Article: TD Top Prospects: #7 Josmil Pinto

[Parker Hageman]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php/2656-TD-Top-Prospects-7-Josmil-Pinto

[CwK]

Joe Benson. So much hair.

 

Excellent point about how focusing too much on tools sometimes is a mistake. It's easy to be blinded.

[Madre Dos]

You won't find anyone that works any harder than Josmil. He is very aware that he has been given an opportunity and I am sure that he will make the most of it. The Twins will not be sorry.

[Dantes929]

Leery of lifetime .275 minors hitters batting .342 in small sample but he did have a great 2013 and very solid 2012. Don't expect .342 from him but would think he is capable of at least .260 which sadly would have made him the 2nd best hitter among regulars on the Twins in 2013

[jimv2]

Leery of lifetime .275 minors hitters batting .342 in small sample ...

 

But get rid of his age 17 and 18 seasons in the VSL and DSL--which IMO are meaningless--and he's at .286 Get rid of 2010--his first full season was a tough one for him--and he's at .300. I completely realize that last step was a bit of cherry-picking, but people grow at different rates and just wanted to point out that many year averages in a situation like this can be misleading.

 

I certainly don't think he's going to average .300 in the majors, but I think the data support your suggestion that .260 (maybe even .280) is very realistic.

[ashbury]

With the exception of Chris Parmelee’s 2011, Pinto’s 2013 season was the best offensive performance by a Twins’ call-up in a long while.

 

An intriguing statement. It was a little tedious going back year by year in b-r.com, cost me probably 5 minutes because I am not a l33t database dude, but the dry spell looks like it went back to 2004, when Jason Kubel and the immortal Terry Tiffee made Twins fans smile (a little more) in September, and not at a level Parms and Pinto reached.

[Seth Stohs]

I like Pinto. I don't think his ceiling is very high, but he can hit a bit. He's very strong. He's built sturdy and works out a ton. He also was named (I'm not looking it up, but someone can verify) Baseball America's choice for the best plate discipline in the Eastern League last year.

 

People forget that he could have become a free agent after the 2012 season. He could have been a free agent, but he decided to sign back with the Twins quickly. It wasn't until players needed to be added then that he was added to the 40 man roster.

[Paul]

I don't recall seeing him play, and the leg kick may very well give him trouble, but this tidbit: "Examining his spray chart, you can see that for hard offerings (fastballs, sliders, etc), he stays middle-away. On the other hand, for slower offerings (changeups, curves, etc), he pull them." is huge and the significance should not be overlooked. This tells me he's seeing well and is on the ball all in, what should be for him, a high pressure situation. This bodes well for him and the team.

[jmlease1]

I like Pinto as well, and I see little reason for the Twins not to give him a shot to win the starting catching job, but the comparison to Parmelee's 2011 call-up may well be apt: the sample size is about the same and both were able to take advantage of late season fastball chucking. Pinto also had a BABiP of .440, which is clearly unsustainable. In Parmelee's call-up year, he had a BABiP of .390; when he lost over 100 pts of that in 2012 & 2013 the results were pretty ugly.

 

Pinto is a solid prospect who could be the Twins starting catcher and soon. But I expect him to face a lot of adjustments. but wouldn't it be nice if he turned into Brian Harper?

[LimestoneBaggy]

Parker,

 

In relation to the spray chart, have you looked at pitch location on hard/soft pitches. Are they correlating to hit location or are they divergent (are they pitching hard outside, and soft inside)? I'm wondering if the short scouting report was pitch the fastball outside, and he is simply beating the scouting, or whether he is "Twinsian" and uses the whole field in his hitting.

[Mike Sixel]

An intriguing statement. It was a little tedious going back year by year in b-r.com, cost me probably 5 minutes because I am not a l33t database dude, but the dry spell looks like it went back to 2004, when Jason Kubel and the immortal Terry Tiffee made Twins fans smile (a little more) in September, and not at a level Parms and Pinto reached.

[/font][/color]

 

 

which is why they've lost 90+ games three years in a row.....lack of production from their strategy of build from within.

 

As for pinto, hand him the starting job. Let him struggle, learn, grow here, like the stars of the 80s teams did.....they aren't winning any playoff games this year, get the guys up here that are close to ready, so they are ready when they are needed.

[jimbo92107]

Lots of guys work hard, but it seems like they aren't quite sure what to work hard on. Josmil Pinto looks like he does know what to work hard on, and he's getting it right.

 

At the plate, Pinto assumes a posture that is delicately poised, perfectly on balanced, yet relaxed. He could do his whole swing standing on a balance beam without falling off. His little leg kick allows him to hold his hands back for a few clicks, but it's under control - he doesn't lurch forward or torque his hips early, and he keeps his butt under him (no "French mistake"). Like Mike Redmond, Pinto's swing has a very flat plane, and his swing starts short, then unwinds from inside to outside. This allows him to a generous power sweep through the zone, which is why he sprays line drives to all fields. However, unlike Redmond, Pinto also can change the plane of his swing to more of an uppercut when the situation calls for a pitch he can drive. That approach isn't going away.

 

Behind the plate, Pinto has continued to improve his mechanics, but he also appears to be developing an excellent feel for the game. He clearly takes charge, no hesitation, and he appears to relish the chess match against the hitter, the runners, etc. Again, it's not just that Pinto works hard; he appears to understand what's important, and works hard on the right things.

 

It's good to know that there's still room in baseball for the guys that are not built like a blue jeans model. Sometimes the best player is a big fat guy or a little spindly troll. The important thing is knowing how to play the game, and Pinto is getting it.

[Paul Pleiss]

Joe Benson. So much hair.

 

Excellent point about how focusing too much on tools sometimes is a mistake. It's easy to be blinded.

 

Oh Joe, how I miss you. Probably my favorite prospect ever, at least until Sano/Buxton came along. But I don't love either of them the way I loved Joe Benson. I still want Joe Benson to figure it out. Come on Joe.

 

If Pinto can keep hitting and play passable defense he will be a big plus to the MLB squad. I like his chances more than I ever liked Chis Parmesian Cheese.

[clutterheart]

I can't see how he is ahead of Polanco. Pinto is a fine prospect but his upside is lower than a Thorpe or a Polanco.

[Mike Sixel]

Higher floor, more certain MLB production....that counts too, not just ceiling.

[OldTimeTwinkie]

An intriguing statement. It was a little tedious going back year by year in b-r.com, cost me probably 5 minutes because I am not a l33t database dude, but the dry spell looks like it went back to 2004, when Jason Kubel and the immortal Terry Tiffee made Twins fans smile (a little more) in September, and not at a level Parms and Pinto reached.

[/font][/color]

There is one big difference between Parmlees success and Pinto in that in 2013 the twins schedule was against teams trying to make the playoffs vs Parmalee schedule was mostly against teams that were out of it and playing their callups.

[ashbury]

Higher floor, more certain MLB production....that counts too, not just ceiling.

 

Hurricane Hazle seemed to have a high floor at one point, and look what happened to him.

[oldguy10]

Okay, anybody that remembers Hurricane Hazle stand up, that is if you are still able to. How many years ago now was it that Hazle played? Thanks for my great laugh of this day.