After shining at 4 levels, catching prospect Bodine joins Rays' taxi squad

ST. PETERSBURG -- This year has already been crazy enough for Rays catching prospect Caden Bodine.

Drafted by the Orioles with the 30th overall pick last year, the switch-hitting catcher was traded to the Rays in December and started his first full professional season with Single-A Charleston. Then came a promotion to High-A Bowling Green. Then another to Double-A Montgomery. Then one more to Triple-A Durham.

Finally, as the Rays prepared for their final regular-season home series against the Red Sox, Bodine -- the Rays’ No. 3 prospect and No. 50 overall -- was summoned to Tropicana Field to be around Tampa Bay’s American League-leading squad all weekend.

“It's been awesome. A lot of information so far, but super excited to be here, and seeing these guys in person definitely is a little bit cooler than on TV,” Bodine said in the Rays’ dugout Friday afternoon. “Honestly, still kind of taking it all in and digesting it. It's been really fun this year.”

Bodine is not on the big league roster, to be clear. He was added to the taxi squad. But he will be here, getting an early glimpse at the life of a Major League catcher and getting prepared -- just in case.

The Rays already have their catchers in Liam Hicks and Nick Fortes. Hicks has been a huge addition on both sides of the ball since the Trade Deadline, and Fortes is a perfect complement as a right-handed hitter and strong defender. But manager Kevin Cash said the club has involved the Triple-A catchers -- specifically Bodine and Kenny Piper -- in recent advance meetings and conversations so they’re up to speed if needed the rest of the way.

“We're really happy with how our catching looks right now, but we're trying to do right and be smart and make sure we cover ourselves in case an injury comes up and get these guys familiar,” Cash said.

Piper had more direct experience, of course, having played with the team for several weeks. He was optioned to Triple-A on Tuesday but spent the last series at the Trop as part of the taxi squad, taking part in meetings, catching pregame bullpen sessions and catching warmup pitches between innings.

Bodine will do much of the same this weekend. He took batting practice -- in the same group as Junior Caminero, he noted -- before Friday night’s series opener against the Red Sox. He was in the pregame meeting with starter Ian Seymour, Fortes and others. And he caught a between-starts bullpen session for starter Griffin Jax, the highlight of his first day in a big league clubhouse.

“Saw him in Spring Training a couple times and see him on TV, and you're just casually catching his bullpen before the game,” Bodine said. “So that was pretty cool.”

Bodine said he will only be with the team through the weekend, then the Rays will hit the road for a trip to New York and Philadelphia. He’ll collect some hardware while he’s here, as the Rays are set to hand out some previously announced Minor League awards before Sunday’s series finale.

Bodine and outfielder Theo Gillen were named co-winners of the Rays’ Minor League Player of the Year honor. Gillen, the club’s No. 2 prospect and No. 12 overall, put up dominant numbers for Bowling Green and Montgomery. And Bodine made a rare ascent, playing for all four of the team’s full-season affiliates throughout the course of the year.

“Talking to him, he talked about the different jumps that he went through, and as challenging as they may have been, you couldn't really tell because he was getting so many good results,” Cash said. “I mean, that’s a heck of a season.”

Bodine slashed a combined .342/.410/.517 with 17 homers, 99 RBIs and more walks (52) than strikeouts (34) in 117 games this season. And he did all that while learning four different pitching staffs and earning rave reviews from club officials for his work behind the plate.

“Definitely sneakily one of the harder parts of it, just because in Spring Training you only catch a couple of guys here and there,” Bodine said. “I was stationed with the [Bowling Green] and Charleston pitchers, and then to get up to Montgomery and Triple-A -- it's always an adjustment, for sure.”

But making adjustments seems to come easy for Bodine, whether he’s at the plate or behind the dish or driving his truck from one affiliate to another.

Can Bodine even properly appreciate what he has accomplished in his first season with the Rays?

“It's definitely interesting,” Bodine said. “I've been told that a couple times, and I'm just trying to play my game and have quality at-bats and just kind of embrace every level and make pitchers better and just be a good teammate.”