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Thread: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

  1. #1
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    Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    From the Hot Sheet:

    MEN AMONG BOYS

    • Craig Tatum, c, Reds. Tatum won't blow you away with his hitting, though he did hit .423/.423/.808 this week by going 11-for-26 with three homers and a double. On the season, Tatum is at .252/.310/.403 in 290 at-bats, but his defense stands out—he leads the 10-team Southern League, having thrown out 39.5 percent of basestealers (32 of 81). "He's a future regular," said an NL scout. "He has good catching mechanics, excellent throwing action, and he's two seconds (pop-time) to second base on a steal. And he swung the bat well. He's just a well-rounded guy who handled pitchers well and played with enthusiasm."

    http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...08/266639.html


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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    Quote Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine View Post
    From the Hot Sheet:

    MEN AMONG BOYS

    • Craig Tatum, c, Reds. Tatum won't blow you away with his hitting, though he did hit .423/.423/.808 this week by going 11-for-26 with three homers and a double. On the season, Tatum is at .252/.310/.403 in 290 at-bats, but his defense stands out—he leads the 10-team Southern League, having thrown out 39.5 percent of basestealers (32 of 81). "He's a future regular," said an NL scout. "He has good catching mechanics, excellent throwing action, and he's two seconds (pop-time) to second base on a steal. And he swung the bat well. He's just a well-rounded guy who handled pitchers well and played with enthusiasm."

    http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...08/266639.html
    Could the Reds go with Tatum and Hanigan at the catcher spot next year?

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    I don't like Tatum as a prospect at all. He has a nice arm but have never been impressed with him offensively or defensively when I saw him in a game.

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    I've never been impressed with bis bat but I've read nothing but good things about his defense. He'll never be more than a backup IMO.

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    Tatum has progressed steadily after recovering from surgery in 2005. He did fine Offensively in Dayton in 2006, and Sarasota in 2007. This year, he's average in Chattanooga this year. He has some power potential and shows decent patience at the plate. He is 25 and needs to be promoted to AAA next year to see how he hits there. He seems like he needs to go a level a year. His defense is legitimately good.

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    Quote Originally Posted by Betterread View Post
    Tatum has progressed steadily after recovering from surgery in 2005. He did fine Offensively in Dayton in 2006, and Sarasota in 2007. This year, he's average in Chattanooga this year. He has some power potential and shows decent patience at the plate. He is 25 and needs to be promoted to AAA next year to see how he hits there. He seems like he needs to go a level a year. His defense is legitimately good.
    Craig Tatum was called up to Louisville (AAA) today to take Hanigan's spot. He started for the Bats, and went 1 for 3 with 1 RBI and 2 Ks. He also caught a nice game, as the Bats won 3-0.
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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    GABP could help Tatum put up regular-catcher offensive numbers. I really hope he surprises people in spring training and forces himself onto the roster because, at worst, he's a backup catcher, and if he's on the roster, that's theoretically less AAAA fodder *cough*Paul Bako*cough* on the squad.

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    2 seconds?

    When I was 17 I timed 1.8 seconds "pop-time" on throws to second base.

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    BA is doing a series on Catcher's defense

    This on Craig Tatum from a list of the best at keeping the ball in front of them:


    Craig Tatum: Despite succumbing to Tommy John surgery three years ago, Tatum is now one of the best defensive catchers in the minor leagues. The Reds farmhand has good catching mechanics, records average pop times of 2.0 seconds and delivers throws to second base with a good throwing action, enabling him to nab 38 percent of base stealers in 2008. He controls the running game well, but he’s even better at keeping the ball in front of him, as he does a good job blocking and receiving and shows a knack for the finer points of catching like framing and calling pitches. One AL scout who saw Tatum this year projected him as a future regular, though he’ll have to improve his OBP after hitting .244/.297/.377 in Double-A this season. At 25, Tatum’s offensive projection is limited, but he has the defensive skills to at least get an opportunity as a backup
    The article also points to the 2008 Reds as tied for the majors worst at this with the Red Sox. The Article explains the Red Sox problems with Tim Wakefield's knuckle ball. It comments on the Reds' problem by stating "... mostly used Paul Bako and David Ross."

    This is more reason for optimism. I've never been a big Tatum supporter, but this is encouraging. Given the dearth of good catching, having scouts project Tatum as a potential starter should help his value.
    Last edited by mth123; 01-03-2009 at 05:40 AM.
    All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    I doubt he'll ever be a regular, but it's nice having a defenseive catcher down in Louisville in case of a short DL stint by Hernandez or Hanigan

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    mth123, since you have access to BA and their article on Catcher's Defense, can you supply us with a thread with some of the info from it. There's just so little information out there about Catchers and their defense. I'd love to see any relevance the article has on potential or current REDS' catchers. Is there an organization that is blocking the upward movement of 1 catcher who is currently caught between AA and the Majors where the REDS could look into?
    Last edited by Kingspoint; 01-04-2009 at 07:19 PM.

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    I've been expecting Tatum to contribute to the Major League team sooner than Mesoraco will, of course, and this is very encouraging. Catchers get hurt, tired, etc. We might end up using Tatum in Cincy this year.

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    Re: Baseball America on Craig Tatum

    Quote Originally Posted by Kingspoint View Post
    mth123, since you have access to BA and their article on Catcher's Defense, can you supply us with a thread with some of the info from it. There's just so little information out there about Catchers and their defense. I'd love to see any relevance the article has on potential or current REDS' catchers. Is there an organization that is blocking the upward movement of 1 catcher who is currently caught between AA and the Majors where the REDS could look into?
    Just go to Baseball America's site. Its free content. If it was pay content we couldn't post it. Pay content is protected under intellectual property laws and Redszone coukd suffer consequences if anyone did anything like that.
    All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!


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