Get to Know Nick Fortes, the Rays new catcher

No sooner did I write about the experience of being in the Miami Marlins draft war room when we took C Nick Fortes did the Tampa Bay Rays move to acquire the former 4th Round pick from Miami. Cute coincidence or magical manifestation? I will leave it to the reader to decide.

Let’s dig into the details of this newly acquired Ray:

Fortes the Defender

I had the pleasure of getting to know Nick while he was coming up through the minor league system with the Marlins. From day 1, when he was merely a magnet on the draft board, he popped in our analytical models for his above average framing ability. In his MLB career so far, he has amassed 12.3 Framing runs, according to Statcast, which prorates to…