Biographical

Portrait of J.R. Towles

J.R. Towles C

Player Cards | Team Audit | Depth Chart

Career Summary
Years PA AVG OBP SLG DRC+ WARP
11 484 .187 .267 .315 73 0.6
Birth Date2-11-1984
Height6' 2"
Weight200 lbs
Age40 years, 2 months, 14 days
BatsR
ThrowsR
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

YEAR TEAM AGE G PA H 2B 3B HR BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ DRAA BRR FRAA BWARP
2007 HOU 23 14 44 15 5 0 1 3 1 1 0 1 .375 .432 .575 116 1.0 0.8 -1.0 0.3
2008 HOU 24 54 171 20 5 0 4 16 40 6 0 0 .137 .250 .253 65 -7.0 -0.5 -4.0 -0.4
2009 HOU 25 16 53 9 2 0 2 3 16 1 0 0 .188 .250 .354 62 -2.3 0.0 -0.2 0.0
2010 HOU 26 17 51 9 3 0 1 2 12 1 0 0 .191 .235 .319 72 -1.6 0.0 1.1 0.2
2011 HOU 27 54 165 27 7 0 3 13 26 2 0 0 .184 .256 .293 73 -4.8 0.1 2.9 0.6
Career155484802201137951101.187.267.31573-14.60.4-1.20.6

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G PA oppAVG oppOBP oppSLG BABIP BPF BRAA repLVL POS_ADJ DRC+ DRC+ SD FRAA BRR DRAA BWARP
2004 GRV Rk APL 39 136 .000 .000 .000 .303 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2005 LEX A SAL 45 193 .260 .334 .397 .383 108 14.5 5.6 1.9 146 0 1.2 1.9 10.4 2.0
2006 LEX A SAL 81 321 .258 .328 .379 .339 98 11.6 7.1 2.6 146 0 7.0 -1.6 8.7 2.5
2007 HOU MLB NL 14 44 .295 .360 .470 .368 103 4 1.3 0.8 116 14 -1.0 0.8 1.0 0.3
2007 SLM A+ CRL 26 115 .261 .335 .391 .240 100 -2.9 3.3 2 71 0 2.4 0.9 -3.7 0.5
2007 CCH AA TXS 61 257 .262 .334 .408 .341 103 19.1 7.1 2.3 172 0 -0.8 2.1 19.7 3.1
2007 ROU AAA PCL 13 50 .268 .335 .421 .316 102 0.3 1.5 0.9 90 0 -0.6 -0.9 -0.4 0.1
2008 HOU MLB NL 54 171 .260 .330 .409 .157 99 -12.2 4.9 3 65 13 -4.0 -0.5 -7.0 -0.4
2008 ROU AAA PCL 48 192 .274 .347 .442 .331 101 4.4 5.8 3.5 109 0 2.0 1.5 0.1 1.2
2009 HOU MLB NL 16 53 .268 .330 .430 .233 96 -2.5 1.5 0.9 62 17 -0.2 0.0 -2.3 0.0
2009 ROU AAA PCL 56 178 .266 .332 .404 .310 87 12.4 5.0 2.5 121 0 2.9 0.5 4.9 1.5
2010 HOU MLB NL 17 51 .259 .327 .391 .229 91 -3.4 1.4 0.8 72 13 1.1 0.0 -1.6 0.2
2010 CCH AA TXS 5 20 .258 .346 .362 .200 95 -0.2 0.6 0.3 68 0 0.0 0.7 -0.6 0.1
2011 HOU MLB NL 54 165 .260 .324 .412 .200 101 -5.7 4.4 2.6 73 11 2.9 0.1 -4.8 0.6
2011 OKL AAA PCL 35 136 .294 .359 .454 .283 101 4.6 4.2 2.5 123 0 0.1 0.5 4.5 1.1
2012 ROC AAA INT 52 189 .257 .325 .385 .263 94 -7 5.6 2.3 65 0 -0.9 -0.5 -6.6 0.0
2013 ABQ AAA PCL 4 17 .269 .347 .406 .182 103 0.6 0.5 0.3 102 0 -0.1 0.0 -0.1 0.1
2013 MEM AAA PCL 19 71 .276 .348 .433 .205 85 5.4 2.0 0.9 103 0 -1.3 0.5 -0.4 0.2
2014 ROU AAA PCL 6 22 .287 .354 .437 .250 100 -0.6 0.7 -0.4 93 0 -0.3 -0.2 -0.3 0.0

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
Year Team lvl LG PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG ISO SF SH
2004 GRV Rk APL 136 111 17 27 6 0 0 33 8 12 23 4 3 .243 .370 .297 .054 1 1
2005 LEX A SAL 193 162 35 56 14 2 5 89 23 16 29 11 7 .346 .425 .549 .204 5 5
2006 LEX A SAL 321 284 39 90 19 2 12 149 55 21 46 13 5 .317 .379 .525 .208 4 4
2007 CCH AA TXS 257 216 47 70 12 2 11 119 49 23 35 9 4 .324 .420 .551 .227 3 3
2007 SLM A+ CRL 115 90 14 18 3 2 0 25 11 12 15 3 5 .200 .351 .278 .078 0 0
2007 ROU AAA PCL 50 43 5 12 0 0 0 12 2 4 7 2 4 .279 .340 .279 .000 2 2
2007 HOU MLB NL 44 40 9 15 5 0 1 23 12 3 1 0 1 .375 .432 .575 .200 0 0
2008 HOU MLB NL 171 146 10 20 5 0 4 37 16 16 40 0 0 .137 .250 .253 .116 0 3
2008 ROU AAA PCL 192 168 28 51 8 2 7 84 28 13 31 4 3 .304 .368 .500 .196 3 3
2009 HOU MLB NL 53 48 7 9 2 0 2 17 3 3 16 0 0 .188 .250 .354 .167 0 1
2009 ROU AAA PCL 178 145 23 40 12 1 4 66 22 22 27 3 0 .276 .389 .455 .179 2 2
2010 HOU MLB NL 51 47 3 9 3 0 1 15 8 2 12 0 0 .191 .235 .319 .128 1 0
2010 CCH AA TXS 20 14 3 2 1 0 0 3 3 4 4 2 0 .143 .400 .214 .071 0 0
2011 OKL AAA PCL 136 105 19 29 4 0 3 42 11 18 11 3 0 .276 .430 .400 .124 1 1
2011 HOU MLB NL 165 147 11 27 7 0 3 43 11 13 26 0 0 .184 .256 .293 .109 2 1
2012 ROC AAA INT 189 168 24 36 14 0 1 53 10 12 36 2 4 .214 .280 .315 .101 2 3
2013 ABQ AAA PCL 17 15 2 3 0 0 1 6 2 0 3 1 0 .200 .200 .400 .200 0 2
2013 MEM AAA PCL 71 59 15 14 3 1 5 34 14 8 10 0 0 .237 .366 .576 .339 0 0
2014 ROU AAA PCL 22 17 1 3 3 0 0 6 4 5 5 0 0 .176 .364 .353 .176 0

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr% CSAA
2008 615 0.5333 0.4650 0.7238 0.6372 0.2683 0.7943 0.5325 0.2762 0.0009
2009 224 0.5670 0.4330 0.8144 0.5906 0.2268 0.8933 0.5455 0.1856 0.0070
2010 203 0.5616 0.4631 0.7447 0.6140 0.2697 0.8286 0.5000 0.2553 0.0032
2011 649 0.5193 0.4330 0.8114 0.5638 0.2917 0.8895 0.6484 0.1886 -0.0004
Career16910.53580.44830.77190.60010.27200.84810.57480.22810.0015

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
2013-04-22 2013-04-29 Minors 7 0 - Not Disclosed - -
2011-06-26 2011-06-30 DTD 4 3 Face Laceration Chin Ball Bounced Off Dirt -
2011-06-16 2011-06-22 DTD 6 6 Right Thigh Strain Hamstring -
2011-06-15 2011-06-15 DTD 0 0 Left Ankle Contusion Foul Ball -
2011-04-14 2011-04-19 DTD 5 4 Left Ankle Sprain -
2011-03-25 2011-03-30 Camp 5 0 Low Back Soreness -
2010-05-14 2010-09-07 Minors 116 0 Thumb Surgery UCL and Tendon Repair 2010-07-26
2010-03-27 2010-04-01 Camp 5 0 Left Thigh Strain Hamstring -
2009-07-26 2009-08-23 Minors 28 0 Thigh Strain Hamstring -
2009-06-30 2009-07-12 Minors 12 0 Face Fracture Nose -
2008-04-14 2008-04-17 DTD 3 2 Left Hand Contusion HBP -
2008-03-09 2008-03-25 Camp 16 0 Right Thigh Strain Hamstring -
2007-08-17 2007-08-24 Minors 7 0 Thigh Strain Hamstring -

Compensation

Year Team Salary
2013 SLN $
2012 MIN $
2011 HOU $424,000
2010 HOU $406,500
2008 HOU $390,000
YearsDescriptionSalary
3 yrPrevious$1,220,500
3 yrTotal$1,220,500

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status
2 y 2 dBurton Rocks1 year (2014)

Details
  • 1 year (2014). Signed by Texas as a free agent 8/25/14 (minor-league contract).
  • 1 year (2013). Signed by St. Louis as a free agent 12/18/12 (minor-league contract). Released by St. Louis 5/28/13. Signed by LA Dodgers as a free agent 5/30/13 (minor-league contract).
  • 1 year (2012). Signed by Minnesota as a free agent 12/15/11 (minor-league contract).
  • 1 year/$0.424M (2011). Re-signed by Houston 1/11. Sent outright to Triple-A by Houston 10/13/11.
  • 1 year/$0.4065M (2010). Re-signed by Houston 1/8/10.
  • 1 year/$0.4015M (2009). Re-signed by Houston 2/20/09.
  • 1 year/$0.39M (2008). Re-signed by Houston 2/22/08.
  • 1 year (2007). Contract purchased by Houston 9/4/07.
  • Drafted by Houston 2004 (20-604) (North Central Texas JC). Signed 6/16/04 (draft and follow).

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ VORP FRAA WARP
Weighted Mean???????00??.000.000.00000.0?0.0

BP Annual Player Comments

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BP Articles

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BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2011-12-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)Did the Rangers really screw up by not trading one of Salty, Ramirez and Teagarden when their values were all high?
(rwinter from Boston)		In the sense that they didn't trade prospects who flopped, sure. You could say that about every team and every prospect who flopped. Did the Angels err in not trading Brandon Wood when he was a top-10 prospect? In retrospect, of course, but there was no way of knowing that.

The fact that all three of those players flopped in their own ways supports the decision to keep all of them, though, instead of treating them as depth. Catchers have a brutal attrition rate. Baseball America's top 100 in 2000 included six catchers: Eric Munson, Ben Petrick, Matt LeCroy, Jayson Werth (Orioles), Steve Lomasney, Ryan Christianson. In 2001: Joe Lawrence, Dane Sardinha, Brandon Inge, J.R. House. In 2002: Mauer, Josh Phelps, House, John Buck, Werth (Blue Jays), Victor Martinez. In 2003: Mauer, Martinez, Jeff Mathis, Justin Huber, Buck.

In 2007, when the Rangers had to make this decision, Kevin Goldstein ranked the catchers in the minors. He named 17 players. These are the 17:

Jeff Clement
Bryan Anderson
J.R. Towles
Teagarden
Hank Conger
John Jaso
Ramirez
Nick Hundley
Tony Recker
Jesus Montero
Brett Hayes
Francisco Hernandez
Lou Palmisano
Landon Powell
Shawn Riggans
Jamie Skelton
Brian Jeroloman

Out of those 17, there are basically one and a half every day catchers, maaaaaaybe another one in Hank Conger, and a DH. We thought the Rangers had three catchers, plus Gerald Laird. In fact, they had Gerald Laird.

Also:
2007 Baseball Prospectus Annual: "When Teagarden is behind the dish, he's one of the top defensive catchers around. If he can stay there, he's Mickey Tettleton with defensive chops."
2008 Baseball Prospectus Annual: "If you want to get really dreamy and optimistic, think Mickey Tettleton with Gold Glove-level skills, and you get the picture."

This is why comps are the best/worst. (Sam Miller)


BP Roundtables

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Advanced Catching Metrics

Year lvl CSAA Framing Runs Blocking Chances EPAA Blocking Runs SB Attempts SRAA TRAA Throwing Runs FRAA Adj. FRAA
2005 afx .000 0.0 1556 -.003 1.3 32 -.009 -.006 0.3 1.6 1.2
2006 afx .000 0.0 2088 -.003 2.1 53 -.013 -.019 0.8 1.4 7.0
2007 aax .000 0.0 1874 -.001 0.8 36 .067 -.007 -1.1 -0.5 -0.8
2007 afa .000 0.0 1032 -.004 1.1 21 -.015 -.009 0.5 1.7 2.4
2007 mlb -.007 -0.7 450 .000 0.0 5 -.016 .000 0.1 -0.4 -1.0
2007 aaa -.003 -0.4 544 -.001 0.1 12 .014 -.002 -0.1 0.0 -0.6
2008 aaa .002 1.1 1839 -.001 0.5 29 -.005 -.005 0.2 1.9 2.0
2008 mlb -.017 -6.5 1711 -.003 1.4 18 -.002 -.005 0.1 -4.8 -4.0
2009 mlb -.004 -0.5 595 -.002 0.4 8 .016 -.003 -0.1 -1.4 -0.2
2009 aaa .006 2.7 1794 -.001 0.6 30 .006 .000 -0.1 2.4 2.9
2010 mlb .009 1.1 589 -.001 0.2 11 .007 .001 0.0 1.3 1.1
2010 aax -.004 -0.2 244 -.001 0.1 3 .004 -.003 0.0 -0.2 0.0
2011 mlb .001 0.5 1773 -.003 1.5 38 .000 -.004 0.1 1.5 2.9
2011 aaa -.001 -0.6 1540 -.001 0.4 26 -.015 -.001 0.3 -0.7 0.1
2012 aaa -.004 -2.0 1761 -.003 1.7 35 .011 -.004 -0.1 0.1 -0.9
2013 aaa -.009 -2.1 948 -.001 0.3 22 -.008 .000 0.1 -0.9 -1.4

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

 

PITCHf/x Hitter Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC