Chance Sisco talks defense, his 2017 season and arrival in MLB

So for the Orioles, it seems the kids are all right. Catcher Chance Sisco has batted five times in the majors with a double, homer and two walks earning a nice .667 average and .800 OBP. Over his last two games in New York, outfielder Austin Hays went 4-for-7 with a homer and three RBIs. Sisco and Hays are both 22.

For both, the future may be now. They are getting the opportunity to show what they can do and to also show that they might help this team next year, and maybe as soon as opening day 2018.

As he played a full season this year at Triple-A Norfolk, Sisco realized a September callup could be at hand for him. Then Sept. 1 he got his first call to the majors after 454 games on the farm since he was drafted in round two (No. 61 overall) in 2013.

"I knew it was possible," he said during an interview last week in Toronto. "Just came into spring and tried to have a good camp and learn as much as possible. I mean, Rule 5 year (he had to be protected this December), so anything is possible at that time of your career. I had no expectations, but that was my goal - to get here. I'm here now so just having fun and learning."

Sisco has been at major league spring training the last two years. He had a long stay at big league camp before this year began and that is helping him now.

"It was nice to see familiar faces and some guys I started to build a relationship with in spring training. So it was good to get back here around these guys again. It has been smooth to transition into this clubhouse. Been fun," he said.

Sisco got into two games on defense only and then on Sept. 8 at Cleveland he got his first at-bat. He struck out as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. But Thursday at New York he lined a pinch-hit double to right off Masahiro Tanaka in the seventh. Two innings later he homered off Giovanny Gallegos. He got into Saturday's game in the eighth inning and walked in each of the last two innings.

Before these last two appearances, he had spent most of his time doing more watching and less playing.

Still, there are things to be gained and experiences to be had.

"Just learning from the guys," Sisco said. "Learning their routines. Watching video. Being around them in the video room and the advance meetings. Honestly, just being a sponge. Super cliché but it definitely helps being around everyone in the clubhouse and in the dugout during the games."

The Sisco kid always seemed to hit for a high batting average in the pro ranks but with modest power. He did his a career-high seven homers this year. When he began his pro career at the rookie level Gulf Coast League he hit .371. A year later he won the South Atlantic League batting title at age 19 with Single-A Delmarva, hitting .340 in 2014. He ended the 2015 season playing for Double-A Bowie's Eastern League championship team and he hit .319 for the Baysox in 2016. Heading into this season, his career minor league slash line was .323/.402/.434.

Those numbers led to his ascension up the ladder in prospect rankings. No. 10 after the O's list at one time, he rose to fourth, then third and then No. 1 at the end of 2016. He also cracked the Baseball America national top 100, ranked No. 57 over the winter before this season began.

But then he played for Norfolk this year at tough to hit in Harbor Park. For the first time in his life he was not batting at least .300. He was hitting .239 in late May. But there were lessons learned with that as well.

"The first month, month and a half it was a struggle a bit," Sisco said. "But it was also a learning process. Looking back on it, I can learn from that month, month and half. Now I have something to fall back on when I feel like I did at those times. Find a way to turn it around quicker. In a way, it was good. After that, I felt like myself. Yeah, Norfolk is a tough place to hit, but all we are trying to do is put the barrel on the ball anyway."

He would soon do just that, batting .321 in June and .317 in July. In 97 games with the Tides on the season, Sisco batted .267/.340/.395 with 23 doubles, seven home runs, 47 runs, 47 RBIs and 32 walks.

At one time some scouts felt Sisco would never be good enough on defense to catch in the majors. But he has worked very hard to improve and to shed such labels. He has done that. Working with O's coach and major league catching instructor John Russell was big in the spring.

"Huge. Last two spring trainings and now. He's been tremendous. I don't know where I would be catching-wise without the help of him, (minor league catching instructor) Donnie Werner, Caleb Joseph. Even Welly (Welington Castillo) this year and Matt Wieters last year. They have been a tremendous help to me. They are very open to me asking any questions I have to ask and they give me feedback on what they see as well."

Sisco's arm strength has seemed to always grade a tick below average. He threw out 22.6 percent this year for Norfolk, but his percentage went up considerably and he made nice strides in the second-half. Sisco threw out 36.8 percent then. Like Joseph and Wieters in recent years, Sisco has worked hard on specific areas to improve his overall ability to get base stealers.

"That has been one of the main things, to quicken my release and my footwork and making a good throw. This last spring especially that was our main focus - quickening my feet. Making a faster release.

"We are constantly working on it. There are times in the year, just like with hitting, you can get in a slump and you can behind the plate too. So, it is about having something to fall back on and knowing what you are trying to do in certain situations. It is a constant work in progress and has been going pretty well."

I asked Sisco what specific area of his defense made the biggest strides this year?

"Working with the pitching staff and throwing," he said. "I think the second half of the season I threw out quite a good number of runners. I don't know the percent that it was, but when I look back on it, I feel very good about that. I think I just kept working, going with the process and something clicked that helped me with throwing. That helped my confidence. One of the main things is being confident behind the plate and I gained that in the second half at Norfolk and built on that."

Getting a taste of the big leagues tends to make one want to stick around. Sisco is no different. He looks back on a solid 2017 season, one that got him here for the first time. And he looks ahead to next year when he might get a bigger shot.

"Yeah, that (possibility) is very exciting. I want to be here. I want to be a starting catcher in the big leagues. That is the main goal and just working towards that. Using the stuff that I have learned to implement it in the game and we'll see what happens."