Advertisement
This is member-exclusive content
icon/ui/info filled

sportsRangers

Rangers prospect Sam Huff invites many voices into his head — meet the one that’s most important

Catcher of the future? Texas hopes so, though Huff’s journey hasn’t gone as planned.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — As soon as the last out of the last game of the Rangers’ completely forgettable 102-loss season was recorded, Bobby Wilson slipped out of the home clubhouse and dashed for the airport.

He needed to see his kid.

Just not a biological one.

Advertisement

Wilson, the Rangers’ catching instructor, put off returning to his wife and three daughters in Florida for nearly a week to attend to the big red-headed son he never had: Sam Huff.

Rangers

Be the smartest Rangers fan. Get the latest news.

Or with:

In Arizona, Huff, the Rangers’ next best hope for a front-line catcher, was getting ready to get behind the plate again five months after knee surgery that scrambled his season. Kind of a teenager’s coming-of-age crisis, though Huff is 23.

Texas Rangers AA Frisco manager Bobby Wilson watches pitchers work in the bullpen during a...
Texas Rangers AA Frisco manager Bobby Wilson watches pitchers work in the bullpen during a spring training workout at the team's training facility on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Surprise, Ariz. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

“I think he was relieved to see me,” Wilson said.

You bet he was.

Advertisement

“He’s like a second father to me,” Huff said Wednesday. “I’ve loved Bobby since the day I met him. He’s been with me through everything. He’s advanced my game so much, mentally. He pushes without pressuring you. He’s helping me to be the catcher I want to be.”

This is exactly what the Rangers had in mind two years ago when they hired Wilson, freshly retired from a 10-year MLB catching career. They felt they had a special catching talent in Huff and wanted to invest significantly in his development.

Wilson, who grew up as a player under demanding catching savant Mike Sciosica, was more than willing to dive in. In the project, he saw the ability to give Huff what “I wish I’d had more of as a player.”

Advertisement

Not just an investment in the player, but in the person.

It’s just that nothing since has gone according to plan. The pandemic canceled the 2020 minor league season in which Wilson was to manage Huff at Double-A. Huff’s 2021 spring training was cut short by a hamstring injury. And then a loose body started rattling around in his right knee, leading to surgery.

It also made the Rangers rethink how they wanted to handle Huff this year. The decision was to err on the side of caution. The decision was made to not catch at all in 2021 and to instead maximize the number of at-bats he’d get by playing first base and DH when he returned. When he did return 10 weeks later, he parked one ball 511 feet away in an Arizona Complex League game, hit another over the batters’ eye in Frisco and another that measured 502 feet. He will do that kind of thing, which is another reason beyond a powerful arm and impressive mobility behind the plate that the Rangers believe he can be something special.

Then came another turn. The Rangers made changes at the top of their player development department and, at the same time, decided maybe it would be a good idea to ramp Huff back up to catch so that when he did go into the offseason, he would be fully confident that he was back and healthy. There wouldn’t be any doubts lingering over the winter.

Texas Rangers catcher Sam Huff celebrates after scoring during the ninth inning of a spring...
Texas Rangers catcher Sam Huff celebrates after scoring during the ninth inning of a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in Surprise, Ariz.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

Which is why Wilson ended up in Arizona. There were creeping doubts in Huff’s mind.

“I think that’s a part of why I went out there,” Wilson said.

“I was frustrated at first,” Huff said about returning to squatting in September. “This year has taught me a lot about my body and how I need to feel. It’s important to know what I can and can’t play through. I’ve had to be very consistent about things. It’s all given me a much better understanding about my body.

“I don’t want there to be any questions,” he added. “Right now, I’m really happy with where I’m at. I’m ready to catch. And I want to make sure [the Rangers] know I’ll be ready for the first day of spring training.”

Could he be ready enough to win the catching job to start the year? Probably not. There needs to be more work on game-planning and other refinements. But not too long after that? Absolutely.

On Tuesday, Huff caught the equivalent of five innings worth of bullpens and live batting practice. He’s twice caught in instructional league games in between games as a DH/1B in the Arizona Fall League. By the time the AFL ends, he may even get behind the plate in one of those games. These are not insignificant steps.

Advertisement

At 6-5 and listed at 240 pounds, Huff is a big catcher. Unusually so. According to Baseball-Reference.com, there has been only one catcher in the last 100 years to play at least 80 games in a season who was as tall as 6-5 and at least 230 pounds: Matt Weiters. He is listed at 235. Huff would be the biggest, heaviest regular catcher ever. The last thing he needs are doubts.

He’s also a pleaser. Pleasers want to please. They also are willing to listen to everybody with advice. For example: In the course of a 20-minute conversation Tuesday, Huff talked about “pestering” Lance Lynn, Jose Trevino, Kyle Gibson, Ian Kennedy, Jeff Mathis, Derek Dietrich and Ronald Guzman over the last two years about everything from what pitchers need most to the importance of early batting practice. That’s a lot of voices on a lot of topics.

What Huff is trying to do as a catcher is going to require listening to one voice in particular — his own.

“There are times when I have to tell him to shut his ears off,” Wilson said. “Don’t worry about trying to please other people. Listen to me.”

Advertisement

There might be a contradiction there, if you think about it.

Until you ask Huff what it is Wilson tells him most often.

“He tells me it’s hard; that it should be hard,” Huff said. “But then he says ‘Even with all the crap I’m telling, you are a good player. Know that you are a good player.’”

Advertisement

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.