In 2011, the Tampa Bay Rays deployed Rocco Baldelli to Athens, Ga., to scout Mikie Mahtook. As a junior at LSU, Mahtook led the SEC in batting average (.425) and on-base percentage (.538) in league play. Tampa took Mahtook 31st overall in 2011, and he hit .295/.351/.619 as a rookie in 2015. However, a player on the other side caught Baldelli’s attention.
He liked University of Georgia shortstop Kyle Farmer.
“Farm was a shortstop in college who everyone thought couldn’t play shortstop except him and maybe his coach, who watched him play a lot,” said Baldelli, referring to longtime Georgia coach David Perno. “I even wrote Farmer up in college as a catcher, a conversion catcher.”
Baldelli was a five-tool prospect out of high school in Rhode Island, but he retired in 2010 due to a mysterious illness that sapped his energy and affected his muscles. The Rays had drafted him sixth overall in 2000 and kept him on as a special assistant. He had a keen eye for talent. As a scout, Baldelli wrote reports on six players Tampa didn’t assign to him, and four became major leaguers.
Farmer is one of them. Many teams looked at him, but nearly all wanted to convert him to catcher, even though he played shortstop in high school and college. Farmer was a good athlete who didn’t have any blue-chip traits. He had a good arm, but it was a 55 on the 20-80 scale. Most teams felt catching would be his quickest path to the majors.
“I’ve never caught in my life, except for a little bit last fall just messing around,” Farmer said before the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted him in 2013. “I’ve done three workouts, one with the Dodgers, one with the Twins and one with the Rangers and I’ve caught at them. I guess I’ve done pretty well. They all like me there.”
The New York Yankees drafted him in the 35th round of the 2012 draft. However, Farmer felt he had unfinished business and returned to Georgia. A year later, the Dodgers took him in the eighth round and converted him to catcher. The thing he remembers most from his first day of rookie ball in Ogden, Utah, is that catching hurt.
“It’s a lot different than short, but it keeps you in the game, and I’m happy to do it,” Farmer said in 2013. “Scouts always say your fastest track to the big leagues is catching. I still have a lot of work to do. I still have to practice and work as hard as I did.
“I have to transfer from taking 1,000 ground balls a day to catching a bunch of bullpens and getting used to catching, but I like it. I’ll always have shortstop or second base to fall back on, but I don’t plan on doing that because I want to excel as a catcher and get to the big leagues as soon as possible.”
Teams feel that players with good athleticism but no standout traits will reach the majors quicker at catcher. It’s a difficult position defensively, but it allows good athletes who are average hitters to make an impact in the majors.
For example, the Dodgers drafted Russell Martin as a third baseman in 2002, but they converted him to catcher in the minors. Martin played 14 years in the majors, making four All-Star teams and earning a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award. Carson Kelly converted to catcher in professional baseball, and the Cleveland Guardians moved Carlos Santana from third to catcher in the minors. Buster Posey became a catcher at Florida State.
Farmer had good arm strength, projected as an average major-league hitter, and consistently made the right play. As a former high school quarterback who appeared in The Blind Side, he could throw accurately from multiple angles. Consistent players who have strong IQ and EQ typically make good catchers.
“The Dodgers drafted him as a catcher, and he could have caught,” said Baldelli. “He could have caught in the big leagues and made his career doing that, but I think they also realized he’s a better infielder than they gave him credit for.”
Above all else, he had unique interpersonal skills, allowing him to work with a staff of pitchers with different personalities and temperaments.
“He’s a real pro,” said Baldelli. “He has tremendous emotional skills. He really does. [Farmer has] a great personality. There is no one in the clubhouse that I’ve had here at any point that has more ability to connect really well with people than him.
“He’s a pretty talented, special dude that just has a wonderful personality, and I bet he’s had it since he was a kid.”
Farmer reached the majors with the Dodgers in 2017 and has spent eight seasons in the big leagues, mainly in the infield. He has played 19 games at catcher, including a career-high 15 games in 2019. However, Farmer suffered a concussion while catching that year and hasn’t been behind the plate since.
He still has catching gear in the clubhouse and caught during spring training. However, the Twins would only use him as an emergency catcher. Still, Farmer feels the experience helped him as a hitter because he learned how pitchers and catchers collaborate to set hitters up. It was a valuable experience, even if he prefers to play the infield.
It’s been a trying year for Farmer, 34, who has a career-low .580 OPS a year after he hit a career-best .256/.317/.408. Still, he takes pride in lasting eight years in the majors. Baldelli feels Farmer has maximized his ability and is a vital presence in the locker room.
“[Farmer] said this is probably the hardest year he’s ever had in professional baseball for a lot of different reasons,” said Baldelli. “He’s still just very consistent with his work. With the person that he is, you don’t lose him. He’s not a guy that you lose, and he disappears for days at a time, or he’s grumpy. Even when it’s hard, he’s still Kyle Farmer, and that’s what we need.”
Baldelli may have projected Farmer to be a catcher. But give him this: He was right about Farmer as a major-league talent.
