#OnDeck: Behind Ruiz, Phillies lack depth behind the plate

With exactly two weeks until the Phillies hold their first workout in Clearwater, the roster for Year 1 of the team's rebuild is coming into clearer focus.

And as spring training nears, the Phillies remain paper thin at several positions needed to field a baseball team.

One is shortstop, a position at which non-roster spring training invitee Andres Blanco is the closest thing the Phillies have to a back-up for the unproven Freddy Galvis.

The other is catcher, where the depth chart runs about as deep as Carlos Ruiz.

"We're short there," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. admitted recently when asked about the catching situation.

If the regular season started today, Cameron Rupp would be the Phillies' No. 2 catcher. The only other catcher on the 40-man roster is Tommy Joseph, who after two seasons lost to injury might once again start the year in double A, the same level at which he played when he came to the organization in the July 2012 Hunter Pence trade.

Ruiz, 36 and entering his 10th major league season, has two years at $8.5 million each remaining on the three-year deal he signed before last season. Closer to the July 31 trade deadline, he could prove a valuable piece to a contending team seeking an upgrade at catcher. But who would catch in his place?

The Phillies want to give younger players the chance to play but lack options behind the plate who could do so if Ruiz is dealt during the season. Aside from Rupp and Joseph, other catchers in camp will be non-roster invitees Koyie Hill, a 35-year-old journeyman, John Hester, a 31-year-old with one big-league at-bat since 2012, and 24-year-old Rene Garcia, who last season hit .244 with the Houston Astros' triple A club.

Last year's back-up catcher, Wil Nieves, signed a minor league deal earlier this week with the San Diego Padres. Other comparable options like Gerald Laird and John Buck have come off the board in recent weeks with similar deals.

"We'd be in trouble if Chooch goes down, so we have to continue to keep an eye on that," Amaro said two weeks ago when speaking before the Lehigh Valley IronPigs banquet in Bethlehem. "We've had some dialogue with some clubs about possible trades to add depth there, too. We'll see. I think that may be something that gets more resolved in spring training than anything else."

This is a pivotal season for the 23-year-old Joseph, a touted prospect when the Phillies acquired him from the San Francisco Giants. He has been cleared of his concussion issues, according to Amaro, but may enter spring training a bit behind because of his wrist injury. He took his first batting practice since his August surgery just a couple weeks ago at the Phillies' complex in Clearwater.

The Phillies need to find out if he can play. While shortstop is also thin, they have a clear answer coming through the farm system in top prospect J.P. Crawford. Behind Joseph, the organization's top catching prospects are 18-year-old Deivi Grullon, who has just 10 at-bats above single A Lakewood, and 23-year-old switch-hitter Andrew Knapp, who struggled in 23 games at high A Clearwater.

This season will be used to discern which players could help make up the Phillies' future core. Finding Ruiz's eventual heir behind the plate is one of the many questions in need of an answer.