Texas Rangers: Catcher Tomas Telis called up

The Texas Rangers announced yesterday that they are calling up catcher Tomas Telis from the Round Rock Express.  He’ll be taking filling the spot because the Rangers traded Geovany Soto the the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

  They had previously used Chris Gimenez while Soto was on the disabled list, but they traded him to the Indians a few days ago.

Less two catchers: It was a little surprising to see the Rangers left Gimenez go, but not Soto.  Geovanny Soto was only signed through this season and it was seemly more unlikely the Rangers would try to re-sign him during the offseason.

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Rule-5: Prior to the Jon Daniels and the Rangers announcing that Telis would be called up, Brett Nicholas also had his name being mentioned as a possible call up.   Between the two players, Telis does have more catching experience, which is likely why he received the nod over Nicholas.

Both Nicholas and Telis are Rule-5 eligible, which means if they are not on the Texas Rangers 40-man roster by November 20 then they could be drafted during the MLB Winter meetings.   During the 2013 MLB Winter meetings the Texas Rangers made a notable, but not impactful, draft of the Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson from Colorado Rockies.

About Telis: Tomas Telis is said to be very quick on his feet and has a good reaction time, which does help to over come some of his lack in strength.   He doesn’t strikeout or walk much, but he does put the ball in a play a lot.  He doesn’t hit for power though.   He has shown constant and steady defensive improvements behind the plate over the years.  This season with double-A Frisco Rough Riders he caught 21 of 51 base stealers (29%), which is consistent to what he’s done over his career.  While with the Rough Riders he batted .303/.339/.401/.740 with 16 doubles, 2 home runs and 33 RBI.

He was promoted to triple-A Round Rock Express midway through the season and had continue to do well.   He’s only caught 3 of 14 base stealers (18%), but reports still stay he’s quick to his feet and getting a good play on the runners.  With any luck that will translate well to the majors.  This season Tomas Telis is hitting .345/.377/.489/.866 with 7 doubles, 3 home runs and 17 RBI over 36 games/139 at-bats with the Express.