Lookout Landing’s 2025 Prospect Ratings: #19 Josh Caron

Welcome back prospectors! Today we’ll dive in to one of the most recent farm hands to join the system and an instrumental part of the Nuts’ championship run, Josh Caron.

One of only two catchers inside of our top twenty, Caron provides some much needed depth for a system that’s been largely void of backstop talent for the past several seasons. It’s unlikely Caron ends up garnering as much prospect acclaim as fellow catcher and top prospect Harry Ford, however Caron possesses several exciting tools that have us bullish on his future outlook with Seattle.

Caron’s standout trait is his power from the right side. Caron posted excellent exit velocities in his final year at Nebraska that allowed his power to play to all fields. During his torrid Big Ten tournament run, Caron was able to slug six homers in six games, including a two homer game that saw both fly over 430 feet into a headwind. It’s a compact, athletic swing that’s capable of producing uncommon pop for the catcher position and has many evaluators excited for what’s to come for Caron as a run producer.

The rest of Caron’s offensive profile features an aggressive approach at the plate that sees him put the ball in play with great frequency. He’s typically not big on taking walks, but he really doesn’t have much problem with strikeouts either. Some have suggested “toning things down” at the dish to increase the walk totals and get better pitches to damage, but the innate bat-to-ball skills seem to be plenty good enough to allow his power to play in-game. His quiet set up and controlled swing leaves his barrel in the zone for a considerable amount of time and lends me to believe the potential for fringe league average hit tool isn’t out of the question. It’s far from a certainty, but the offensive floor of “backup catcher” is so low, it feels like Caron’s got a decent shot at putting it together and being a potential big leaguer.

Behind the dish, Caron has athletic actions and an excellent arm, but is a bit raw as a receiver and can lag behind as a blocker from time to time. The natural athleticism and frame have most people confident he’ll stick behind the plate long term, but it’s the part of his game that needs the most development. He’s been putting in the work over the offseason, working on his framing skills with University of Nebraska – Omaha coach Tyler Goodro, and already looks more comfortable in his operations. With his ability to control the run game present, if Caron is able to progress his framing ability and become league average defensively, Seattle found an exceptionally interesting player at a position of organizational need.

The most likely outcome for Caron’s professional career is as a backup catcher that acts as organizational depth up the middle, but there’s plenty of reason to believe he could grow into a larger role and climb the prospect ladder over the course of his first full season. At just 21 years old, Caron is relatively young for a collegiate draftee and has more development runway than most in his position (though I do find it funny he is only six months younger than Harry Ford, a member of the Seattle Mariners organization since 2021). Caron is one of names to bookmark if you’re a prospect enthusiast; he’s unlikely to garner much national acclaim, but he could easily play his way into organizational relevance by midseason.

Join us on Thursday for our next prospect writeup! Thanks as always for reading and Go M’s!