I hope the Twins keep him and let him play.

I always enjoy seeing the unheralded players make their way and be successful.  Brian Harper is one of my all time favorites as he also transformed himself from a power hitter to a Joe Mauer type of hitter without the walks.  

other examples include Shane Mack, Jeff Reboulet, Junior Ortiz had a nice breakout season with the Twins.  I doubt Nick Punto has the career he had without being on the Twins, Carl Willis had a nice 4 or 5 year run, Juan Berenger, Matt Guerrier, Brandon Kintzler, Johan Santana wasnt supposed to be an ace either or he wouldn't be had in the rule 5.

Nice write up Thrylos.

If nothing else, La Tortuga is one of those players who makes the game "fun" to watch and he's easy to root for.   Besides that though, I hope the Twins keep him around as he (IMHO) actually brings value to the team.   He's just that type of player that every team needs to have at least one of on its roster.

Viva La Tortuga!!

Huzzah!

It's nice to have a player who actually goes to the plate looking to hit the ball instead of work the count.

Why would the Twins need him when there is a plethora of 35+ year old back up catchers hitting a career .202 available.  

Nice comparison. If Astudillo becomes Harper II then the Twins are in the middle of some good things.

He has so much value as a catcher. We need to trade Castro. He is horrid. Please. 

He has so much value as a catcher. We need to trade Castro. He is horrid. Please.

And they've already got Grossman to complain about taking called third strikes.

Love the love, and the write-up. Not ready to declare him the next Harper at this point, mostly because I have a lot of faith in Garver.

Astudillo's biggest problem is he doesn't "fit" what teams expect or are looking for. And I say this with respect and love for the guy. He's not seen as a defensive whiz. He's not a power hitter, Though he flashed more power in 2018 than before at 26yo, nor is he an OB machine. I think the Twins got lucky because they found a nice "ballplayer" who other teams let go because they just didn't know what they had.

While his SSS with the Twins is unsustainable, the guy flat out makes contact and hits. I don't care who you are, you don't hit .300+ your entire milb career if you can't plain old hit. And it appears there is now some budding power as well.

I watched him in several games and he was solid and quiet behind the plate. I watched him play a solid 3B as well. I never got to see him at 1B/2B/OF but supposedly he's at least acceptable there.

The ONLY reason this guy isn't on the roster for 2019 is Castro has made a full recovery and is ready to partner with Garver AND the Twins have made enough of a roster-wide depth upgrade where he is squeezed to Rochester to begin the season.

Good Analogy. Brian Harper is one of my favorite Twins of all time. He should be in the team Hall of Fame. (along with Shane Mack)

Why would the Twins need him when there is a plethora of 35+ year old back up catchers hitting a career .202 available.

There isn’t anywhere near a plethora of good defensive catchers. If there were, guys like Wilson and Butera would have very short major league careers around their peak and then be replaced by the next very good defensive catcher around age 27.

The reason those guys can stick around until age 35 is because it is really hard to find a good defensive catcher and nowhere near a plethora.

I don’t think he was ever a poor defensive catcher. He showed a good bat with the Angels but he also had solid veteran catchers blocking him in Brian Downing, Ed Ott, Bob Boone and Tony Pena. The Angels also called him up at 19 so they had to make a decision on him and moved him off catcher. He was still blocked when traded to the Pirates by Pena and Junior Ortiz. That his defense at a young age didn’t compare to those veterans shouldn’t have given him the label of poor defensive catcher. He also was brought up to the majors so early he never really had time to develop before teams needed to make 25 and 40 man roster decisions on him. After that he was no longer seen as a catcher until the Twins signed him and gave him the opportunity

If Astudillo’s defense is similar to Harper’s defense he should be the front runner for starting catcher next year. Harper was able to answer the question about his defense. I hope Astudillo can also.

Someone who plays as hard as Astudillo will always have a job in baseball. Like Cuddyer, Punto, and Buxton, his value is his ability to push the dial to 11. He is the quintessential Twin.