I need to start re-evaluating Narvaez. THis is quite a stretch. I was at the detroit game where he hit a 3 run homer (i think his first of year?) and I laughed at how crazy that was. Now I'm like, expecting him to be our best hitter.

I also think his success is good news for Collins. The theory being Narvaez has a wonderful batter eye, but for a while really weak power. So, you'd expect pitchers to just pound zone with strikes and make a player like that ineffective. But Narvaez still ended up with good OBPs because pitchers aren't that good at throwing strikes all the time!

Now, Collins probably has as good or better judgment of the zone. But if pitchers challenge him he has the power Narvaez is showing now to make them pay more consistently.

IIRC, Flowers was not a good framer until the last few seasons so maybe there's hope for Narvaez who's still just 26 years old. His OBP and power potential give me hope.

Omar has now been in 162 games, over the last 2 years. Seems like a fair sized sample, from which to form some reasonable opinions. Over that stretch, he has hit .279, with a team leading .377 OBP. He may not provide much power, but he consistently has good at bats. He also does not seem to be overwhelmed, in clutch situations.  He passes the eye test, for me. I've always had the impression that he had a good knowledge of the strike zone and knew how to have a good at bat.    As far as his defense is concerned; is there anything about his skill set, as a catcher, that cannot be improved, with a little hard work and experience? I'm looking forward to seeing how he finishes the season. The next question is; what should the Sox do with Castillo? I can't see giving him more playing time than Narvaez, given that Omar hits left handed. 

8 minutes ago, Lillian said:

Omar has now been in 162 games, over the last 2 years. Seems like a fair sized sample, from which to form some reasonable opinions. Over that stretch, he has hit .279, with a team leading .377 OBP. He may not provide much power, but he consistently has good at bats. He also does not seem to be overwhelmed, in clutch situations.  He passes the eye test, for me. I've always had the impression that he had a good knowledge of the strike zone and knew how to have a good at bat.    As far as his defense is concerned; is there anything about his skill set, as a catcher, that cannot be improved, with a little hard work and experience? I'm looking forward to seeing how he finishes the season. The next question is; what should the Sox do with Castillo? I can't see giving him more playing time than Narvaez, given that Omar hits left handed. 

I think receiving can be improved, but the balls he lets by him makes me worried it's an issue with athleticism and not just technique. 

The White Sox have already turned a minor league Rule 5 pick into at least a back up caliber catcher.  If he can work through the kinks of pitch calling, framing, and defense (which can be taught/learned) he could be a major league starting level catcher.  Narvaez already has value with where he is at today on a major league roster with the absolute catching desert that exists in baseball today.

I'd like to see the Sox trade Castillo, over the winter.Even if it represents not much more than a salary dump. I'm satisfied with the current catching tandem of Narvaez and Smith, until Collins is ready, or whomever they draft, next year. Who knows, the long term answer may be Rutschman or Langeliers.

Edited August 20, 20187 yr by Lillian

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-worst-called-ball-of-the-first-half-4/

Don't always rely on the boxes.

its really crazy how bad Narvaez was in the first half of the season.   It seemed like you could knock the bat out of his hand with a fastball

4 hours ago, Lillian said:

I'd like to see the Sox trade Castillo, over the winter.Even if it represents not much more than a salary dump. I'm satisfied with the current catching tandem of Narvaez and Smith, until Collins is ready, or whomever they draft, next year. Who knows, the long term answer may be Rutschman or Langeliers.

I think the Sox will try to do so this winter. They have Narvaez from the left side of the plate with Collins next in line possibly as soon as mid to late 2019. Then there's Smith from the right side of the plate with Zavala next in line behind him who, if healthy, could be ready as soon as April/May next year.

Castillo + a little money and I think someone bites.

 

3 hours ago, Kyyle23 said:

its really crazy how bad Narvaez was in the first half of the season.   It seemed like you could knock the bat out of his hand with a fastball

In one of the recent game broadcasts, it was stated that he recently decided to go back to an approach, which he had followed earlier in his young career. He began to focus upon watching the pitcher's hand, with the ball and watch it leave his hand. That approach has corresponded with the point in the season, when he began to hit consistently. Pretty basic approach, but I guess sometimes a player can loose that focus.

Edited August 20, 20187 yr by Lillian

 

 

8 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

 

I guess the ceiling is best catcher in the American League! 

On 8/20/2018 at 3:31 PM, Lillian said:

In one of the recent game broadcasts, it was stated that he recently decided to go back to an approach, which he had followed earlier in his young career. He began to focus upon watching the pitcher's hand, with the ball and watch it leave his hand. That approach has corresponded with the point in the season, when he began to hit consistently. Pretty basic approach, but I guess sometimes a player can loose that focus.

Interesting approach. I've always thought it would be better to focus on the right fielder's ear, but the pitcher's hand does seem to make more sense.

Go figure the one position the Sox would find a useful starter would be catcher, the hardest to find.  Well, I'm not complaining.  If he works his ass off this offseason on his receiving he could be looking at a potential ASG appearance next year.  He's always had a really good approach at the plate and its bearing fruit.

32 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Go figure the one position the Sox would find a useful starter would be catcher, the hardest to find.  Well, I'm not complaining.  If he works his ass off this offseason on his receiving he could be looking at a potential ASG appearance next year.  He's always had a really good approach at the plate and its bearing fruit.

You think the Sox just release Castillo?

4 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

You think the Sox just release Castillo?

No way they should try and trade him, they have a club option right?  Have to think they could get a decent prospect for him.