The Cincinnati Reds misplaced a handful of catchers to free company between Double-A, Triple-A, and the massive leagues after the 2024 season ended. That left them with only one catcher on the 40-man roster – Tyler Stephenson – and the necessity to fill out the higher ranges of the minor leagues with catchers to offer depth, too. Their first transfer down that highway was signing Alex Jackson to a minor league deal proper after minor league free company started. They’ve added to that by signing Will Bandfield, too. He additionally has gotten a minor league deal.
The 25-year-old was a 2nd spherical decide of the Miami Marlins again in 2018 out of Brookwood Excessive College. He’s labored his approach up via their farm system since then. In 2023 he spent his full season in Double-A Pensacola and had his greatest season within the minor leagues as he hit 23 house runs to associate with a .258/.302/.472 line.
This previous 12 months noticed him spend his total 12 months in Triple-A with Jacksonville. The ability didn’t come to Triple-A with him as he hit .247/.297/.379 with 9 house runs in 371 plate appearances. That got here together with 24 walks and 105 strikeouts. All through his profession he’s had a decrease stroll price and loads of strikeouts.
If we wish to try to discover the place he might be useful on the plate, it could be towards left-handed pitching. In 2024 he hit .306/.330/.482 towards them in Triple-A. The 12 months earlier than his splits have been a bit extra even, with there being a 31 level benefit for him when he was dealing with right-handed pitchers.
Behind the plate is the place he stands out essentially the most. He’s a superb receiver and has some athleticism to associate with a powerful arm. This previous season with Jacksonville his common pop time to second base was 1.95. That’s thought of above-average and was higher than any of the Reds catchers in 2024.
Cincinnati is nearly actually going to signal a couple of extra catchers this offseason. They’ll hopefully discover somebody to be extra of a confirmed backup on the highest degree, whether or not that’s by way of a free agent signing or a commerce acquisition. However the signing of Banfield and Jackson give them some depth – very like the signing of Austin Wynns did a 12 months in the past.
You possibly can see the profession stats for Will Banfield right here.
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