Follow the Prospects: Derek Norris, C

[Slateman]

I'm still not sure Stephen Strasburg > Yunesky Maya - give me a freakin break.  Flores posted an OPS of .630 at AAA.

Well Maya has so much beef ....

[The Chief]

Well Maya has so much beef ....

You rang?

[Lintyfresh85]

Found this update from BA pretty interesting.

Though scouts still consider Norris an offensive catcher, he has improved defensively, so much so that his bat doesn’t completely have to carry the load. His receiving still needs polish, as evidenced by his 15 passed balls, but he doesn’t box nearly as many pitches as he used to. He’s refined his throwing technique and used his average arm strength to throw out a league-best 40 percent of basestealers.

Q: [JC (VT)] How much of Derek Norris’s contact issues can be traced to lingering effects of his wrist injury?

A: [John Manuel] Not sure we can blame that anymore, we have a two-year sample size of Norris not hitting for average, and the scouts and managers I talked too attributed it more to not knowing when to be aggressive and when to be selective. I ranked him as high as I did because they all like his swing, athletic ability and improved defensive ability behind the plate. He went from being an American League player to a legit option at C, though his defense is still such that he’s going to have to be an offensive catcher. He’ll never be a plus defender, it seems.

Pretty much what I saw from him. Cannon of an arm, still some problems catching, but greatly improving behind the plate.

And as much as it pains me to say this... if they do trade him, he's now open to 15 more teams in the NL because he can stick behind the plate.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I went into this year expecting Ramos to be nothing more than a defensive catcher with occasional pop, based on last year in AAA.  Norris I expected to still be a question mark defensively but also to be a dominant bat.  I came out of the year a little less impressed with Ramos's fielding (in contrast to his catching and throwing) than I figured, but way more impressed with his hitting than I figured, enough so to move him from a Henry Blanco type in my mind to a solid all around catcher. Norris, OTOH, did better on d but began to raise questionmarks in my mind on offense due to the inability to consistently make contact.  I went into this year thinking Ramos was the long term back up, but came out thinking that Ramos may be the keeper.

[Lintyfresh85]

Posted this in the World Series thread...

Question to John Sickles, of Minor League Ball

Q: How would you compare Napoli's game to Derek Norris?

A: i think they are similar in a lot of ways, and Norris has better raw tools

[Nathan]

[sportsfan882]

Norris had a passed ball and two throwing errors in yesterday's game.

[Lintyfresh85]

Norris is 6th in the AFL in OBP, 10th in OPS

[Lintyfresh85]

From Goessling...

General manager Mike Rizzo said yesterday that Norris' receiving skills are improving, as well, and it seems likely he will start at Triple-A Syracuse next year.

http://www.masnsports.com/the_goessling_game/2011/10/harper-norris-have-big-nights-in-arizona.html

[HalfSmokes]

I wonder if one of flores norris and Ramos gets delt now that it looks like we have some depth

[Vega]

I wonder if one of flores norris and Ramos gets delt now that it looks like we have some depth

Flores.

[RD]

If we aren't bringing Pudge back, there's no reason to move anybody. Ramos plays every day, and Flores backs him up.

Norris remains in the minors.

Flores hasn't earned anything more than back up duty. Shipping him out isn't going to fetch anything, because of his injury history and he didnt exactly light things up last year. Keeping him as a backup also helps keep Norris in the minors if something did happen to Ramos.

[PANatsFan]

If we aren't bringing Pudge back, there's no reason to move anybody. Ramos plays every day, and Flores backs him up.

Norris remains in the minors.

Flores hasn't earned anything more than back up duty. Shipping him out isn't going to fetch anything, because of his injury history and he didnt exactly light things up last year. Keeping him as a backup also helps keep Norris in the minors if something did happen to Ramos.

I like Flores as a backup.

[Baseball is Life]

I like Flores as a backup.

Unfortunately, I don't think Flores likes Flores as backup. He wants to prove he is a starter and will bolt as soon as he can. I don't know his contract situation though.

[HalfSmokes]

I think he's got another two years of team control

[JMUalumni]

Last 10 games:

.394/.500/.636, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 SB

[hammondsnats]

yikes ... i mean sal fasano?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/top-10-prospects-washington-nationals/

9. Derek Norris | C
BORN: Feb. 14, 1989
EXPERIENCE: 5 seasons (AA)
ACQUIRED: 2007 4th round, Kansas HS
2010-11 TOP 10 RANKING: 2nd

SCOUTING REPORT: Norris is a bat-first catcher, which isn’t great news when you consider his .210 batting average in 2011 at double-A. He’ll probably never hit for a huge average because he swings and misses so much but he will get on base a lot (and clog them) and provide quite a bit of pop when he makes contact with the ball. Defensively, he does a nice job throwing out runners (51% in ’10, 40% in ’11) but his receiving and game calling both need work.

YEAR IN REVIEW: It’s been a rough two years for Norris in terms of hitting for average (.235, .210). You can blame his BABIP (.251) to some degree in 2011, but the bigger issue was the 27% strikeout rate. If we’re looking for positives for his year in double-A, it would be his walk rate (18.2 BB%) and power output (.237 ISO).

YEAR AHEAD: Quite honestly, Norris’ development is headed in the wrong direction and he’s in danger of falling out of the spotlight when it comes to the organization’s top prospects. He’ll have to have a bounce-back year while repeating double-A if he’s going to get any traction in his question to become the Nationals’ backstop of the future. Expect the organization to slow his development down.

CAREER OUTLOOK: As implied, the 2012 season will be a big one for Norris as he looks to rebound from a disappointing year. His age works to his advantage, as does his raw power but it’s hard to project more than a backup role for him at the big league level, along the lines of Sal Fasano‘s career. Norris gets the benefit of the doubt for now because he plays a key position (albeit not overly well).

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I think on an FG chat Hulett pretty much admitted he just does not like Norris at all, so was not surprised at his down season.  That said, the walk and clog the bases remark makes me wonder whether he has seen much of him.  Running does not seem to be an issue.  I'd rather see an evaluation by someone high on him go sour, rather than just one by a writer that is looking for easy confirmation of his pre-existing evaluation.

I'm still with the Mickey Tettleton comp.

[hammondsnats]

yeah if anything i heard norris is quicker than expected.  i understand some analysts/writers don't like others (KLAW likes noone), but you can tell right there he's not impressed with norris at all. 

[Lintyfresh85]

KLaw likes Norris.

[hammondsnats]

KLaw likes Norris.

probably the only prospect he likes.  you sure you aren't KLAW

[epic_phalanx]

Agreed on the Hulet bias/ignorance... 13/17 SB/CS for a catcher does not exactly imply base-clogging. Just posted this comment on the FG article:

I’d love to see how many of Norris’s K’s were looking as opposed to swinging. It’s been documented that he fancies his own strike zone recognition better than the average minor league umpire’s. I don’t think it’s crazy to project a .350+ OBP from Norris even without any substantial improvement in his skills, which is still very possible considering his age. He hasn’t been catching his whole life, either; I think he shifted to catcher from third base only in the year he was drafted. He seems to be steadily improving on defense. I’d say a MLB backup catcher is his floor at this point.

[sportsfan882]

Comment From sf882
Thoughts on Derek Norris' performance in the AFL? Can he be an above average catcher offensively and defensively in the Majors?

Frankie Piliere:
He's swinging the bat real well. Approach, pitch selection have been good and he's keeping the swings and misses down. Still have doubts about his catching but he's got me thinking he can hit at an above average clip in the big leagues again.

[Vega]

I sort of doubt that Norris will ever play in the majors for the Nats. He's too valuable a trade chip.

[zimm_da_kid]

I sort of doubt that Norris will ever play in the majors for the Nats. He's too valuable a trade chip.

And he's blocked