Kyle Skipworth, C

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Full Name: Kyle Trent Skipworth
Born: 03/01/1990
Birthplace: Riverside, CA
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 195
Bats: L
Throws: R

Selected by the Florida Marlins in the first Round (sixth overall) of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Patriot High School (Riverside, Calif.).

[wanks1212]

Minor League catchers are among the most unappreciated people in professional baseball. While most players can focus on honing their own skills during pregame work, the receivers' primary responsibility is helping pitchers get their work in. Bullpen duty is an everyday occurrence, but time still needs to be found to work on the swing and keep their batting eye keen -- not to mention sharpen the finer points of playing behind the plate.

"It's definitely double duty," said Greensboro catcher Kyle Skipworth. "Sometimes it's hard to separate the offense from the defense, but I feel that so far I've done a pretty good job. We have hitters' meetings and then right after that we have pitchers' meetings. It's almost like turning on a light switch, where you go from thinking about what you need to do in the [batter's] box to concentrating on getting the other guys' 1-9 hitters out."

The work is not restricted to the field. Skipworth, for example, goes online after every game to see what the next day's opponents are doing at the plate. In the mornings, he joins his teammates at the gym to maintain his strength throughout the long season. Add the heat and humidity that is starting to build throughout the South Atlantic League and the 20-year-old Skipworth admits the mental and physical challenges of catching in the Minors can take their toll.

"I started off real well, but the last couple of games I feel like my feet have gotten a little slow," he said. "I think I've hit that first wall, so I'm focusing on rejuvenating myself by focusing on my quickness and the cardio instead of on lifting and getting a little more rest. But overall, I believe my entire game is making strides and heading in the right direction."

The Florida Marlins feel the same way about Skipworth, who in 2008 joined Minnesota's Joe Mauer as the only high school catchers taken in the top 10 of the last 14 Drafts. The sixth overall pick has lived up to his reputation as one of the most mechanically sound receivers in the Minors by demonstrating outstanding hands and footwork and above-average arm strength. At 6-foot-4 and 207 pounds, Skipworth has ideal size, while his intelligence and leadership skills are considered to be off the charts.

Offensively, he is making progress after hitting .208 in each of his first two professional seasons -- in the Gulf Coast League in 2008 and the SAL in 2009. In his Sally League encore, the left-handed hitter is tied for third with nine home runs and ranks fifth with a .532 slugging percentage. In addition to batting at a .279 clip, he put together a league-best 15-game hitting streak that ended over the weekend.

"I'm just trying to be aggressive with pitches in the zone," Skipworth said. "When I come up with runners in scoring position, I'm looking for a pitch to drive. If we need baserunners, I focus on doing that, or if we need to see pitches, I try to work the count as much as I can. I'm trying to take whatever the game or the situation gives me.

"I have good scouting reports on the pitchers and I'm trying to use those to my advantage. I'm trying to pick up on patterns and pay attention to the game's finer points in order to become a better player."

As a team, the Grasshoppers are hitting only .218, which ranks last in the SAL. Skipworth said the club is not hanging its collective head and has the ability to be a contender once a few breaks start going its way. In the meantime, the catcher is determined to keep his nose to the proverbial grindstone to develop as Florida's long-term answer behind the plate.

"My mom texts me every day and wishes me good luck for the game and reminds me this is what I was born to do," Skipworth said. "Believe me when I say there's nothing I'd rather be doing than this."

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/n...milb&fext=.jsp

Seems like he's got the fielding and off the field stuff down. Hopefully this year's offensive production carries over (relative to the park factors) when he's promoted to Jupiter.

[Ramp]

cautiously optimistic

very cautious

[lou]

Catcher, Minimum PA 200, # correlates to OPS rank

#18 - 2009 - K. Shoppach - .214/.335/.399 (.734)
#18 - 2008 - M. Olivo - .255/.278/.444 (.722)
# 13 - 2007 - J. Buck - .222/.308/.429 (.738)
# 18 - 2006 - C. Snyder - .277/.349/.424 (.773)
#12 - 2005 - R. Castro - .244/.321/.435 (.756)

Pretty consistent spread (looked for lower avg guys) of .725-.775 for average catchers offensively.

Combined with above average defense and "off the chart intangibles," this is all I want offensively. Anything more is a bonus. And if the splits vs RHP are higher, even better.

This is all I want Skip. Whiff 150 times. Just get to low 700 OPS land by 2013. There is no rush.

[Ramp]

I want an .833 OPS guy

thanks

[Omar]

I want my catchers to actually make their throws to second base properly and be top notch receivers.

Anything at all with the bat is simply a bonus.

[Ramp]

Right, but being as highly touted and as high a pick as he was, I'm gon be greedy

[CrimsonCane]

Kyle Skipworth, C

His arm was very good when I saw him in person. Needs to be a little quicker getting it out of his hands but the throws are very accurate and get there quickly. He also was not afraid to pull the trigger with pick off throws which I found very promising for someone so young. Very good instincts and he blocked a lot of wild pitches in the dirt as well.

[Swifty]

Funny that we're talking about his D so much; when we drafted him, I recall the biggest knock against him (aside from overall rawness) was that he'd likely end up being much too big to stick behind the plate.

Also, given how much his star has fallen in the last season and a half, a .7something big league OPS would be awesome, but I still do hope for more than that out of the 6th overall pick when you have to build from within like we do.

[Bobbob1313]

Wheels came off fast.

AVG down below .240, OBP near .300, and park inflated power all that's left.

[Ramp]

Wheels came off fast.

AVG down below .240, OBP near .300, and park inflated power all that's left.

I think his power was similar home/road

[Bobbob1313]

ISO is a little higher on the road.

But that just means that he's hitting that much worse at his hitter's park home.

[emkayseven]

www.toldyouso.com

[Fritz]

MK7 would rather have a player be a bust and be right than have a star and be wrong. Awesome fan.

[Bobbob1313]

MK7 would rather have a player be a bust and be right than have a star and be wrong. Awesome fan.

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