For the second day of play at Arizona State’s Winkles Field-Packard Stadium, our scout focused on a pair of catchers who were presesason All-America picks, as selected by major league scouting directors. Oregon State won the game 12-8, and the Beavers’ catcher seemed to fare better in the individual matchup as well, at least in the eyes of scouts.

DeMarini Invitational Day Two
Matchup Ryan Ortiz vs. Trevor Coleman

Day Two of the DeMarini Invitational featured two of the top catchers in the country in Missouri’s Trevor Coleman and Oregon State’s Ryan Ortiz. Coleman was Baseball America’s preseason second-team All-American, while Ortiz was a preseason third-team pick.

Coleman has the classic catcher’s build: 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, stocky, strong lower half, barrel chest. Ortiz has more of a lanky frame at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds with longer arms and legs and not as much bulk on his frame. Their games are similar in some aspects. Both catchers received and blocked well. Each has a good setup and moves well behind the plate.

Both catchers throw well. At times, Coleman will show a plus arm. Ortiz is just a tick behind Coleman in pure arm strength and grades out as solid-average. Ortiz has a quicker release than Coleman, which resulted in better pop times to second base. Coleman has a little more pure arm strength. Both have plenty of arm to stay behind home plate. Ortiz nailed two Missouri basestealers today with pop times of 1.95 and 2.0. Coleman gunned down a Beavers baserunner with a 2.05 pop time to second base. Both would be considered “shut down” catchers at the college level.

At the plate, Coleman shows the rare ability to switch-hit from the catcher position. He didn’t show great bat speed in his first at-bat, hitting righthanded against Beavers sophomore lefthander Tanner Robles. He was late and fouled off several pitches before eventually grounding out to shortstop. He did touch up Robles for a three-run home run to right field in the fourth inning. The ball typically travels well in the desert, and it didn’t appear to be a home run when it left the bat, but the ball kept carrying and snuck over the 330-foot marker.

Ortiz didn’t get much of an opportunity to swing the bat as he walked three times and grounded out and popped up to the infield. None of his swings indicated that he will have better than average bat speed or hit with much power in pro ball. Ortiz appears to be a slightly better runner than Coleman although running speed is last on the list that scouts look for in a catcher.

One scout said, “Coleman was a player that our guys talked a lot about coming in. But after seeing both up close, I like Ortiz’s quick release and his athleticism. He kind of grew on me.”

The bottom line is that both of these guys should be among the first five college catchers taken in the 2009 draft. Neither Coleman nor Ortiz projects as a first- or second-round choice, and tools-wise they fit better in the third- or fourth-round range. However, catchers have a tendency to get over-drafted because of the premium position that they play and the overall lack of depth generally at that position. Both of these guys are solid catch-and-throw guys with defensive tools that will play in pro ball. If either of their bats begin to come alive, either one could project as a major league backup in the future.