[外電] Futures Series: 7th-round pick Caleb Joseph

看板Orioles作者Liandh (口袋小朋友出走中)時間16年前 (2008/12/21 18:17)推噓1(1推 0噓 1→)

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網址 http://masnsports.com/2008/12/os-seventh-round-pick-joseph-h.html Caleb Joseph今年成績 http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/J/Caleb-Joseph.shtml Orioles Futures Series: 7th-round pick Caleb Joseph had strong 1st season By Steve Melewski on December 3, 2008 12:03 PM If effort and enthusiasm count for anything, then Caleb Joseph may turn out to be a great draft pick for the Orioles. You need only spend a few minutes talking to the 22-year-old native of Nashville, Tennessee to learn of his love of baseball and passion for the game. There's some talent to work with there, too. After the O's drafted Joseph in round seven last June out of Nashville's Lipscomb University, the righty hitter put up solid numbers at Aberdeen, batting .261-8-34 in 63 games. Joseph led the club with 19 doubles and was second in RBI. He batted .290 vs. left-handed pitching and went 1-2 in the New York-Penn League All-Star game. The one-time shortstop turned catcher, Joseph threw out 37 percent trying to steal. And that was before he made some solid improvements at Instructional League. "I felt like it was a really good first season," Joseph said. "I actually expected to be a little tired as the year went on after our college team had made the NCAA regionals and played about 70 games. I made the All-Star team and that was a nice surprise. All-in-all, it went great." Joseph spent most of his baseball life as a shortstop until he went to Lipscomb. The team had a very good shortstop his freshman year in 2006, so the coaches asked Joseph if he'd give catching a try. It would lead to quicker playing time, so he went for it. That first season he still played some 2B and OF but he was the full-time catcher for Lipscomb in 2007 and 2008. Last spring he led the Bisons to the Atlantic Sun tournament championship and a spot in the NCAA tourney. Joseph was named MVP of the conference tournament. For the year, he hit .342 with 17 HR's and a .615 slugging percentage. While at Lipscomb he got to know the Orioles scout for his region, Rich Morales. They developed a friendship over the last two years. "No offense, but some scouts can be like used car salesmen, telling you what you want to hear. Rich was not like that. He's someone you can really trust. I was hoping to get drafted by the Orioles. Rich had said there were opportunities in the system for catchers. Even before the draft, I started researching the O's organization to find out where their teams were. After the draft I was eager to start and it took only about a day to sign me." If the draft hadn't worked out, Joseph had a backup plan to stay in baseball. He told the Triple-A Nashville Sounds he would be a bullpen catcher for free. He just wanted to be around the game. He served in that role for five games in May and got to catch Jeff Weaver and Eric Gagne. Then Morales called and said the O's were likely to draft him, so he better stay healthy and give up that Triple-A gig. They did draft him, with the 206th overall pick, and off to Aberdeen he went. He put up solid numbers for the IronBirds, which included his big night on July 16th when he went 5-5 vs. Jamestown with a pair of doubles, a homer and 4 RBI. He became the first IronBird to ever have a five-hit night. In August he batted .394 during an eight-game batting streak and he also made the All-Star game, hosted by the Tri-City ValleyCats. "If I never make the Majors, that game will be probably the closest experience to it. Everything was first class and real professional. We were treated like celebrities. It was great to meet so many awesome players and we signed tons of autographs." In September, Joseph attended the O's Instructional League workouts and picked up some major tips on his footwork when throwing to second base from Minor League catching intstructor Don Werner. "We didn't have a catching instructor at Lipscomb so I was thrilled to get the individual instruction," Joseph said. "Don helped me reduce my stride toward second base when a runner is stealing, I had been striding onto the plate and slipping on it at times. This will quicken my release. In six games I threw out 3 of 3 stealing. There were some guys safe this year on a lot of close plays. Now I hope the adjustment I made with Don will help me get those guys out next year." He also got some nice hitting tips from instructor Denny Walling and said he felt like that helped him drive the ball better. Joseph also enjoys the challenge of calling pitches. He got to do that some at Lipscomb and continues to sharpen that aspect of his game now that he is playing pro ball. "I just picked things up watching games on TV. I would watch what pitches were thrown in certain counts. I guess you could say I'm a student of the game. I've developed a feel for it. This year went real smooth in terms of that." Recently, Joseph returned to Lipscomb to join his former college teammates and get his Atlantic Sun championship ring for their title from earlier this year. Over Christmas dinner this year, Joseph can stir up some Orioles-Yankees rivalry talk at the table. His younger brother, Corban, was drafted this year in the fourth round by the Yankees and hit .277 in 49 games in the Gulf Coast League. The 20-year-old is a lefty-hitting second baseman. Now, the Joseph brothers can dream of a day that their sibling rivalry might play out on a Major League field. -- 今年在鐵鳥的農作物打擊表現都不算太出色， Joseph的OPS 744就已經僅次於Tyler Kolodny的791排第二了 (因為被拉上1A所以只打了43場的Robbie Widlansky不列入的話) -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 118.171.250.183