An absolutely terrific article by Jesse Lund at SBN today talks about bringing up Josmil Pinto with the demotion of Kennys Vargas. Early in spring training, Pinto was thought to be the leading candidate to be Kurt Suzuki's backup at catcher. Three successive blows to Pinto's noggin from Adam Jones bat took care of that thought quickly! The backup job then landed to the 'versatile' hard-hitting Chris Herrmann, he of the robust .156 average.

Now, I agree that there is no doubt a 'ship load' of information that we fans are not privy to. But while some players, no matter how poorly they perform or how little they project to the future( see Bernier, Doug and Duensing, Brian) seem to be favorites of the manager and FO,others (Pinto and Hicks, Aaron) seem to have an uphill mountain to climb.

Nevertheless, there eventually has to be a time when you put the best players on the field so your team has the greatest chance to be successful. Some of us feel that Mr. Pinto has the upside to be a very serviceable player, while others feel he is a liability, a poor defensive catcher with no chance to help any major league team.

With Vargas gone for at least 10 days, wouldn't it be nice to finally find out if Pinto fits with the 2015 squad? Friday seems like the right time to give this kid an extended chance-what do you think?

Regardless Vargas' performance, Pinto should be the Twins' starting Catcher at this point.  Suzuki's .235/.310/.333 does not cut it.

Seems like a worthwhile idea.

Be sure to link to articles on other sites so people can go read the article.

 

I haven't read Jesse's article yet.

 

I'd have no problem with Pinto coming up. I think many think that he's more than what he is, and that's fine.

 

I would disagree with the idea that Hicks and Pinto have had hills to climb. Maybe this year, but that's due to past performance in the big leagues, but both got to the big leagues when (or before) they were believed to be ready. This year, they had to wait a little longer.

 

It's hard to know yet who the manager's "favorites" are at this point. I don't think that's a fair statement.

I would bet you one of them Target Field Polish sausages from the place I can't spell and a beer, that Suzuki has to reside below the Medoza line for weeks before he gets replaced. He fits the Twins profile to a T. He has limited ability, plays hard, gets just enough results to appear effective, and is likely a good all around guy. And in some games he's your #5 stick!

Be sure to link to articles on other sites so people can go read the article.

 

I haven't read Jesse's article yet.

 

I'd have no problem with Pinto coming up. I think many think that he's more than what he is, and that's fine.

 

I would disagree with the idea that Hicks and Pinto have had hills to climb. Maybe this year, but that's due to past performance in the big leagues, but both got to the big leagues when (or before) they were believed to be ready. This year, they had to wait a little longer.

 

It's hard to know yet who the manager's "favorites" are at this point. I don't think that's a fair statement.[/qu

 

Bad use of the English language on my part, Seth. Molly said Bernier had a future in baseball after his career is over.

Part of Hicks problems, IMHO, were because he was brought up before he was ready-I definitely agree.

As I mentioned, I am not privy to how the organization actually feels about Pinto. It is only my opinion that he has had obstacles in his way this year.

Great comment Seth - as always. So far I think Molitor and Ryan are pushing the right buttons as they adjust to the events of the season. We may not always agree with them and not every button pushed is going to be the right one but I definitely think we need to give them a lot of leeway based on the results after 25% of the season.

Be sure to link to articles on other sites so people can go read the article.

 

I haven't read Jesse's article yet.

 

I'd have no problem with Pinto coming up. I think many think that he's more than what he is, and that's fine.

 

I would disagree with the idea that Hicks and Pinto have had hills to climb. Maybe this year, but that's due to past performance in the big leagues, but both got to the big leagues when (or before) they were believed to be ready. This year, they had to wait a little longer.

 

It's hard to know yet who the manager's "favorites" are at this point. I don't think that's a fair statement.

 

Hit a HR tonight in Rochester. Get him back up to Minnesota. I know I am prejudice, but I think he's ready.

 

I would bet you one of them Target Field Polish sausages from the place I can't spell and a beer, that Suzuki has to reside below the Medoza line for weeks before he gets replaced. He fits the Twins profile to a T. He has limited ability, plays hard, gets just enough results to appear effective, and is likely a good all around guy. And in some games he's your #5 stick!

You mean Kramarczuk's?

 

Just think of it this way: it's all A's until you get to Czechoslovakia... 

 

Also I will take that bet  

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 201511 yr by Hosken Bombo Disco