With options, O’s settle into deep crouch behind plate

job with trying to build up the catching depth. That’s been a point of emphasis over the past few years, and the fruits of the labor are showing.”

With free agent Welington Castillo, who signed a one-year deal to be the starter, away at the World Baseball Classic, the team’s variety of talented backstops have been put in the shop window during Grapefruit League games.

Joseph has handled most of the work, but behind him are Chance Sisco, Francisco Pena and Audry Perez, all of whom could be ticketed for Triple-A Norfolk and thus one step from the majors. Austin Wynns joined camp recently, with Yermin Mercedes heading back to minor league camp in his place.

“We look at them all as potential everyday catchers,” Showalter said. “Let’s be frank. Some of them, the thing that really puts them into that limelight is if they’re a good defensive catcher and an offensive threat. Those guys are really hard to find in today’s game. You can count them on one hand. That’s one of the things that’s intriguing about Welington. But they come in all shapes and sizes. You attack their weaknesses and realize that maybe they’re better than you think they are. I’ve been impressed with all of them.”

When dealing with the human body, and all of its various oddities and forms, one thing that’s stressed is there’s no point in creating cookie-cutter copies when it comes to catchers.

They were paired at Norfolk all of last year, but there’s no way what works for the 6-foot-2 Pena is the same as for the defensively advanced Perez, who is 4 inches shorter. Sisco stands as tall as Pena, but is listed 35 pounds lighter.

When it comes to bodies, minor league catching coordinator Don Werner said flexibility is key over anything else. The days of the squat, stocky catcher are gone, with leaner athletes now taking hold behind the plate.

Everyone in the Orioles’ program acknowledges that the core values are the same, no matter your size — prioritize defense, provide your pitcher with a good target, present the pitch as a strike to the umpire, be everything your pitcher needs.

“But how you get to them is kind of your own personal flair,” Joseph said. “So with that, not as much, but I don’t even know if there’s any two catchers that even catch alike. It’s a bit like hitters. It’s such an artsy position. You have a lot of self-expression in the way you frame the pitch, throwing the ball back to the pitcher.”

For someone who grew up catching, those things are acquired over time. For others, such as Sisco, who began to work as a catcher in his senior year in high school, it’s learning under the scrutiny that comes with professional baseball.

“It’s whatever you’re comfortable with and whatever you’re confident in,” Sisco said. “I’ve gone back and forth on things and tried out different things. I’m eventually finding out what’s best for me and what makes me confident and comfortable behind the plate. I’m happy that they let me kind of, I wouldn’t say struggle, but they let me work through the aches and pains of learning the catching spot.”

Showalter can rattle off catchers who, just by seeing them in workouts, look like big leaguers to him. Wynns is one. Perez could do the job, too, and he’s already seen Joseph and Pena show themselves as major league catchers.

But what keeps so many of them from reaching and sticking in the majors is the bat. For the rest, it’s that they can’t handle the position at the highest level despite a big league-ready bat.

The reason Joseph was stuck in the minors until he was 27 was his fielding, or at least the perception of it. But before that was ready, his bat was and the team tried him at first base and in the outfield to try to find a home for his bat at the next level.

Sisco is coming along well enough behind the plate that his bat, which scouts believe will be an asset in the majors, won’t push him away from the position. Joseph, Pena and Werner have said he’s improved defensively this offseason.

Werner views what he does when he pops into affiliates to work with the catchers as good for getting them to the cusp of the majors, and what bench coach John Russell does in spring training as finishing school.

Werner and Russell are catching resources that the crew in major league camp gush about. Werner hopes the same thing that helped get Joseph beyond Bowie helps Sisco. Werner picked up what he called a “cheat” from Wieters that allowed for a quick transfer and throw, and it brought Joseph under the twosecond pop-time mark the team sought. If such tips take for Sisco, he could have what Werner believes is the final piece.

“I think the adjustments that they’re making with his throwing, because he’s just not blessed with a strong arm, I think it’s really helping him right now,” Werner said. “And that, to me, is the missing link to where he can go out there and control the running game.

“His receiving, I think, is just top-notch. I think his blocking, he’s one of our better blockers, and he’s got a real good feel for the game.”