St. Louis Cardinals’ MLB Draft Preview: Catcher, a Position of Interest

Option #1 Chris Okey

Age: 21

Hits/Throws: Right/Right

School: Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina)

Scout Value: 20 Present Value 45 Future Value

Offensively for Okey, all of the tools are there for him become a pretty good major leaguer. in 186 games at Clemson, Okey slashed .301/.392/.504 with 76 extra base-hits (41 doubles, 31 homers, and 4 triples), while driving in 172 runs.

Those are some really impressive numbers for a catcher in a tough college conference in the SEC. So, the numbers are pretty validated. Okey’s strong offensive profile was strong enough be considered in the 2013 draft, while he was ultimately drafted in the 31st round it was mainly due to signing concerns.

However, according to Minor League Ball’s piece by John Sickels Okey was considered to be a third to fourth round prospect.

Overall, Okey is not your most exciting player. John Sickels’ mentions that Okey profiles as a mostly average defensive player. For the Cardinals’ this is not something that sounds great as at age 21, there’s not much more to teach a player.

However, Sickels’ mentions that “his intangibles and catching instincts are considered excellent and help his physical tools play up behind the plate”. So, there is something to work with there and something that I think could be a good addition to the Cardinals repertoire.

Ultimately, I don’t think Okey is that great of an option. He would be someone that they would have to take fairly early with one of their supplemental round picks and Fangraphs and Baseball America have him rated in the early 40’s.

Next: Sean Murphy