masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgIf the Orioles do not re-sign catcher Matt Wieters, the club has some questions to answer at the position. Will Caleb Joseph become the starter or will the team look to sign someone they deem an upgrade? Or will Joseph become part of a platoon or a timeshare at the position?
Joseph has become a solid defensive catcher, we have seen that. It came after a minor league career where he was often knocked for his defense. Sometimes labels are hard to lose and/or they may not be completely…

If the Orioles do not re-sign catcher Matt Wieters, the club has some questions to answer at the position. Will Caleb Joseph become the starter or will the team look to sign someone they deem an upgrade? Or will Joseph become part of a platoon or a timeshare at the position?

Joseph has become a solid defensive catcher, we have seen that. It came after a minor league career where he was often knocked for his defense. Sometimes labels are hard to lose and/or they may not be completely accurate.

But Joseph, the catcher who seemed to never advance past Double-A Bowie in his career, not only made the majors in 2014, but he made three postseason starts against the Tigers and Royals. He and Nick Hundley made a nice 1-2 punch after Wieters got hurt. Joseph’s catcher ERA that season led the club at 3.00.

joseph-swing-orange-home-far-sidebar.jpgIn 2015, Joseph posted solid run-production numbers. Overall, he hit .234/.299/.394 with 16 doubles, a triple, 11 homers and 49 RBIs in 355 plate appearances. That brings us to this year, which was simply bad for Joseph at the plate. He hit .174/.216/.197 with no homers or RBIs in 141 plate appearances.

How did he go from 49 RBIs to zero? He had fewer chances to drive in runs in 2016, but he also went from batting .316 with runners in scoring position in 2015 (.351 with RISP and two outs that season) to batting .074 (2-for-27) in those spots this past season. Against lefty pitching this year, he hit .083/.108/.083.

It was a tough year, one where Joseph even went back to Triple-A for a brief time late in the season. He was on the disabled list from May 31-June 30 due to a testicular injury and played some rehab games at both Bowie and Single-A Frederick. Yes, he was back in Bowie where they’ve loved the guy for a long time.

When Joseph produced 49 RBIs two years ago, he averaged an RBI every 6.5 at-bats. To put that into some perspective, last year Manny Machado drove in 96 runs, averaging an RBI every 6.6 at-bats. Kind of shocking that Joseph did not drive a single run home after producing at that level in 2015. Coming into this season, the Orioles were 39-9 in his career when he had at least one RBI. Joseph homered in five straight games at one point in 2014, but again, nothing in 2016.

Can we throw out those poor offensive numbers for Joseph as an outlier after he drove in 49 runs the year before?

Without Wieters, we wait to see if the Orioles are comfortable pairing Joseph with either Francisco Pena or Audry Perez. All three are right-handed batters. When is it time to give Chance Sisco a shot? He’s the club’s No. 1 ranked prospect according to Baseball America and now has played 132 games at the Double-A level and four at Triple-A. It sounds as though the club realizes Sisco has a shot to be the future catcher of the Orioles, but he still may need more minor league seasoning to start the 2017 season.

So where does this all leave Joseph, coming off an RBI-less season, and where does it leave the Orioles with the catching position?