INTRODUCTION
So, you may ask, why am I talking about drafting HS catchers on the 3rd day of the draft?
Three reasons:
- I believe that the college catching prospects don't line up, at all, based on talent, with where our draft slots are. Each one would likely be a significant overdraft if we were able to get them and I just don't see that they are worth that, given the talent in the draft at each of those slots. Obviously, if a guy drops significantly we might draft them in the first 10 rounds, but that applies to all draft prospects who drop significantly.
- I believe that the Guardians will look at the failures they have had with 3rd day college catchers and not want to go there again.
- I believe that the Guardians are disappointed with the development of their international catcher signees which, in the past few years, they emphasized with zero success in producing even marginal prospects.
- I believe they are excited about the one 3rd day catching prospect they drafted in the past 4 years, Logun Clark (see below).
BACKGROUND
HS catchers are a tough pick in the draft, especially if teams spend a 1st or 2nd day pick on one. Blowing a top 10 round pick on someone with only a low % chance of making the majors is difficult to swallow with the bonuses top 10 round picks are paid today.
Let's look at some numbers.
HS catchers drafted by the Guardians between 2021-2024:
- In 2023 they drafted Ralphy Velasques with their 1st round pick but quickly moved him off catcher putting him first to 1B and then, when they found he was athletic enough, to LF.
- In 2022 they drafted Logun Clark in the 16th round. I have watched him develop and he is the reason I am suggesting that the Guardians draft a couple of more HS catchers on the 3rd day of the 2025 draft.
HS Catchers Drafted By All Teams in 2021-2024
Top 10 rounds (Days 1 and 2)
- Rated HS catching prospects drafted: 10
- Rated signed: 10
- Unrated drafted: 4
- Unrated signed: 4
NOTE: So all 14 HS catchers drafted in the top 10 rounds in 2021-2024 signed
Day 3 (rounds 11-20)
- Rated HS catching prospects signed: 1
- Rated unsigned: 3
- Non-rated signed: 9
- Non-rated prospects unsigned: 3
- Rated not drafted: 18
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS ORGANIZATIONAL CATCHER DEPTH
Major Leagues
Bo Naylor - Naylor was a Guardians 1st round draft pick in . Based on what we know today, would make a great backup catcher on a WS-contending ML team. He could survive as a starter on such a team IF he was, by far, the weakest hitter and a great defender. Think Austin Hedges who could hit a little.
Farm System
1. Cooper Ingle - The darling of the fans and of prospect rankings, Ingle is a very good slap hitter who has shown only a small amount of power and whose defense is a work in progress. Still, he is the best hitter of the catchers in the farm system. ETA to ML: 2026. He hits LH which is a preferred handedness for catchers.
2. Jacob Cozart - A surprise 2nd round pick last year, he is another LHH. I would have expected him to dominate with the bat this year but, in 149 AB in A+ he has a .610 OPS. It is early in his career but he appears to be a wasted draft pick at this point with a ceiling of Austin Hedges. ETA 2027.
3. Kody Huff - Huff, a RHH, was acquired in the Cal Quantrill trade. He is a marginal hitter, good defensive catcher. It would be fair to say that he is Jacob Cozart but two years more advanced. Still, he profiles to me as a ML backup. ETA - 2025
4. Logun Clark - A surprise #3 on this list, he has an outstanding arm, throwing out 3 potential base stealers in one inning last year. A strong RHH, he has some pop in his bat and is an extremely hard worker and mature beyond his years as he is becoming the primary catcher at Lynchburg this year. While I love Logun Clark as a prospect, his position on this shows as much about how weak catching is in Cleveland's system as it does about his prospect status. However, Clark is the poster child for what I would like out of this draft, for the Guardians to draft a couple of HS catchers like or better than Clark on the 3rd day of the draft, just like they did with Clark in 2023. ETA - 2028
5. Hiverson Lopez - The top prospect signed by the Guardians in the 2025 international signing period, Lopez is the best catcher on the DSL teams. ETA - 2029
6. All other catchers in the Guardians system appear to be organizational players
NOTE: The catching depth in our farm system is really bad right now as we really don't have any good catchers at Lynchburg or on the ACL team and only Ingle appearding, right now, as a potential ML starter being ready in the next few years.
POSSIBLE 3RD DAY DRAFTEES AMONG HIGH SCHOOL CATCHING PROSPECTS IN 2025
Top Tier
Top rated HS catchers go to college more often than they sign, especially since NIL money is so good in college right now. However, as indicated above, the ones drafted in the top 10 rounds do tend to sign. That being said, if any of the following HS catchers are available on the 3rd day AND are signable, I think you draft up to 2 of them. Here is my ranking, in order of these guys.
1. Trent Grindlinger
2. Omar Serna
3. Brayden Jaksa
4. Ty Harvey
5. Landon Hodge
6. Michael Oliveto
7. Taitn Gray (just because I think he is the one who clearly will be drafted earliest)
All of these catchers are rated high enough to go in the first 5 rounds and, as said above, high school catchers drafted early, like these guys, are one of the worst bets in the draft in terms of eventually making the majors.
NOTE: If any of these guys drop to the 3rd day AND we can sign them for a reasonable bonus, I hope the Guardians draft one and then draft a second HS catcher from the 2nd tier (see below)
Second Tier
A number of the following catchers may be drafted before the 3rd day but, assuming that none of the top tier guys are available and signable on the 3rd day, here is a list of HS catchers I would pick 2 from in our 10 3rd day draft picks. I have not rated them in any order but here are some of the guys I would be excited by if I saw a couple of them drafted by the Guardians on the 3rd day.
- Presley Courville
- Endo Infelise
- Cade McDade
- Peter Mershon
- Stow Rogers
- Quinn Schambow
- Josh Toole
- Cash Williams
- Jeter Worthley
- Alonzo Alvarez (participating in MLB draft combine)
- Brady Dallimore (participating in MLB draft combine)
- Jase Mitchell (participating in MLB draft combine)
- Owen Jenkins (participating in MLB draft combine)
- Diego Rosa (participating in MLB draft combine
The only reason I mention that the last 5 are in the combine (all the top tier HS catchers above are, as well) is because if a player wasn't open to signing a pro contract or if he was not yet quality enough to warrant a pro contract (scouts would let them know they need more development) then they wouldn't be at the combine, especially since every single one of these guys has a college scholarship offer at a big-time college baseball program.
SUMMARY
Look, the Guardians have been innovators in the draft, starting in 2021 with their college pitcher draft and through 2023, with their extreme slap hitter draft. Spending 2 picks on the 3rd day on HS catchers makes perfect sense as the type of outside-the-box thinking the Guardians are becoming famous for in the draft. I also believe the following:
- This draft is deep in HS catching prospects of the type you could grab on the 3rd day.
- There are a number of cases where top colleges have signed 2 of these HS catchers, meaning only one is likely to play with the other red-shirted
- The current situation in the transfer portal could mean that an opening that a HS catcher saw at the college they committed to might be compromised by that college signing 1 or more advanced college catchers out of the portal.
There are a number of good HS catchers (probably many more than the ones on the above lists) that will be available on the 3rd day of the draft. Given how low the odds are of a 3rd day draftee making the majors anyway, and the early success they have seen with Logun Clark, I could see this picking up a couple of these guys on the 3rd day being a really smart play by the Guardians.
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