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Like Tewkbury, I really don't see much fault with a higher leg kick. As long as it's performed when the ball is in the pitcher's hand (like Pinto does of course). With the getting fooled part, Pinto seems to balance on his right leg fine and stomps the left as soon as he wants to swing and for that reason, no early opening of the hips.

He has an awful lot of timing mechanisms going on right now which screams streakiness. Any event he's a great looking hitter taking extremely professional AB's. He's the right man at the right time.

Defense is critical at catcher. If he can grow into an average defender, his bat will be a plus. If not, the Twins need to keep looking. Next year is the time to find out if he can make progress defensively.

Josmil Pinto's ability to wait on off-speed pitches is the thing that really has impressed me about his approach. Most hitters, and especially young ones, are vulnerable to the drastic changes in speed that professional pitchers are able to deliver with little warning. Oswaldo Arcia is a good example of a guy struggling to adjust to speed variations - he tends to lunge at change-ups, knocking himself off balance. Somehow, Pinto is able to keep his hands back longer than Arcia, and the results remind me a lot of Brian Harper, another excellent hitting catcher.

Harper also may have hidden ability to help pitchers. Pitchers had a significantly better strikeout walk ratio with Harper than the other catcher (Ortiz, Laudner, Webster). He had the better rate in each of his seasons and over his time with the Twins. They need Pinto to provide similar help.

Fully appreciating that it is a SSS, this has really been fun.

 

I've only really seen a few of his at bats and I see that his SO rate is quite high, but he has a really nice swing. I wonder if being a catcher helps one recognize pitches. If so, his SO rate should fall.

For most batters the leg kick is a timing mechanism and will vary from pitcher to pitcher and pitch type to pitch type.

For most batters the leg kick is a timing mechanism and will vary from pitcher to pitcher and pitch type to pitch type.

 

Not quite -- if a hitter is doing it from pitch type to pitch type it means they are guessing and their timing would be off or would be fooled a lot. I will say some hitters do have a larger leg kick at times. Chris Parmelee is notorious for this and may be one of the reasons he struggles for prolonged stretches.

 

...and the results remind me a lot of Brian Harper, another excellent hitting catcher.

 

I like that comparison in terms of the style. Pinto, however, should wind up with better power numbers than Harper.

 

Also, here's something Brad Steil mentioned to me regarding Pinto's change:

 

That’s a good observation. It is something we’ve worked on with Josmil, with the goal being to help him see the ball a little longer and be “on time” more consistently, without taking away his ability to drive the ball.