He was tried at catcher in EST the year he was called up. He has the basic skill set to catch (good glove/arm). Just like every other position, his lack of mobility and quickness limits him. But he is the emergency option by default because he’s the only other guy on the roster that has ever spent any time whatsoever at catcher. Once Diaz gets back he would probably be the emergency catcher.
There is always a chance bad teams do stupid things. The truly awful teams should not let guys like White or Kemp go through as those guys are worth trying out.
Yea I agree the tools are there, and with the shifting it isn't as different as it used to be. Still would be surprised if they went with a roster with only one 2B, and one that just came back from a fairly lengthy injury
Don't disagree with any of this But...if Kemp were moved out it's not as easy as saying if Altuve needs a break just put Bregman or Gurriel at 2B, cause right now the only other SS is Straw, and moving Gurriel off of 3B to play 2B leaves you with White at 3B and no one who has played 1B, playing 1B I don't think Kemp is on the team when we are back to full health, but as little flexibility as we have right now, I certainly don't see them moving Kemp off the roster and becoming less flexible. Don't know who it would be, but this would be a great time to move a guy like Fisher along with White/Kemp for a middle of the road type of utility guy
You want to trade a middle of the road utility guy (plus a prospect) for a middle of the road utility guy? They're going to have to make room but it won't be for another bat like that, IMO...unless they can get a guy with options that can just be sent to AAA.
1B White/Yuli 2B Altuve/Bregman/Yuli/Straw SS Bregman/Straw 3B Yuli/Bregman/White 2B is easily the most replaceable infield position. If we move White, it's literally just Yuli who has actually played 1B. The current oufield clusterf**k will have to be addressed when healthy.
LOL every word of that is wrong, well done. Kemp has a negative uzr/150 at 2B in the majors. Not making errors does not by itself constitute an “excellent” defender. White posted a 127 wRC+ in 2017 and 144 last season. In 2017 he hit 27 HR in 133 games across AAA and MLB. He has a higher career wRC+ than Gurriel, Reddick, and Chirinos. Is Justin Smoak good? Tyler White has a higher career wRC+ than him.
Physically, yes. Skill-wise, not without repetitions. It's a testament to Straw that he's transitioned this quickly to an acceptable level of SS, and that took him several months of work, throwing another new position at him with zero preparation is a very bad idea
I think McTaggart actually said that he is the emergency catcher in one of his tweets. Reddick was also once photographed wearing catcher's gear in the dugout, though he may have just been playing around.
Kemp may not be ELITE at 2B, but he's shown that he's more than serviceable. No errors, can make diving plays, and turn double plays. You can't have a gold glover at every position, but Kemp is good enough to be on an MLB roster. I think we could get at least a minor league lottery ticket for him, or he can be a decent throw-in in a larger trade package.
White has been the emergency catcher for the past couple of years. Also pitcher/SS/3B/2B....I mean "emergency". You are correct, Reddick put on the tools once. Only once that I know of.
I mean, who gives a **** who the emergency 2b is? If it gets down to it send literally anyone out there to stand between first and second and call up Mayfield as soon as the games over. It’s not that important what happens in any one game. Let’s not overthink this.
As long as you have one other guy who can play that position well...you're golden. SS with Straw is the only real worry, to me at least, but they seem to be ok with him there once a week.
I don’t consider a guy who can play lf and 2b only a utility guy, so maybe it’s a difference In terminology. We could badly use a true utility player now to make it much easier to put our best possible roster together And it’s not really an issue that is almost over cause it doesn’t seem like Carlos or Diaz are particularly close
DRS/150 grades Kemp as an excellent defender at 2B. Being overly sure he's excellent is wrong. Being overly sure he's merely serviceable is wrong. We have a small sample. Just not enough data to suggest any thing except he's likely serviceable, excellent, or somewhere in between. I think we have enough data to say he's not absolutely horrible there. I will say his ability to track balls over the infield has been excellent when I've watched (being in OF has likely helped here), while his flip to second for double plays has not. Considering how 2B is played far back, it should play well with Kemp's abilities as within his arm limitations and minimizes need for quick, correct first step.
White was listed as a catcher in the Instructs (2015) before making the team in 2016. The idea was to convert him, and it was abandoned
Right..I believe Marwin had been the emergency guy but I can't find any articles about it. I seem to remember seeing him gear up in the last two years, but it didn't become necessary. Then again, I can't remember if I put on deodorant five minuets after doing do.
