Getting to Know Astros 3B/1B/C/DH Colton Shaver

3B/1B/C/DH Colton Shaver has been wearing a lot of hats this season as the Astros work diligently to keep his bat in the lineup. He has played mostly third base and first base so far in his pro career, but he has started to catch this season as well. As Fayetteville Manager Nate Shaver puts it, "Putting Shaver behind the dish is another option to get him to the big leagues. If he can hit .280 with (power), be a good catcher and be able to hit like that, he's got a really good shot to get there. He enjoys it. When he first had a meeting with Pete (Putila) in Player Development, he was all for it. 'I can do this. I want to do it.' And he enjoys it. He builds a good rapport with the pitchers and the pitchers like to pitch to him, calls a good game. So just being able to get him those reps in High A at a high level, it's good for him to catch every third day and be able to do that. It's really good for his development. He's earned the respect of his teammates back there. They trust him. He's not just thrown back there as just an experiment. That's what he's going to be able to do. Having that flexibility with him ... he can play both corners, he can DH, he can catch. It's really good for him."

Colton Shaver - June 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Shaver was promoted to AA Corpus Christi just a couple of days after I spoke with him earlier this month and has not caught a game yet at the higher level, but he has shown that he has the flexibility to play multiple positions which will serve him well moving forward. But it was his bat that earned him the promotion. Shaver has always exhibited plus power, but this season his elevated batting average and on-base percentage reflected his increased focus on making better swing decisions. In his 58 games with Fayetteville, Shaver hit .270/.365/.464/.829 with six home runs, 33 RBI and a Carolina League-leading 23 doubles. He got off to a little bit of a slow start at the higher level, but collected two home runs in his last game prior to the Texas League All-Star break.

Shaver was on my short list of players I wanted to interview during my time in Fayetteville not only because of the excellent start to his season, but also because having met him briefly in Quad Cities in 2018, I was struck by a personality and a physique that were both somewhat oversized. His physique may be a bit trimmer since losing 25 to 30 pounds, but his personality remains undiminished.

Shaver could ultimately prove to be one heck of a deal for the Astros as a 39th round pick signed out of Brigham Young University in 2017. Shaver signed as a junior and didn't seriously consider going back for his senior year in search of a higher slot because as he put it, "Not too many guys go out of BYU. I just wanted the opportunity and I got it, so I jumped on it."

When asked about his early success, Shaver said, "I feel like I'm just taking each day as a new day. I'm just trying to develop my abilities and be the best that I can be defensively, catcher, first, third. At the plate, I'm trying to hit it, put barrel on a good pitch. That's what Barnes (Astros Hitting Coordinator Jeremy Barnes) has been talking about this year with the hitting ... find a good pitch in the heart of the plate and try to hit it hard. That's what I've been focusing on this year, swing decisions and making sure I don't miss."

In order to keep the momentum going, Shaver is working on a couple of areas, "One big thing is trusting myself defensively. (I've been) playing a lot of new positions. All I did in college was DH so now that I get every day playing defense, I'm still developing that first instinctual trust in myself. I make the right decision, but then I second guess it. So I think that the big next step for me is just making the right decision and then going with it and just letting my body take over from there. And also, just at the plate, just getting more at bats, seeing better pitching, seeing better pitches and just learning how to make the in-game adjustments that are necessary to be successful."

I always like to ask players what a scout might say about them. "I think a big thing a scout would say is I have power. I have a pretty good eye at the plate. I'm still learning my swing. I'm still learning how to be as effective as I can at the plate, but I have a pretty good idea of the plan I want to have and the approach of each at bat. I know a big knock would be my speed. It's one thing I work on every day, my body and my speed and trying to get faster. That will always be a knock on me but I'll work hard and get that fixed to the best of my ability," said Shaver. But there is an intangible quality that a scout might notice in Shaver, one he sees in all his teammates, "I feel like all these guys have the same thing, the one thing that won't show up in the stat line is our work ethic. Each and every one of the guys out here will come out and we bust our tails to be the best that we can be. We don't take any days off. We do everything we can to get better each and every day."

When asked about spending time behind the dish, Shaver told me, "Catching's been fun. That's what I did all growing up until college. I was recruited as catcher but then I just DH'd. Catching isn't easy at this level because it's pro ball, nothing's easy. But it's an easy transition for me to go back to just because I've done it before."

I feel certain that Shaver will enjoy his new digs in Corpus Christi, but he is definitely a fan of Fayetteville and Segra Stadium. "It's a wonderful stadium. They did a good job with it. We get awesome fans. The community, they treat us really really well. I also like that it's a U.S. Army base which is cool because there's a lot of men who sacrifice their lives for us. They come out and have a good old time. We see them out in the city. It's just a whole different environment than what I'm used to and I really like it."

Shaver is different from a lot of the players I talk with. There is an earnestness in what he says, whether talking about the military community in Fayetteville, his closeness to family who he characterizes as "super supportive," or his obvious pride in his sister who plays softball and his brother, a "stellar baseball player" who will be headed to the University of Arizona next year. Even talking about how he and his roommates try to get out and take advantage of the community and experience life rather than sitting around the apartment on their rare off days paints a picture of someone with a positive, upbeat outlook on life, someone who appreciates life's simple pleasures, someone who lacks the cynicism that seems to run rampant these days. Put simply, Shaver is a breath of fresh air.

Thank you for your time, Colton, and best of luck as your season continues to unfold.