Mar 31 2019 06:31 AM
Hello, I'm Pat! When ashie says "Next!" he's talking about me. You've seen plenty of other catchers? Well, I'm the next one down the pike. I'm a good-contact/fair-powered lefty-hitting catcher with some rough edged receiving skills that are not without their graces.
Josh Thole may be both my ceiling and my floor, if you get what I mean. But I get on base more than that guy ever did. I'm probably stronger, too. I'm making the top prospect lists, but sort of in the fringey area — around 22-28 among Mets prospects — but if one more part of my game hardens into an asset, I'm legit. I guess that's true of a lot of fringey guys, but I'm me, and it matters to me. PRIDE!
You can be a doubter. Go ahead and doubt. But I'm an eight-rounder out of Stetson University, and if that sounds familiar, it's because a guy named JACOB deGROM was a ninth-rounder out of the same école. Hope springs eternal!
I'm going to be springing out of Bingo to start the year, but, you know, catching is a highly unstable field. I might get rushed when somebody breaks a finger or I might break one of my own. Fate is mean.
But hope yet reigns. What should I hope for in 2019?