Max George, Rockies prospect, in 1st MLB camp after switch to catcher

In 2014, Max George was one of Colorado’s preeminent prep stars, and the Rockies recognized his talent as a sweet-swinging middle infielder by drafting him in the sixth round out of Regis Jesuit.

Nearly seven years later, George earned his first invite to big-league camp as a non-roster player.

Though he’s taken a long minor-league road, the 24-year-old now has a path ahead to the majors. That’s in part thanks to his position switch, as George moved from infield (primarily second base) to catcher at the end of spring training last year.

That meant hitting reset on his career, but also getting a fresh chance after five years in the system in which he never played beyond Class-A Advanced.

“Obviously extended spring training is not where you want to be (at 23), but in my situation last year, I understood that I had to start over a little bit, specifically with catching, which is one of the most demanding and hardest positions on the field,” George said. “I took the opportunity and ran with it. Four, five years after I was first there, I embraced being a leader back in (rookie league Grand) Junction and (Class-A) Asheville, and I had fun with it.”

It was in Asheville where George encountered his first roadblock after tearing up Grand Junction with a .301/.433/.463 slash line in his first year as a pro. He hit just .158 with 39 strikeouts in 36 games for the Tourists in 2015, adversity George called “a big blessing” in his assimilation to professional baseball out of high school.

“That was really the first time I’ve ever struggled in baseball in my whole life,” George said. “To experience that, and figure out how to deal with adversity, was big in my career and my development. As I go forward, I know there will be more hiccups. But I’ll be ready to deal with that adversity and I’ll be ready to figure out how to make an 0-for-20 streak into an 0-for-8 instead, by shortening those slumps.”

George needs to improve as a hitter in order to build off his first MLB spring training and have a chance to be a big leaguer.

Projected to begin the season in Double-A Hartford, the career .238 minor-league hitter hasn’t played an actual game since 2019 after the 2020 MiLB season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. But he’s spent the last year honing his offensive approach in the cage, especially his timing on fastballs, in addition to working on adjusting to catching.

“As a catcher, I’m transforming my body in a different way than if I was as a second baseman or shortstop,” George said. “My flexibility has gotten a lot better, and so has my mobility in my hips. This (offseason) I was able to catch (Mets pitcher) David Peterson and (Rockies prospect) Reagan Todd, and (Kyle) Freeland a little bit, to work on my receiving and my framing. Those three guys have helped a lot to help me transition to catcher.”

Rockies manager Bud Black said there’s been “no complaining” by George after being tasked with a difficult position switch and not having a venue to put that switch into action. George was not one of Colorado’s prospects selected to train at the club’s satellite site in Albuquerque during the condensed 2020 major league season.

“There’s obviously a lot of technical subtleties to the position, especially at the highest level, but he’s handled it with a great desire to get better,” Black said. “I love that about Max… he’s learning and he’s getting better, and he’s doing it with a smile, yet a look of determination on his face.”

Watching from afar, Regis Jesuit coach Matt Darr, who coached George as a senior, believes this spring training is the start of the catcher’s “big break.”

That’s not to say there’s still not a lot of internal competition to overcome.

Beyond George, Chris Rabago, Brian Serven, Willie MacIver and Jose Briceno are the other non-roster catchers in camp, while Elias Diaz (probable opening day starter) and Dom Nunez (spent 2019 in the satellite camp) are on the 40-man roster. Rabago’s played as high as Triple-A, and Serven as high as Double-A, while former Rockies farmhand Briceno saw time with the Angels in 2018 and 2020.

“(Catching) seems like a really good opportunity for Max, and this kind of mirrors a little bit what happened with Tony Wolters,” Darr said. “They moved him from a middle infield spot to catcher, because those guys typically have really good hands and are really athletic, have decent speed. If you can get that out of the catcher’s spot, and he can hit, that’s what clubs are looking for.

“Sometimes you’ve got to plow through adversity (as a young pro), and keep grinding, and then you get your break. Once you get your break, you get your confidence. Hopefully he starts hitting more and it all comes together for him, because the path to the majors is now ahead of him.”

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