Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Potential Catchers In The Draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates could be looking into these three catching draft prospects in the upcoming amature draft.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the #1 overall pick in this upcoming draft. The three top draft prospects right now look like Marcelo Mayer, Kahill Watson, and Henry Davis. However, there’s a case to be made for Jordan Lawlar or Jack Leiter.

The Pirates’, like any team’s, draft focus will be on talent and worrying about position later. Right now, the Bucs need to just focus on getting what is seen as the best talent available. Though the system does lack a top-catching prospect. Endy Rodriguez is the team’s only worthwhile backstop in the minors.

Although the team shouldn’t go out of its way to draft a catching prospect, one may fall to them during one of their post-first-selection picks. There are a few that they may show interest in during the second, third, and later rounds. Today, I want to take a look at three potential catching prospects that the team could select in the draft.

Noah Cardenas

Noah Cardenas is UCLA’s backstop. Cardenas is mostly known as a defender. The right-handed batter has a 60-fielding and arm grade on MLB Pipeline. According to Pipeline, Cardenas has “outstanding agility” and “plus blocking and receiving skills”. He has also gotten a ton of praise for his strong arm which threw out about 50% of would-be base stealers in 2021.

Although Cardenas’ calling card is defense, he hasn’t been all that bad of a hitter in college. In 469 plate appearances, Cardenas has a .302/.407/.426 line with a .378 wOBA. He hasn’t hit for much power. Cardenas had just 8 home runs and 20 doubles throughout all of college. Plus his .124 isolated slugging percentage isn’t too awe-inspiring.

However, he has gotten on base a ton and makes a ton of contact. Cardenas has walked at a solid 9.6% rate. But his strikeout rate sits at just 14.1%. Cardenas’ stock fell some as he followed up his outstanding 2019 season with a so-so 2021 season. His OPS fell from .976 to .774. Overall, he only has a 45-hit tool and a 40-power tool.

Though his ability to get on base, make consistent contact, and pair that with well above average defense makes him an interesting pick. Cardenas does have a 6’1, 185-pound frame. The 22-year-old could add a little bit of bulk to help increase his power. The Pirates don’t want to be stuck in a Kevin Newman situation where they have a player who doesn’t make hard enough contact to get it out of the infield.

CJ Rodriguez

CJ Rodriguez received for Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter at Vanderbilt. The right-handed catcher is currently ranked as the 235th best draft prospect by MLB Pipeline. While he isn’t too highly ranked, he’s still worth a glance during this year’s draft.

Rodriguez is more of a glove-first kind of prospect. Throughout 283 plate appearances at Vandy, Rodriguez had a .257/.389/.378 line, leading to a .348 wOBA. Still very solid numbers, especially for a catcher. Impressively, Rodriguez walked nearly twice as much as he struck out. He drew ball four 41 times compared to going down on strike three 22 times. Though this does come with the caveat of a .117 isolated slugging percentage and 17 extra-base hits.

Rodriguez has a 55-fielding and arm grade according to MLB Pipeline. Plus he was well regarded as a blocker and a game caller. Rodriguez’s eye at the plate will certainly make up for his lack of power. It’s also worth noting he was hitting the ball with more authority this past season compared to previous years.

What also could make Rodriguez an interesting pick is if the Pittsburgh Pirates select Jack Leiter with the #1 overall selection. The Pittsburgh Pirates could bring in both Leiter and his batterymate. Obviously, they shouldn’t go completely out of their way to select him just because they may pick Leiter, but something to keep in mind.