It’s Tea Time for Teagarden

Former Atlanta Braves prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia has a little more press behind his name but, when the dust settles, Taylor Teagarden could very well be the Texas Rangers’ No. 1 catcher for the 2009 season.

Teagarden, 25, burst upon the Major League scene in 2008 by powering out six home runs in only 47 at-bats, which helped him achieve a slugging percentage of .809 and an ISO of .489. This is also the same catcher that maintained a .300 batting average while hitting 27 home runs between High-A and Double-A in 2007.

The most encouraging part about Teagarden’s potential is that he used to be considered a poor offensive player who would make a living in the Majors based solely on his work behind the plate. Don’t believe me? Take a look at his scouting report from Baseball America, which was written prior to the 2005 draft:

“The best defensive catcher in the draft, Teagarden has exceptional skills behind the plate… The consensus is that he could handle defensive responsibilities in the Majors right now… The question with Teagarden always has been how much he’ll produce at the plate, and he picked up the tag of a light-hitting catcher in high school.

Teagarden laid those concerns to rest almost immediately after being taken in the third round of the amateur draft out of the University of Texas. He hit .281/.426/.635 in 96 short-season at-bats after signing late in the year (He was a Boras client).

Unfortunately, Teagarden blew out his elbow and had Tommy John surgery in the winter of 2005/06 and missed the majority of the 2006 season. He returned in 2007 and jumped up to High-A ball where he spent a fair bit of time as the team’s designated hitter. He hit .315/.448/.606 in 292 at-bats and earned his promotion to Double-A where he hit .294/.357/.529 in 102 at-bats.

Back behind the plate full-time in 2008, Teagarden’s bat slipped a bit at the upper levels of the minors – at least in terms of average. In 16 Double-A games, he hit just .169/.279/.305. Promoted to Triple-A, Teagarden improved to .225/.332/.396 in 187 at-bats. His undoing at Double-A and Triple-A has been his strikeout rates. In 2007 at Double-A his rate was 38.2 K% and it was 39.0 K% in 2008. At Triple-A, his strikeout rate was 31.6 K% and, despite his small-sample-size success, it was 40.4 K% at the Major League level.

Obviously those rates are not going to lead to success with the batting average. On the plus side, the power has improved and he has continued to take his fair share of walks. Teagarden had a walk rate of 18.9 BB% in High-A in 2007 and 13.0 BB% at Triple-A in 2008.

He may only hit .260-.270 at the Major League level, but Teagarden will get on base and will provide power. In fact, his power could be even more impressive than another top college catcher, who was known more for his bat. Here is what BA had to say, again before the 2005 draft:

Southern California’s Jeff Clement is the best-hitting college catcher in this year’s draft crop, and Teagarden outhit (.309 to .275) and outslugged him (.473 to .435) with wood bats on Team USA last summer.”

As for the defensive side of things, Teagarden’s abilities were slowed by his Tommy John surgery in 2005/06 and his inability to play regularly behind the dish in 2006. He also missed about three weeks early on in 2008 due to elbow soreness. However, he is still an above-average defender and he threw out 50 percent of base stealers (five of 10) at Double-A in 2008 and 36 percent (20 of 55) at Triple-A. Teagarden also made just one error and allowed two passed balls in 57 games at the senior level.

Teagarden is definitely a better defender than Saltalamacchia and he could very well top the former Braves’ career offensive line of .261/.327/.399.