Frosty Microbrews: Rattlers Likely to Have Strong Catchers Again in 2018

Change is perhaps the biggest constant in Minor League Baseball, where players move between leagues relatively rapidly. Given the way rosters fluctuate year-to-year, it becomes even more notable that the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have had very good catchers consistently for a long time.
Over the last three seasons the Timber Rattlers have sent four catchers to the Midwest League All Star Game: Carlos Leal represented Wisconsin in 2015, both Max McDowell and Mitch Ghelfi were selected in 2016 and Mario Feliciano earned a spot in 2017. The pressure to continue that streak could fall into capable hands in 2018 as two former top draft picks appear poised to make the jump to the Midwest League.
2017 third round pick KJ Harrison spent much of his first Instructional League this fall working to develop his skills behind the plate. Harrison played primarily at first base during his collegiate career at Oregon State University, but the Brewers selected him as a catcher and have begun the process of developing him at that position. In his professional debut with Rookie-level Helena in the Pioneer League Harrison caught 17 of his 48 games. He said his transition to the position has gone well so far.

"It's been good, you know. I just need to continue to work at it, catching is a hard position to be really good at, so in order to get to that point you've got to just put in a lot of work and put in a lot of time to continue to get better," Harrison said. "But it's been great, you know, catching is fun and I've just got to keep on working and getting things going."
Harrison had no shortage of former professional catchers to learn from during his time in Instructional League camp. Brewers catching coordinator Charlie Greene, Helena manager Nestor Corredor and Arizona Brewers manager (and 2011-2012 and 2014 Timber Rattler) Rafael Neda have over 1500 professional games worth of combined experience behind the plate.
"It's helpful to see some of the things you're working with and some of the things they need to get better at, and just the feel of having that experience behind the plate. It's easy to translate to the players when they're going through their day and even during the games," Neda said.
The opportunity to learn from all of these experienced catchers and get a head start on the 2018 season was not lost on Harrison.
"I mean, just to get that extra work for the short amount of time we are here, especially for me as a catcher, working with Charlie and Nestor and Neda, it's awesome and it's a lot of fun to be able to pick their brains and really get after it and work hard," Harrison said.
Meanwhile, Harrison also continued to make a good impression with his bat. In 214 plate appearances with Helena during the regular season he batted .308 with a .388 on-base percentage and .546 slugging, and finished second on the team with ten home runs. He was one of just four players in the league to appear in less than 50 games but go deep ten or more times.
Harrison's power carried over to the Instructional League fields, where late in camp he won a home run derby against his teammates.
"It's pretty tough to get it out here (in Arizona), you've got a lot of deep ballparks. But it's a lot of fun that we get to do those kinds of things as well," Harrison said.
At Instructional League Harrison said he's working on developing his swing to use all fields a little more.
"I continue to work on it, trying to stay inside the ball and use gap-to-gap more often. Sometimes I get a little pull happy, so I've just got to continue to use all sides of the field," Harrison said.
With that said, Harrison's early performance and work in Instructional League drew the eye of many of the coaches seeing him for the first time.
"I like him," Timber Rattlers hitting coach Hainley Statia said of Harrison. "He's a really good young catcher, he can play, he can hit. There's something there for sure. All the work they're giving to him, he's getting better every day. It's good."
If Harrison joins the Timber Rattlers he'll be the fourth Hawaiian-born Wisconsin player in recent memory but the first position player: He'll follow pitchers Quintin Torres-Costa (2016), Jordan Yamamoto (2016) and Kodi Medeiros (2015). Before that, however, Harrison was looking forward to getting to head home and see his family this winter.
"I haven't been able to see my family, especially being from Hawaii. So to be able to see them again and hang out with them and go back to Hawaii and hang out at home for a little while, it's going to be great. But I'm also excited to get after it this offseason and be prepared to get ready for next spring training," Harrison said.
When Harrison returns to Maryvale Baseball Park next spring he'll likely be working alongside 2016 sixth-round pick Payton Henry. Drafted out of Pleasant Grove High School in Utah, Henry has caught 60 games at the Rookie level over the last two seasons with Arizona and Helena. He played in 55 games in the Pioneer League in 2017 and batted .244 with a .344 on-base percentage and .435 slugging. His 17 doubles tied for both the team lead and sixth place in his league.
Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson recently told the Rattler Radio Podcast that Henry "very well could be" one of the catchers sent to Wisconsin to open the 2018 season.
"Payton is a guy that's been in the organization a couple of years. He's moved up, played at the lower levels, the short season leagues and steadily improved behind the plate. I know Greeny (Charlie Greene) likes him, he likes his development, and he's got some power potential," Erickson said.
Neda also said he's been seeing good things from Henry.
"There's a lot of good talent with our guys behind the plate. A lot of youth. It's good just to see those guys improve and get better, not just behind the plate but also offensively," Neda said.
For several years now the Timber Rattlers have been fortunate to have strong offensive and defensive contributors at the catching position. With Harrison and Henry in the organizational pipeline, that doesn't appear to be about to change anytime soon.