CAR
Jonah Heim, C
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Scouting report
Catching inventory is limited around baseball, and Heim has several underlying characteristics that might indicate he’s going to break late and become a viable everyday backstop. He has hopped around a bit: a 2013 fourth-round high school draftee from the Buffalo area, he was eventually traded from Baltimore to Tampa Bay for Steve Pearce, then to Oakland as the PTBNL for Joey Wendle, then to Texas as the main return for Elvis Andrus. From 2017 to ’19, Heim posted batting lines above the minor league average of the level at which he was playing. This is a 6-foot-4, switch-hitting catcher from a cold-weather climate, and those traits are generally considered markers for late-career development, though that is anecdotal. He's currently splitting time with Jose Trevino, but I think Heim will eventually be a clear upgrade to Trevino on offense, and a more consistent offensive performer than Sam Huff. David García, the other catcher on Texas’ 40-man, is only 21 and still too green to factor into the big league picture at all right now. Heim receives from a traditional squat, with his glove hand working from the ground up. He's a great framer and will show you average pop times on trials when he's catching the ball to his glove side, and below average times when he has to reach across his body. He's a long-term defensive fit back there and has more offensive skill than is typical at the position.