The Dbacks addressed one of their primary organizational needs by selecting Stryker Trahan, a catcher out of Acadiana High School in Lafayette, LA. with the 26th overall pick in the MLB first year player draft. Trahan is a big, strong catcher who profiles as a plus power hitter with a good enough arm to stay at catcher. His receiving skills are the big question mark and he may end up in right field. But the club will surely give him every chance to succeed as a catcher.
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At 6-1, 220 Trahan has the physical tools for a catcher and he's been his high school's starting QB for the last two years. Given the opportunity to focus exclusively on baseball the hope is he will "loosen up" and improve his catching skills. Even if he's forced to to move to a corner outfield spot his plus power bat projects well enough to warrant the move. He has strong arms and wrists though his swing lacks fluidity and is more strength based, according to Baseball America's scouting report.
Scouts love his overall tool set as he's a fair runner for his size and his athleticism won't limit him to catching, just in case that doesn't work out. He also hits from the left side, another plus. Both Keith Law and Jonathan Mayo give him a fair chance of sticking at catcher given that athleticism and rifle arm. Law had him rated as high as #15 overall at one point. His upside is a full-time, power hitting catcher with average to solid catching skills. His low side is a corner outfielder with some decent pop and average outfield skills with a very good arm.
Trahan will fit in nicely with an organization short on catchers and the expectation is he should sign quickly and hopefully start his minor league career with one of our rookie teams. Michael Perez will likely garner one of those two spots as well.
Stryker was given his unique name from a character in a Burt Reynolds film, B.L. Stryker. So we'll grade his baseball name as plus-plus. He's a cajun through and through and he claims he has the catcher bloodline since both his parents played the position. Here's hoping he sticks at catcher and arrives on the Major League scene sometime around 2016.