[ayaghmour2]

The Catchers (Stats are for the full season, regardless of position, and only games played with the Cougars)
C Fred Barrell (132 G, 589 PA, .324/.376/.469, 10 HR, 101 RBI, 103 OPS+, 61.9%)
C Slick Hostetter (30 G, 91 PA, .185/.264/.222, 0 HR, 13 RBI, 19 OPS+, 69.2 CS%)
C Jim Kyle (8 G, 17 PA, .182/.231/.455, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 61 OPS+, 25.0 CS%)
C Jim Stevens (3 G, 11 PA, .111/.273/.111, 0 HR, 2 RBI, -3 OPS%, 100.0 CS%)

Note to FABL baserunners: don't run on this team. Only three every day catchers threw out more the 50% of stolen base attempts. Only one threw out more then 54%. And that would be Fred Barrell. Throwing out an impressive 39 baserunners in 63 attempts, Barrell's 61.9% was almost 10% higher then any other catcher in the FABL and backup Slick Hostetter threw out almost 70% of all base thiefs.

Back to Barrell, the 25-year-old finished 2nd in fielding percentage (.993), second in double plays (12), first in zone rating (+5.9) with the next closest over 2 points behind him, and of course, first in caught stealing while being in the bottom half of the league in past balls and errors (where bottom means less errors and past balls). And while there are a decent amount of good hitting catchers like Joe Welsh, T.R. Goins, and Jim Pool, he still finished 5th in average (.324), 4th in RBI's (101), 7th in homers (10), 4th in OBP (.376), 6th in OPS (.845), 6th in slugging (.469), 3rd in doubles (33), t-2nd in triples (6), 6th in walks (45), 5th in ISO (.145), 6th in OPS+ (103), and 6th in wOBA (.366). He also struck out just 35 times, good for 9th, with Brooklyn's young superstar Mike Taylor the only catcher with more plate appearances and less strikeouts. Of all 5 catchers with a better OPS+ then Barrell, none of them are even better then average defensively. He's a rare mix of an excellent defensive catcher who can more then hold his own at the plate. Barrell is loaded with potential, and has already established himself as a top catcher in the game.

With a guy as good as him starting, there really isn't much need for a backup. Slick Hostetter likely played his last game as a Cougar on September 20th, as the once productive regular is now 31 and has seen his playing time dwindle like many of the Cougar starters when I took over the team. This was by far his worst offensive season, as his OPS+ was never south of 85 before this season and he put together back-to-back 100+ seasons in 1926 and 1927. The backup job will likely be fought between Jim Kyle and Jim Stevens, both who didn't do too much in their cups of coffee this season. Both went to the same college, Pierpont, where Kyle served as Stevens backup in 1925 and 1926 before starting in 1927 after Stevens graduated. Kyle was a 13th Round Pick by the Sailors in 1927, and he was up in the majors the following season. He has pretty decent major league numbers, hitting .248/.307/.352 (87 OPS+) with a homer and 28 RBI's in 87 games, all but the 8 this season with the Sailors. He actually has some prospect hype, as he was ranked 68th before the 1928 season. Stevens on the other hand was a 23rd Round pick by the Foresters in 1926 and we picked him up last season in a trade for fellow catcher Barney Green. Stevens debuted this season, but just got into three games late in the year. He currently ranks as the 9th best prospect in our system.

Kyle is the odds on favorite for the backup job, as he has more potential and more experience then Stevens. There are a few guys with an outside chance to crack the roster, with 29th rated prospect Woodie Dudley and 34-year-old Al Wilder waiting in AAA. Dudley was our 3rd Round selection in 1924 and is eligible for the Rule-5 Draft, although I can't see anyone taking him. Wilder, on the other hand, spent time in Chicago from 1922-1927, hitting .251/.321/.330 (75 OPS+) with 5 homers and 88 RBI's in nearly 1,000 FABL plate appearances. He was a former 4th Round Pick way back in 1915.