Defense is sooo important for a catcher, backup or otherwise. I have seen a lot of Willy Rosario of the Rockettes this year. Rookie catcher who is really coming on with the bat, but he is terrible at blocking pitches in the dirt. He leads the Free World in passed balls and no doubt has contributed to many wild pitches, and his staff and Mgr. has to have lost confidence in him. My only point here is that if Sox are contending in 2013, they could not have that poor a defensive catcher on the ML roster, so I hope Phegley is up to it, because he might be on the team next year, if AJ goes away.

I would love to know more about Josh's defense, and his pitcher handling and game calling as well. All keys for catchers. My opinion on his future success could be a lot different based on that.

 

I see a lot to like in a 24 year old catcher in AAA (drafted at 21) who got there skipping a couple stops and managed to hit worth a lick at all. He's got a decent contact rate, had an Iso OBP of 54 points last year, though it was down to 40 this year. The power showed up in August and September. Those are all indications to me he's likely to hit a lot better in 2013 in AAA, to me. Defensively, it was reported earlier this year he'd made a lot of strides at the position. Hard to say how much that means, I haven't seen him play in person.

 

If he is given 2013 to start in AAA, and if he can draw a few more walks, I really think the guy has some value. I realize I'm in the minority, and I admit I know only very little about his supposedly improved defense, but that's what I see.

I love Phegley, if only because he was at Indiana the same time I was. Met him before a basketball game once (after he'd been drafted), real nice guy.