With Sandy Leon being traded to the Cleveland Indians, 26 year old catcher Austin Rei for a time found himself as the #2 option behind the plate for the Red Sox. The Boston catching prospect looked destined to make the team by default until the Red Sox ironically signed former Indians catcher Kevin Plawecki. But, as Plawecki has never hit much at the MLB level, don’t count out Rei just yet!
Austin Rei had a breakout year in 2018 at Double-A Portland, but broke his foot in 2019 Spring Training. Unfortunately, the broken foot stalled Rei in 2019. When he did get back to game action, he had a decent 7-game rehab stint before returning to Portland. He just never got on track: .157/.213/.253 in just 90 plate appearances. His 2020 projections are colored by that poor showing. It also doesn’t help that his hit tool has long been thought to be below average. He has about average pull power from the right side, though.
The real value to Rei, besides his solid batting eye, is his defense. He has shown slightly above average pop times and an average throwing arm. It’s thought he’ll be at least an average defensive catcher. The question is if he walks enough and hits for enough in-game power to hold a roster spot in the majors. The Sox likely wouldn’t have left him on the 40-man roster if they didn’t think it was possible.
So, despite falling off the prospect radar, Rei is still very much in the Red Sox’s plans. As the Sox signed another veteran option to be the backup to Christian Vazquez, we can be sure that their confidence level in Rei wasn’t quite there yet. He still has something to prove at AAA.
Austin Rei’s key rookie card is from 2015 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects. He was drafted out of the University of Washington that year in the 3rd round. A torn thumb ligament suffered while still in college resulted in a slow start. But, he improved in 2016 and again in 2017, posting unimpressive but essentially league average offense for his levels. In 2018, he broke out, combining his excellent plate discipline with a bit more power (.249/.355/.392, 112 wRC+).
Backup catchers obviously don't do that well in the hobby, but breakouts can happen. We saw Christian Vazquez explode with the bat in 2019 and he became the obvious starter. It's likely Rei never does that, but the Sox need a decent backup.
It's not impossible that Rei finds his way onto the Red Sox in 2020, simply due to injury to either Vazquez or Plawecki. Trading Leon ironically saved the Red Sox money while getting the very catcher the Indians let go at a fraction of the price. It also doesn’t hurt Rei’s chances of sneaking onto the roster.
If you are a collector of Red Sox prospects, it can't hurt to have Rei's 1st Bowman card kicking around in your collection. Of course, catchers breaking out don't always mean big price jumps. Vazquez’s card prices never really blew up, after all. But, don’t forget about him, as Austin Rei could get into more Red Sox games in 2020 than you'd think.
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