READING
Tommy Joseph and Sebastian Valle were touted as two of the best catching prospects to come through the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Last spring, there was no telling how far the two could climb on the ladder.
This spring, they're both still in Reading, playing for the Fightin Phils.
Joseph took a foul tip off his mask during a game last May and the 2013 season was plagued - and cut short - with concussion problems, while Valle's offensive production dipped drastically last summer.
But that doesn't mean the two young catchers (Valle is 23 years old; Joseph is 22) can't get back on track this season.
"I'm excited to be healthy again," Joseph said during Tuesday's media day at FirstEnergy Stadium. "You get the chance to get out there and play every day. No limitations, not having anything to worry about."
For the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Phoenix native, it could be just that simple - staying healthy.
Joseph's potential was considered one of the keys to the deal that brought him to Philadelphia in the trade that sent Hunter Pence to San Francisco. He was hitting .260 for Richmond before the San Francisco-Philadelphia deal sent him to Reading, where he hit .250 for the last 28 games of the season.
With San Jose - San Francisco's Class A affiliate - in 2011, Joseph hit .270 with 139 hits and 95 RBIs. Those numbers once made him the No. 3 prospect in the organization going into last season.
Joseph finished the 2013 campaign hitting .179 (.273 in three games with Reading) with 22 hits and 16 RBIs in 36 total games in the minors.
"Everybody knows when I got hurt last year, there were a lot of ups and downs," Joseph said, "playing in Clearwater and Reading again and not being able to finish the season. I think it's just going to be big for me to stay healthy and give myself an opportunity to play every day."
Fans were reminded of Joseph's defensive talent during a March 9 spring training game against the Minnesota Twins when he entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and caught both Alex Presley and Jermaine Mitchell stealing with perfect throws to second base.
In the early stages of the season, Joseph might not be playing every day, but he'll be playing most of them. Reading manager Dusty Wathan noted Tuesday that Joseph will be the everyday catcher, with Valle catching a couple of times each week.
"It's a demanding position," Wathan said. "It's one of those things that works itself out. (Joseph) missed the whole year last year. A lot of people are concerned about that. For me, he's still a young catcher. He was here at a tremendously young age.
"Where he's at now, we just want to keep him healthy, get him on the field and see what we have at the end of the season."
It seems as though "healthy" is the key word when it comes to Joseph, even when describing where his relationship with Valle needs to be.
Though the two catchers haven't been teammates for long, they now share a common rotation in which they'll both catch at least for the start of the season.
"We haven't been teammates long enough to give ourselves an opportunity to balance off each other," Joseph said of Valle. "I think that's something we'll have to do early on in the season - be open with each other talking about the pitching staff, talking about different things offensively, too.
"Helping each other is going to be key."
Valle's batting average dropped to .203 last season after posting a .253 average with Lehigh Valley in 2012 and .284 with Clearwater in 2011. He added 72 hits, 41 RBIs and 88 strikeouts his 98 games, all with Reading, last season.
But the R-Phils' pitching staff is happy to have both Joseph and Valle around, if at least only for now.
"They are some of the most talented guys in the organization, some of the most talented catchers in baseball," pitcher Jesse Biddle said. "I really can't ask for more out of a corps of catchers."
Biddle will start for the Fightin Phils in tonight's opener against Portland at FirstEnergy Stadium. He heads up a rotation featuring Perci Garner, Hoby Milner and Luis Paulino that has drawn a lot of attention for its potential.
Biddle pitched to Valle most of last season and, though Biddle never really threw to Joseph, the pitcher has talked to him considerably during their time in the organization together.
"That's something I'm really excited about - I think our whole staff is - to be able to throw to a couple guys that have a lot of experience and a whole lot of talent," Biddle said. "Not just with the bat, but also behind the dish."
The feeling is mutual. And so is the goal of turning around Reading's season, as well as the careers of the young stars in the organization.
"There's a lot of guys here that are a lot of fun to work with," Joseph said. "It's just matter of how well we can get along and how fast we can do that ... and give ourselves an opportunity to win some ball games."