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Astros Spring: The Position Battle No One Is Talking About
The 2017 roster for the Astros is already pretty much set going into spring training. However, there are very few spots open for competition like first base.
There is another Astros position battle going on this spring that isn’t necessarily for a roster spot. And that is the third catcher spot.
Brian McCann will be the starter and with Evan Gattis looking to be the backup catcher. Both players will also receive some at-bats as the DH. The two guys competing for the third spot is former top prospect Max Stassi and newcomer Juan Centeno. The dark horse for the job could be Garrett Stubbs, a current prospect that is already on the 40-man roster.
Max Stassi
Max Stassi was ranked within the top 10 catching prospects in baseball back in 2014 due to his Double-A hot streak. He hit .277 with 17 bombs in 76 games in Corpus showing solid power potential and the ability to hit for average. Defense has never been a problem for him either as he is acclaimed as a stellar defensive catcher. He eventually earned a call-up to the big leagues and played well. Stassi was, in fact, recording a .350 average in seven games before being plunked in the face by Texas Rangers pitcher Tanner Scheppers, effectively ending his 2014 season.
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Since then, the now 25-year-old catcher has struggled to stay in Houston. His numbers dropped in Triple-A, and he hasn’t been able to get back to the offensive numbers he showed in 2014. The acquisition of Gattis and the emergence of top prospect Stubbs have made Stassi an after-thought among Astros fans. This spring is his chance to show he can still succeed at the Major League level. And so far he is doing just that.
The catcher slugged the first home run of the Spring for Houston in his first game, an opposite field bomb to right-center in a stadium where the wind blows hard to left. His pitch-framing has looked solid, and his at-bats have been productive early this spring.
As far as his arm, as I am writing this article, he torches Miami outfielder Marcell Ozuna‘s steal attempt, showing off Stassi’s exceptional arm. If he impresses enough this spring, Stassi could put himself in the position to be the 3rd guy up in the Astros Catcher depth chart.
Juan Centeno
The Houston Astros wanted to have catcher depth, seeing that starter Brian McCann is 33 years old, and so they acquired free agent Juan Centeno, a former catcher for the Minnesota Twins. At 27 years old, Centeno has shown the ability to hit for a decent average, as he hit .261 in 55 games in 2016. Centeno has backup catcher written all over him.
Centeno will likely start the year at Triple-A Fresno as the catcher position is set in Houston. He and Stassi will battle it out this spring for the third catcher spot. Centeno has more Major League experience though so he would be the ideal emergency catcher. But Stassi has shown flashes of potential, so the job isn’t going just to be handed to Centeno.
While the third catcher spot is not one that is going to get a ton of publicity, it is an important one for this organization. Depth is important to a team looking to make a playoff push, and the duo of Stassi and Centeno affords the Astros plenty of depth at catcher. One could argue that Houston really does have the look of the deepest team in baseball.
**Statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference**