A big catcher with big defensive prowess and flashes of big power, Jett Bandy breaks into the Top 30 and harbors a chance to break into the big leagues this year as well. He also might be a film noir private detective, but that’s a different story for a different time.
Jett Bandy
In 10 words or less: The best name in the system. Good catcher too.
Position: C Born: 3/26/90
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’4″ Weight: 235
Last Year Rank: Unranked
2014 Season Stats
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OFFENSE
Contact – B. Bandy has a beautiful swing. It’s short, compact, straight to the ball. The funny thing is, despite having pop in his bat and a “plus” ability to make contact, Bandy surprisingly hasn’t done as much with the ball as he could, as evidenced by his .250 batting average. This falls in line with his career numbers.
Power – B+. Bandy always had “plus” strength and “plus” athleticism, but he was never able to put it together at the plate in order to equate homeruns. That changed this season in the most surprising of environments. Dickey Stephens Park in Arkansas is where flyballs go to die if you’re not a dead-pull LHB. May be the hardest place to hit homeruns in if you’re a RHB. Even the strongest of hitters like Trumbo, Trout and Cron never topped 15 HR’s in AA Arkansas. Bandy hit 13 of them in only 93 games.
Discipline – B. This was the area where most scouts believed Bandy would be held back from becoming a legitimate major league option. Coming into this season his OBP hovered in the low .300’s to accompany his poor batting average and developing but still limited power. It seemed to all come together for him, especially in the discipline department. He posted a career high in walks and saw more pitches this year. A .348 OBP is nothing to sneeze at.
Speed – C. Bandy isn’t a base stealer, especially as a catcher. But he runs the bases perfectly fine and isn’t a liability.
DEFENSE
Arm – B+. Bandy has one of the best arms for a catcher in the minor leagues. He isn’t elite, but he’s definitely in the conversation and should be quite good in the majors. There are a lot of factors at play here, but gunning down 40% of base stealers would put him among the elite in major league baseball.
Fielding – A. Jett is one of the best defensive catchers in minor league baseball. His footwork behind the plate is straight out of the School of Scioscia. He’s cat quick, great at blocking the ball, always in a position to throw, has the instincts and is smart.
Range – A. Hard to define as a catcher, but his lateral movement is excellent, his long frame provides the ability to catch even the highest of pitches out of the zone. He pops out of his stance faster than anyone in the organization since Jeff Mathis.
OVERALL
Performance – B+. Yeah, Bandy only hit .250 in AA. But he also found his power stroke, was patient at the plate, had a gem of a defensive year, threw out 40% of would be base stealers, and put himself into the forefront of the Angels catching depth chart. His growth this year made trading away Hank Conger possible for the Angels.
Projection – B. Jett still has some work to do before we can consider him a full-time starter in the major leagues, but he has that sort of potential. At best he could become an elite defensive catcher that becomes a power hitting force in the bottom of the lineup that can also reach base. Basically a better version of Chris Iannetta. That’s the best case scenario. Most likely, he’s a good platoon player, sort of like Chris Iannetta right now, but with not quite as good offense but better defense.
Grade as a Prospect – C+. He’s better than your average catching prospect and will be a 25 on Opening Day next year. Basically, his time as a prospect is done and he needs to develop into a full blown player now.
Estimated Time of Arrival – 2015. Bandy is in a two-man race with newly acquired Carlos Perez from the Rays. He figures to have the inside track to start the year as the Angels backup catcher given his familiarity with the pitchers and Scioscia’s preferences. But if not, he’ll begin the year in AAA and be promoted at some point. He’s already been added to the 40-man roster.
2014 in Review*
Bandy had been more or less at the top of the organizational depth chart at catcher in the minors the last few years, but it isn’t like that was anything worth bragging about. Jett always had a good defensive reputation, but his bat had never quite played up enough to make him a real viable consideration to be a big leaguer. That changed in 2014.
Repeating Double-A, Bandy finally flashed some of that power that his large frame was always supposed to have. He banged out 13 homers and a .163 ISO in part-time duty. That may not seem impressive, but keep in mind that Dickey-Stephens Park is one of the most power-suppressing parks in the minors and Bandy hit six of his homers at home. That has to count for something, even if it still is just a season’s worth of data.
What also got Bandy notice is that his walk rate nearly doubled from being just above 5% early in his career to over 9% in 2014. That could be a real sign of progress or it could be a one-year outlier. Jett doesn’t strike much at all, so it could be that he just finally put it all together.
Looking Ahead*
Two weeks ago, Bandy looked like he had a real shot at making the Angels. That was probably premature to begin with, but now that Drew Butera is in place, it is a lot less likely to happen anyway. However, he will be battling it out with new acquisition Carlos Perez to be the next catcher up should anyone get hurt and then take a run at sticking in the majors next year when Chris Iannetta becomes a free agent and Drew Butera possibly gets non-tendered.
If Bandy can continue to show the same offensive growth he flashed in 2014, he should get the job easily. Perez might be a better defender, but Bandy is pretty good himself and Jett has much more offensive potential. He probably won’t ever hit quite enough to be a full-time MLB starter, but he could certainly be a back-up or maybe someone who works out of a timeshare. First he needs to show that his 2014 power surge wasn’t a mirage. That shouldn’t be too hard to do considering he is likely to spend most of 2015 in Salt Lake, possibly competing head-to-head with Perez for playing time.
*As we do every year, the scouting reports and grades are provided by Scotty Allen while Garrett Wilson provides the 2014 in Review and Looking Ahead sections.
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