Should Twins have Revere play every day in Rochester?

[Thrylos]

Let's see where does Rochester's OF stands as of today: Benson, Tosoni, Mastroianni, Carson, Dinkelman, Ramirez. At least there is some breathing room with the releases of Dustin Martin and Scott Pearce, but still I do not see all those guys getting lots of PAs other than 1 or 2. Would a swap of Mastroianni with Revere make sense? Sure. or Maybe.

 

But here is the problem: The Twins' are suposedly set at LF including the 2014 season and at CF including at least that much and maybe 2015 (with Span.) Revere cannot play RF. He has 2 more option years left so in 2014 he will be out of options. Benson will be knocking on the door hard in 2013 and Hicks/Arcia/Morales in 2014. It very quickly becomes a numbers game...

[lecroy24fan]

Send him to Rochester to learn 2B.

[spideyo]

I still think that if they can get Revere on base more, most likely by getting him to focus on beating out ground ball hits rather than trying to hit for power, our best OF right now is Revere in CF and Span in RF.

 

The first time I saw Revere hit, he hit a ground ball to the 1b and beat it out for a single. That's exciting baseball, and that's something that not many guys can do. He needs some Willie Mays-Hays batting lessons, and he can be a very dangerous weapon

[Shane Wahl]

I still think that if they can get Revere on base more, most likely by getting him to focus on beating out ground ball hits rather than trying to hit for power, our best OF right now is Revere in CF and Span in RF.

 

The first time I saw Revere hit, he hit a ground ball to the 1b and beat it out for a single. That's exciting baseball, and that's something that not many guys can do. He needs some Willie Mays-Hays batting lessons, and he can be a very dangerous weapon

Well it is alarming that Josh Willingham could force a total realignment because he can't make a simple transition as a veteran professional baseball player. It is certainly true that Span is better in RF than Revere, who it would be insane to put in RF, but Revere in CF is a problem. If they are concerned about his defense, how in the hell does it make sense to keep him around as a defensive replacement late in games? When I originally read the news, I did not see (somehow) that Revere was actually being considered as the RF instead of being sent to AAA to start the year.

[spideyo]

Other than his arm, are they really that concerned about his defense?

[Harrison Greeley III]

Dude is a swinger. He's good at making contact, and when you have his speed you're going to have a relatively high BABIP in the long run because he's beating out tapped ground balls that are outs for other guys. He's not going to walk and he's not going to strikeout. This is the kind of hitter he's going to be, the organization should not even bother trying to turn him into something he's not. I think he makes for a great OF depth play in the case of an injury or two as well as a pinch runner/late inning defensive replacement. That's the ceiling here and he's already near it. I say bring him north.

[shaggybaj]

Here's the thing: Revere never mastered AAA. He only had 141 plate appearances there and was rushed to the majors last year because of all the injuries. Through AA, his OBP was never lower than .371. Read that last sentence again.

 

In his short time in AAA, it was just .338 and then it went to .310 in the majors. With that kind of OBP, he's just a fourth outfielder. But if it gets anywhere near the level it was, he's an elite leadoff hitter who plays killer defense. I don't know why we would throw away that future just to have a slight upgrade at a roster spot that means next to nothing to the success of this team.

 

I think this is the key. I would send him down. If he can learn to bunt and get a handful more walks he might be able to get the on base percentage to a place where he is a viable lead off hitter. This would make him more marketable as a trade chip. Remember the only real strength the Twins have in the minors is a large number of outfielders. They need to use some of them to fill other holes. If Revere has some potential to be a lead-off guy, that potential should be developed. He then gives them more viable trade options.

[BeefMaster]

Revere is not destined to play in Target Field. He needs to play in Center Field to be fully optimized, and Span blocks him now and Benson/Hicks/etc will pass him up later. He can not produce the numbers at a corner outfield spot.

I'm not entirely willing to concede this. Obviously, the offense isn't there, but there's a decent chance that Revere could be a league-average left fielder even with replacement-level offense - he put up a UZR of almost 15 last year (yes, small sample size) in less than full-time duty. If he can be 15-20 runs above average in left field over a full season while getting the OBP up to around .330, he's an acceptable starter - no star, but at or above league average.

 

Are we completely certain that he can't play right? Yeah, weak arm, but surely the fact that he gets to basically every ball hit in the air outweighs the time or two a week where a guy goes from first to third when he wouldn't have otherwise, right? I'd put him there over Cuddyer in a heartbeat, noodle arm or no.

[Harrison Greeley III]

I really don't care about a weak arm. Cuddyer had a great arm and he was still costing the Twins runs defensively in RF. If Revere can chase down balls that average fielders can't chase and not embarrass himself playing the bank off of the limestone, then he can play right field in the 8th after pinch running for Parmalee as much as possible.

[Mike Sixel]

The weak arm is an issue, but it's more important to catch a ball than to keep a guy from advancing. How often will a guy be on first with no outs, and get to third on Revere when he wouldn't have gotten there on another player? One time a week, two? How often will those guys then score? IF his OBP were higher, he clearly has a great shot to be at least league average as an OFer in terms of offensive+defensive production. I don't get the whole "4th OFer means they are giving up on him or holding him back" thing at all. Play him 1 time a week in LF, one time a week in CF, pinch run and defensive substitute the games they are ahead, let him hit late in the game when they are way behind and likely won't come back.....there are plenty of ABs and defensive opportunities for him to continue to grow, even as a 4th OFer.

 

Besides, Benson is a few months away from being up on a regular basis, if he cuts down on his SO% at all. If not now, when, for Revere?