This corner of the interwebs speculated at one point that the Twins were holding the coaching job that eventually went to Bill Evers for Chris Gimenez. Perhaps that was even an option, but -- obviously -- the job went to Evers.
And Gimenez will be on the Dodgers coaching staff, with the title of "game planning coach." That sounds like it might be the kind of job Rocco Baldelli held with Tampa Bay before the Twins made him manager, but the Rays called him "major league field coordinator." Both are titles the Twins haven't put on a coach, now or in the past.
Jeff Pickler, whose coaching job with the Twins involved working with outfielders and assisting with game strategy -- which also sounds a good bit like Gimenez's probable responsibility with the Dodgers -- declined a front office job with the Twins and will be a coach on the Reds staff.
Somebody, I don't remember who, described the Twins job offer to Pickler as a "promotion." I suspect Pickler didn't see it that way. And while I don't know the financial specifics of any of these jobs. as a uniformed coach with the Reds Pickler will continue to accrue service time in the players pension plan, which is probably no minor consideration for a guy who spent eight years playing minor league ball for peanuts.
Showing posts with label Chris Gimenez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Gimenez. Show all posts
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Catching on (and off)
I grumped a while back that I was uninterested in seeing Chris Gimenez behind the plate the rest of the way. I now must swallow my objections, because I now doubt that we'll see Mitch Garver at all these final two weeks.
Garver left Wednesday's game after getting hit in the head by a foul tip. Apparently trying to watch Friday's game from the bench set off concussion symptoms. I'm quite sure that if this weren't the month of expanded roster that Garver would be on one disabled list or another. The practical result is the same: He's not going to catch.
Which creates more opportunity for Willians Astudillo, certainly. but I don't think Paul Molitor is eager to have anybody catch every game for two weeks. Speaking of Astudillo -- he went hitless Monday night but drove in a run with a hit-and-run ground out. One of the plusses of a catcher who is an extreme contact hitter is the ability to avoid double plays by sending runners one knows can't steal.
And then there's this comment on Astudillo behind the plate:
Molitor didn't have Astudillo catch his first time up, which might suggest that the skipper doesn't think much of Astudillo's receiving skills. But he looks pretty good behind the dish to me, and he certainly hasn't been as prone to passed balls/wild pitches as Garver.
Meanwhile, Bobby Wilson -- remember him? -- has yet to appear in a game for the Cubs.
Garver left Wednesday's game after getting hit in the head by a foul tip. Apparently trying to watch Friday's game from the bench set off concussion symptoms. I'm quite sure that if this weren't the month of expanded roster that Garver would be on one disabled list or another. The practical result is the same: He's not going to catch.
Which creates more opportunity for Willians Astudillo, certainly. but I don't think Paul Molitor is eager to have anybody catch every game for two weeks. Speaking of Astudillo -- he went hitless Monday night but drove in a run with a hit-and-run ground out. One of the plusses of a catcher who is an extreme contact hitter is the ability to avoid double plays by sending runners one knows can't steal.
And then there's this comment on Astudillo behind the plate:
Stewart on Astudillo's catching: "Love him. Unbelievable. It seems like just the way he receives the ball, I’m not really shaking (him off). I shook maybe once tonight. Willians just called a good game." #mntwins— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) September 18, 2018
Molitor didn't have Astudillo catch his first time up, which might suggest that the skipper doesn't think much of Astudillo's receiving skills. But he looks pretty good behind the dish to me, and he certainly hasn't been as prone to passed balls/wild pitches as Garver.
Meanwhile, Bobby Wilson -- remember him? -- has yet to appear in a game for the Cubs.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Wilson for Gimenez
I interrupt this blog's series of deep thoughts about the Cedar Rapids Kernels to offer my deep thoughts on the Twins trade Friday of Bobby Wilson for Chris Gimenez.
Here they are: ????
What we have here are a pair of essentially interchangable backup catchers -- both 35, both with reputations as excellent clubhouse presences and receivers, both possessors of medicore batting records.
Wilson, I think, is a slightly better defensive catcher; Gimenez balances the scales by being more versatile and a usable hitter against lefties, although that latter attribute may have deteriorated with the years. He certainly has not hit much this year, either in his brief midsummer sorjorn with the Cubs or at Triple A Iowa.
So why trade them?
My guess: The Cubs prefer Wilson to Gimenez as catching depth for September and the postseason. Not, mind you, that they will necessarily have him active for October -- but as insurance should something happen to starter Wilson Contreras or backup Victor Caritini.
The Twins give Wilson a change at a piece of postseason coin and get a backup catcher available immediately (Wilson is on the disabled list with a sprained ankle and is eligible to return Sept. 4). The trade also involves a player to be named or cash coming to the Twins. Neither figures to amount to much.
This will, of course, be Gimenez' second tenure with the Twins. He's been on the Indians roster three times and Texas twice. It's not often that a player returns to a previous organization, but Gimenez does it repeatedly.
Here they are: ????
What we have here are a pair of essentially interchangable backup catchers -- both 35, both with reputations as excellent clubhouse presences and receivers, both possessors of medicore batting records.
Wilson, I think, is a slightly better defensive catcher; Gimenez balances the scales by being more versatile and a usable hitter against lefties, although that latter attribute may have deteriorated with the years. He certainly has not hit much this year, either in his brief midsummer sorjorn with the Cubs or at Triple A Iowa.
So why trade them?
My guess: The Cubs prefer Wilson to Gimenez as catching depth for September and the postseason. Not, mind you, that they will necessarily have him active for October -- but as insurance should something happen to starter Wilson Contreras or backup Victor Caritini.
The Twins give Wilson a change at a piece of postseason coin and get a backup catcher available immediately (Wilson is on the disabled list with a sprained ankle and is eligible to return Sept. 4). The trade also involves a player to be named or cash coming to the Twins. Neither figures to amount to much.
This will, of course, be Gimenez' second tenure with the Twins. He's been on the Indians roster three times and Texas twice. It's not often that a player returns to a previous organization, but Gimenez does it repeatedly.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Notes, quotes and comment
Remember my (no doubt silly) notion of including catching prospect Mitch Garver in a starting pitcher deal? Much less likely now ...
Source confirms ex-#mntwins catcher Chris Gimenez is signing with #Cubs. I'm told it's a minor-league deal. @ChrisCotillo 1st.— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) January 23, 2018
The Twins have signed some other catchers to minor league deals, but Garver is clearly (and correctly) ticketed for the backup role now. Bringing back Gimenez was almost certainly the preferred fallback.
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Does this imply that the Twins are out on Yu Darvish? I doubt it. The personal connections stuff we've heard about -- Thad Levine in the front office, Gimenez behind the plate -- is nice, but the real reason Darvish is still a free agent some three weeks before pitchers and catchers report is money. Nobody is offering (yet) the years and total he's looking for, and he isn't settling for less (yet).
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#mntwins lose LHP Bully Bouch (aka Buddy Boshers) on waivers to #Astros. Held lefties to .258 OBP last season. https://t.co/q6idVTJ0mS— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) January 22, 2018
And good for Boshers, who gets to remain on a 40-man roster, at least for a few more days.
Berardino noted later that the last two World Series winners have this offseason claimed lefty relievers off the Twins, the other being Randy Rosario by the Cubs. I think the Twins are more likely to regret losing Rosario than Boshers, but that may well be me being fascinated by bright shiny objects.
The Twins have no shortage of lefty relief possibilities without them.
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The Twins have five prospects on Baseball America's Top 100 list, released Monday,. Royce Lewis leads the way at No. 24, and the other four (Brent Rooker, Nick Gordon, Wander Javier and Stephen Gonsalves) are in the 90s.
Of note: The BA overall list includes Gordon, who was No. 8 on the Twins list compiled by Beradino, and not several guys Beradino had higher.
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
More roster moves and a new coach
One day of the Handbook and back to news. The Twins front office, after taking the weekend off, got back to the roster shuffle on Monday, clearing three more spots on the 40-man roster and filling out their coaching staff.
None of these cuts were particularly surprising.
O'Rourke was still listed on the Twins website as of Monday afternoon as being on the 60-day disabled list, but outrighted is outrighted. He's coming off Tommy John surgery, and I think he'll likely stay with the Twins organization.
Gimenez has been through this drill repeatedly.; I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in training camp with the Twins, but personally I'd prefer to see Mitch Garver get the backup catching job.
Turley had a nice season in Rochester, but showed nothing useful in the majors.
Counting the three pitchers remaining on the 60-day DL, the Twins now have 34 players listed on the 40.
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- Pitcher Nik Turley was claimed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Catcher Chris Gimenez and pitcher Ryan O'Rourke were outrighted.
None of these cuts were particularly surprising.
O'Rourke was still listed on the Twins website as of Monday afternoon as being on the 60-day disabled list, but outrighted is outrighted. He's coming off Tommy John surgery, and I think he'll likely stay with the Twins organization.
Gimenez has been through this drill repeatedly.; I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in training camp with the Twins, but personally I'd prefer to see Mitch Garver get the backup catching job.
Turley had a nice season in Rochester, but showed nothing useful in the majors.
Counting the three pitchers remaining on the 60-day DL, the Twins now have 34 players listed on the 40.
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We're excited to welcome our new bench coach, Derek Shelton!— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) November 6, 2017
2018 marks Shelton's 14th season as a coach at the major league level. pic.twitter.com/LFhgpz821g
Shelton was the "quality control coach" for Toronto last year after 11 seasons as hitting coach with Tampa Bay and Cleveland. He's also managed in the minors in the Yankees system. Another guy who's been around a number of sabermetically-oriented organizations.
From this Rhett Bollinger piece on Shelton's hiring, an explaination of what a qaulity control coach is:
"The job description was fairly fluid," Shelton said. "Day to day, there was analytical stuff and advance scouting reports. I helped with hitting because that's my background, but I integrated into defense more than I had at the Major League level. And there was relationships with the Minor League coordinators about developmental roles. The job itself was ever-changing, and I looked at it as growth for me, especially because the bench-coach role was something I was looking to transition into."
Wonder how long it will take me to refer to him in the blog (or the column) as Blake.
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Sad news: Former Twins coach Rick Stelmaszek, one of the true characters in the game, has lost his battle with cancer. He was 69.— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) November 6, 2017
Rest in peace, Stelly. He lasted a long time on the Twins staff -- 32 years under five different managers -- but he was pretty obviously in rough shape last summer.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Passed balls, wild pitches and pitch framing
If you don't have a catcher, you have a lot of passed balls.
The one position at which the 2017 Twins are truly different than in 2016 is catcher. The new front office got rid of all three of 2016's backstops. And with the Twins on the verge of becoming the first team to go from 100-plus losses to the playoffs, I thought it worth looking at the difference.
Last year's backstops were Kurt Suzuki, Juan Centeno and John Ryan Murphy. They caught every inning in 2016.
Jason Castro and Chris Gimenez have done the bulk of the 2017 catching, with Mitch Garver getting a handful of starts behind the plate so far and Eduardo Escobar picking up one inning.
The new front office was explict about seeking to improve "pitch framing" in particular and, presumably, defense in general and was willing to sacrifice some hitting to accomplish that.
Last year I commented, either here or in the Monday print column, with some frequency on the number of passed balls and wild pitches the Twins were giving up. The 2016 Twins allowed 83 wild pitches and nine passed balls: 92 in 1,443 innings, or 0.57 per nine innings. In essence, the Twins last year gave up one (or more) bases every other game.
This year, Gimenez alone has been charged with 10 passed balls. But the wild pitchers have dropped from 83 to 51. and the total (WP plus PB) is down to 66, a rate of 0.42 per nine innings.
What to make of this?
The difference between a passed ball and a wild pitch is artificial, a binary parsing of blame between pitcher and catcher. A pitch is uncaught, a runner (or runners) advance(s), and one individual is blamed by the official scorer for the event. Some wild pitches are truly the pitcher's fault; some come because the catcher failed to block a pitch that was exactly what the pitcher intended to throw (a slider in the dirt with two strikes, for example). Meanwhile, the catcher who leads the league in passed balls is almost always the guy who catches the most knuckleballs. (That's not the case this year.)
This is why I tend to combine WP and BP. I'm interested in the result less than the blame.
That said, the artifical difference in this case may be illuminating. Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press noted when the Twins signed Castro that, while his pitch framing stats were very impressive, his passed balls were relatively high.
What may be going on, particularly for Gimenez: The perfect can become the enemy of the good. In attempting to perfectly receive a marginal pitch -- that is, catching it with a still glove at the edge of the strike zone -- the catcher miscalcuates and misses the pitch entirely. It's a trade off, and presumably the Twins are willing to accept a few more passed balls for more called strikes.
Castro and Gimenez have hit about as well (or poorly) as we should have expected. They have also been what was expected behind the plate as well -- a defensive upgrade from Suzuki and Centero.
Suzuki, who was the Twins' regular catcher for three seasons, re-signed with the Atlanta Braves for 2018 last week. He's had a rather impressive season as a half-time catcher in Atlanta, popping 18 homers in less than 300 plate appearances (he tallied 16 total with the Twins).
And good for him. I doubt the Twins regret the change on their end.
Casey Stengel
The one position at which the 2017 Twins are truly different than in 2016 is catcher. The new front office got rid of all three of 2016's backstops. And with the Twins on the verge of becoming the first team to go from 100-plus losses to the playoffs, I thought it worth looking at the difference.
Last year's backstops were Kurt Suzuki, Juan Centeno and John Ryan Murphy. They caught every inning in 2016.
Jason Castro and Chris Gimenez have done the bulk of the 2017 catching, with Mitch Garver getting a handful of starts behind the plate so far and Eduardo Escobar picking up one inning.
The new front office was explict about seeking to improve "pitch framing" in particular and, presumably, defense in general and was willing to sacrifice some hitting to accomplish that.
Last year I commented, either here or in the Monday print column, with some frequency on the number of passed balls and wild pitches the Twins were giving up. The 2016 Twins allowed 83 wild pitches and nine passed balls: 92 in 1,443 innings, or 0.57 per nine innings. In essence, the Twins last year gave up one (or more) bases every other game.
This year, Gimenez alone has been charged with 10 passed balls. But the wild pitchers have dropped from 83 to 51. and the total (WP plus PB) is down to 66, a rate of 0.42 per nine innings.
What to make of this?
The difference between a passed ball and a wild pitch is artificial, a binary parsing of blame between pitcher and catcher. A pitch is uncaught, a runner (or runners) advance(s), and one individual is blamed by the official scorer for the event. Some wild pitches are truly the pitcher's fault; some come because the catcher failed to block a pitch that was exactly what the pitcher intended to throw (a slider in the dirt with two strikes, for example). Meanwhile, the catcher who leads the league in passed balls is almost always the guy who catches the most knuckleballs. (That's not the case this year.)
This is why I tend to combine WP and BP. I'm interested in the result less than the blame.
That said, the artifical difference in this case may be illuminating. Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press noted when the Twins signed Castro that, while his pitch framing stats were very impressive, his passed balls were relatively high.
What may be going on, particularly for Gimenez: The perfect can become the enemy of the good. In attempting to perfectly receive a marginal pitch -- that is, catching it with a still glove at the edge of the strike zone -- the catcher miscalcuates and misses the pitch entirely. It's a trade off, and presumably the Twins are willing to accept a few more passed balls for more called strikes.
Castro and Gimenez have hit about as well (or poorly) as we should have expected. They have also been what was expected behind the plate as well -- a defensive upgrade from Suzuki and Centero.
Suzuki, who was the Twins' regular catcher for three seasons, re-signed with the Atlanta Braves for 2018 last week. He's had a rather impressive season as a half-time catcher in Atlanta, popping 18 homers in less than 300 plate appearances (he tallied 16 total with the Twins).
And good for him. I doubt the Twins regret the change on their end.
Friday, June 23, 2017
Chris Gimenez, Nik Turley and more pitching moves
Thurday's rain delay was apparently the longest in Twins history -- five hours -- and it sure didn't take long for the Twins to suspect that they should have just postponed it.
It was still the first inning when I sent this tweet:
And sure enough, the Twins backup catcher pitched the ninth inning, his sixth pitching appearance of the season.
There was a lot of chatter leading up to the draft about two-way players, and the question arises: At what point to we consider Gimenez a two-way player? My answer is: When his pitching is not limited to the ninth inning of blowout losses.
That said, Gimenez has now pitched five innings with a 7.20 ERA this season. The Twins have used 25 pitchers (and counting; two new names, Dillon Gee and Trevor Hildenberger, are being called up). Six of them have worse ERAs than Gimenez and eight have fewer appearances.
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Nik Turley is one of the six and of the eight (ERA 16.39 in three games, all starts, total of 9.1 innings). The Twins merely optioned him out rather than designating him for assignment Thursday, but the Twins need to make space on the 40-man roster today for both Gee and Hildenberger, and DFAing Turley is an obvious possibility.
I feel for the guy. He was a 50th round draft pick, spent a decade in minors, finally gets to the show and gets three starts, every one of which goes poorly, every one worse than the one preceeding it.
Indeed, he may be the least effective pitcher in Twins history, although I'm not sure how to weigh ERA vs. opportunity. For example: Randy Rosario has an ERA of 30.86, but Turley has seven more innings and two decisions.
Having written that, I looked up Steve Carlton's Twins record. The no-doubt-about-it Hall of Famer pitched 53.2 innings for the Twins at the end of his marvelous career with an 8.54 ERA, going 1-6 in 1987-88. Andy MacPhail and Tom Kelly gave him a lot of rope.
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As for the new guys: Gee was signed to a minor league deal earlier this week, and presumably he's going to take Turley's rotation berth, although I wouldn't care to wager that he's ready to go deep into his first start. As I said when he signed, I don't expect much.
Hildenberger is a sidearming right-handed reliever who has shot up the minor league system, posting some ridiculous ERAs in the process. Last season he had a combined 0.75 at two levels (high A and Double A). That is not a typo: Zero point seven five. This year's ERA is a more normal 2.05 with 35 strikeouts in 30.1 innings at Triple A. That K-rate is roughly what he's posted consistently.
No velocity; if he threw hard he would have been up earlier. I don't know how his style is going to fare in the majors and particularly against lefties, but
He calls to mind Anthony Slama. another funky righty who never got a real chance with the Twins despite some overwhelming minor league numbers. Slama had some bad timing with injuries, but at the core of his lack of opportunites was a belief that his minor league success was based on minor league hitters chasing pitches out of the strike zone. Slama always walked more guys than Hildenberger has, though.
It was still the first inning when I sent this tweet:
It's early, but I think Chris Gimenez is likely to pitch in this one— Edward Thoma (@bboutsider) June 22, 2017
And sure enough, the Twins backup catcher pitched the ninth inning, his sixth pitching appearance of the season.
There was a lot of chatter leading up to the draft about two-way players, and the question arises: At what point to we consider Gimenez a two-way player? My answer is: When his pitching is not limited to the ninth inning of blowout losses.
That said, Gimenez has now pitched five innings with a 7.20 ERA this season. The Twins have used 25 pitchers (and counting; two new names, Dillon Gee and Trevor Hildenberger, are being called up). Six of them have worse ERAs than Gimenez and eight have fewer appearances.
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Nik Turley is one of the six and of the eight (ERA 16.39 in three games, all starts, total of 9.1 innings). The Twins merely optioned him out rather than designating him for assignment Thursday, but the Twins need to make space on the 40-man roster today for both Gee and Hildenberger, and DFAing Turley is an obvious possibility.
I feel for the guy. He was a 50th round draft pick, spent a decade in minors, finally gets to the show and gets three starts, every one of which goes poorly, every one worse than the one preceeding it.
Indeed, he may be the least effective pitcher in Twins history, although I'm not sure how to weigh ERA vs. opportunity. For example: Randy Rosario has an ERA of 30.86, but Turley has seven more innings and two decisions.
Having written that, I looked up Steve Carlton's Twins record. The no-doubt-about-it Hall of Famer pitched 53.2 innings for the Twins at the end of his marvelous career with an 8.54 ERA, going 1-6 in 1987-88. Andy MacPhail and Tom Kelly gave him a lot of rope.
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As for the new guys: Gee was signed to a minor league deal earlier this week, and presumably he's going to take Turley's rotation berth, although I wouldn't care to wager that he's ready to go deep into his first start. As I said when he signed, I don't expect much.
Hildenberger is a sidearming right-handed reliever who has shot up the minor league system, posting some ridiculous ERAs in the process. Last season he had a combined 0.75 at two levels (high A and Double A). That is not a typo: Zero point seven five. This year's ERA is a more normal 2.05 with 35 strikeouts in 30.1 innings at Triple A. That K-rate is roughly what he's posted consistently.
No velocity; if he threw hard he would have been up earlier. I don't know how his style is going to fare in the majors and particularly against lefties, but
- he's been getting outs in the minors and
- the Twins are in no position to ignore that.
He calls to mind Anthony Slama. another funky righty who never got a real chance with the Twins despite some overwhelming minor league numbers. Slama had some bad timing with injuries, but at the core of his lack of opportunites was a belief that his minor league success was based on minor league hitters chasing pitches out of the strike zone. Slama always walked more guys than Hildenberger has, though.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Adding a catching contender
I said here a few days ago that the Twins would bring in at least one more non-roster invitee catcher, basing that on the slim number of receivers scheduled to be in training camps (five). The guy they signed Thursday is a bit more than another body.
Gimenez is a catcher, not a hitter -- 34 years old, eight years with MLB time, a career high of 155 plate appearances last season, and a lifetime .632 OPS. He has never spent more than two years with the same team. but he's had three different stints with Cleveland (Derek Falvey) and two with Texas (Thad Levine). Last year he was with Cleveland, splitting the catching chores with Roberto Perez after Yan Gomes' injury and serving as the No. 2 catcher in the first round of the playoffs.
It's his links to Falvey and Levine that make me suspect that, even though Gimenez is not on the 40 and John Ryan Murphy and Mitch Garver are, that Gimenez may be the favorite now for the No. 2 role. He's right-handed, which fits the concept of a platoon with the left-handed hitting Jason Castro, and his career splits suggest that he may even be a competent hitter against lefties (.750 OPS, albeit it less than 250 at-bats).
My belief is that Garver and Murphy offer more ability at the plate than Gimenez. But that's not necessarily what Falvey and Levine are looking for in a backup catcher, and neither has proven it yet anyway.
The Twins signed catcher Chris Gimenez to a Minor League deal with an invitation to Major League camp— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) January 12, 2017
Gimenez is a catcher, not a hitter -- 34 years old, eight years with MLB time, a career high of 155 plate appearances last season, and a lifetime .632 OPS. He has never spent more than two years with the same team. but he's had three different stints with Cleveland (Derek Falvey) and two with Texas (Thad Levine). Last year he was with Cleveland, splitting the catching chores with Roberto Perez after Yan Gomes' injury and serving as the No. 2 catcher in the first round of the playoffs.
It's his links to Falvey and Levine that make me suspect that, even though Gimenez is not on the 40 and John Ryan Murphy and Mitch Garver are, that Gimenez may be the favorite now for the No. 2 role. He's right-handed, which fits the concept of a platoon with the left-handed hitting Jason Castro, and his career splits suggest that he may even be a competent hitter against lefties (.750 OPS, albeit it less than 250 at-bats).
My belief is that Garver and Murphy offer more ability at the plate than Gimenez. But that's not necessarily what Falvey and Levine are looking for in a backup catcher, and neither has proven it yet anyway.
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