Luca Tresh fell far in the 2021 MLB Draft. To the 17th round, in fact. The Kansas City Royals used their savings from drafting Frank Mozzicato early to ink Tresh to a $423,000 signing bonus. The NC State product quickly found his way onto the team’s top 30 rankings. 2021 was a small sample, making 2022 his real first full season of minor league ball. That season, he appeared in 80 games for High-A Quad Cities and showed off an impressive mix of power, patience, and batted-ball ability that’s rare from a catcher.

Season Stats:

2021 (Low-A): .143/.231/.171, 10.3% BB%, 28.2% K%, 21 wRC+

2022 (High-A): .273/.360/.470, 11.8% BB%, 24.5% K%, 130 wRC+

2022 (AA): .253/.358/.462, 12.3% BB%, 23.6% K%, 111 wRC+

2023 (AA): .228/.313/.362, 11.3% BB%, 18.9% K%, 80 wRC+

Tresh made his way to Double-A by the end of 2022. After the promotion his walk rate increased and the strikeout rate dropped at the same time. Despite that early success at the level, it didn’t continue into 2023. Instead, we saw the backstop struggle at the plate, hitting for his worst average since a 10-game sample at Low-A in 2021. That drop in average caused Tresh’s on-base percentage drop despite his still-solid 11.3% walk rate.

If there’s a promising sign from last season, it’s the drop in strikeouts. Tresh did much better at avoiding the strikeouts last season, but it sadly didn’t pay off in better production at the plate. His power output dropped as well — something that had helped to make Tresh such an intriguing prospect prior. He finished 2023 with a .135 ISO, well below the .209 mark we saw from him with the Naturals in 2022. There’s still hope of a bounceback in 2024, and Tresh needs it to maintain a notable prospect status.

Scouting Grades:

Hit: 40/45

Game Power: 40/45

Raw Power: 40/50

Speed: 40/40

Glove: 40/50

Arm: 45/50

Best Case Scenario

Tresh needs to bounce back and rediscover his power ability at the plate. If he can, he’ll be back on a big-league trajectory. There was a time I felt that he could develop into a similar backstop to Derek Norris, but that would require said bounce back. The patience hasn’t gone to the wayside, and if Tresh can get back to being a .250 hitter with above-average power, that’ll be the way he makes his mark and eventually earns a big-league role.

Worst Case Scenario

Unfortunately, Tresh’s defense doesn’t jump off the page, and it’s not going to carry enough value to make him an MLB backup without serious improvement at the plate. He’s been inconsistent behind the plate but has done a good job calling games and working with young arms. The entire projection here relies heavily on the bat, and if that doesn’t continue to develop, it’s tough to see how the future here is anything but organizational depth.