Atlanta Braves Minor League Catching Options; David Freitas

Oct 2, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (32) bats in the ninth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves seems to be adding a lot of catching options that most haven’t heard of hoping to bridge the gap until one of their prospects is ready.

That the Atlanta Braves could use a good catcher long-term is not news. Ideally he should be Brian McCann mark II; a left-handed power bat who calls a good game and evolves into a perennial All Star. Oh and he should have the added ability to throw out runners. That’s not much to ask is it? Apparently it is.

You may remember my review of free agent catchers two months ago and the review of trade candidates that followed. None of the players mention made it to Atlanta yet although Matt Wieters is still floating around out there.

GM John Coppolella and President of Baseball Operations John Hart have said repeatedly they are happy to go forward with Tyler Flowers and Anthony Recker backed up by Tuffy Gosewisch. In spite of Flowers surprisingly good year at the plate none of these backstops is the long-term answer. As a result John Coppolella keeps adding formerly well-respected catching prospects continues. David Freitas is the latest of these additions.

The Draft

David Freitas is 6’3” 225 pound California native undrafted when he graduated from Elk Grove High school in 1997. He enrolled in Cosumnes River College in the fall and played two seasons posting a .321/.453/.510/.963 line with a .189 ISO in 302 AB. In 2009 he transferred to the University of Hawaii and appeared in 60 games for the Rainbows posting a .292/.389/.472/.861 line with a .181 ISO including 10 homer in 216 AB.

That was enough for the Nationals to select him in the 15th round of 2010 draft; 446th overall. He continued after joining their low A team posting a .307/.408/.450/.857 with four homers in 261 AB.

The Nats moved A ball in 2011 but his power remained constant through that season and he led the South Atlantic League with 82 walks while posting a .409 OBP, good enough for second in the league.

That performance moved him onto the prospect list where he settled at the Nats #27 on BA’s list ($) after 2011. BA talked about his defense in their post season evaluation.

He started 2012 with their A+ team in 2012 and continued to hit but the Nationals needed a big league ready catcher and in August sent him to Oakland in exchange for Kurt Suzuki and cash.

Oakland

Oakland sent him to AA immediately where he continued to hit; .333/.392/.524/.916 including two homers in 74 PA in 20 games. He split 2013 between AA and AAA for Oakland doing well at the higher level but struggling in AA.

In December 2013 the Athletics sent him to Baltimore as the PTBNL in the deal that sent Jim Johnson to Oakland. Freitas worked mostly in AA with a couple of short visits to AAA in 2014 and 2015 posting a .251/.321/.401/.724 line with 14 homers and 26 in 459 AB. His BAbip over that time was just .262 but he walked 8.5% of the time and striking out just 14%.

The Orioles kept Caleb Joseph in front of Freitas even though Joseph has never shown he could hit at a pace worth a spot higher than being a backup catcher and Freitas has always hit well. After the 2015 season the Orioles left him unprotected in the rule 5 draft and the Cubs snapped him up

The Cubs sent him to AA where he had another good year – 286/.344/.423/.768 , four homers, 20 doubles in 248 PA. He had two brief stints in Iowa and continued to hit – .321/.362/.476/.838 in 95PA – but the his path to the majors is obviously blocked there and after the season he elected free agency and the Braves signed him a week later.

What can we expect?

I’ve watched a lot of video of Freitas hitting and saw a player with a simple swing, short to the ball who makes consistently hard contact, goes with the pitch and drives the ball to all fields. His AA splits last season don’t answer the RHP issue but perhaps Kevin Seitzer and crew can improve that.

He seems to know what to do behind the plate which supports the BA evaluation from 2011 and indicates improvement since. One compilation video calculated his pop-time at 1.90 seconds which would put him about league average but tending towards the slow side. I didn’t see enough of him to have a real idea of his framing and I’m not sure how much that affects minor league umpiring anyway.

That’s a Wrap

Freitas will be 28 years old next season so he’s not going to land on any prospect list. However, there is precedent for a catcher arriving late and sticking around as a starter. Stephen Vogt got his first real shot at 28 and two years later became Oakland’s starting catcher.

Freitas minor league stats are better than Vogt’s at the same point in their careers and he’s better defensively. Who can say whether he’ll make the jump and stick but stranger things have happened. Last year Chris Mitchell at Fangraphs listed him as a “deep sleeper” prospect. Maybe that can happen with the Braves.