Postseason Review: Josmil Pinto

I don't hold a lot of stock in pitch framing at this point because of what Twinsgeek wrote about in terms of counts that borderline pitches get called balls and which ones tend to get called strikes.  when those 2 sets of data get brought together then I will have confidence in that stat. 

As far a Pinto goes.  If we want to se him as a Catcher he needs to spend time in AAA and work on his game.  If he is to be a bench player he still needs to work on Catching and also 1B and maybe RF or something and except the fact he is a bench player until he learns to Catch better. 

It's a bit ironic that Pinto took a backseat to Suzuki because of pitch-framing and throwing out runners.  Those aren't exactly 'Zuke's strong suits either.

He'll be 26 next spring and have 9 years in the minors. If he isn't ready by now then he likely will never be.

He needs to play on a regular basis for the Twins and either sink or swim. Then we have something or we move on.

I've said something similar to this on other threads in the recent past.

Jorge Posada did not become a starter until his age 26-27 season in 1998. That year he had 409PA, almost double his total from his first 2 seasons leading up to that point. Posada if my memory serves me correctly was not a good defensive catcher and never really was more than average at best.

I'm not saying that Pinto will become Jorge Posada, but his hit tool is pretty damn good. I can see him being a 20HR, .800+ OPS type of hitter.

Right now is not the time to throw in the towel on this still youngish player. I think is safe to say that when we were all 25 going on 26 we still had youthful vigor and a spring in our step.

If Pinto doesn't work out, oh well, but if he does get better behind the dish and hits like I think he can, that would be astounding!

I would be patient and give him 2 more years before I abandon ship. I'll take a poor man's Posada on my team any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Let's dispense with this fallacy that Gardy refused to play "the younger players" in September. Other than Pinto, which "younger players" are we talking about?  He didn't play Pinto much, and it was hugely upsetting to a lot of you. It's total conjecture on your part if you believe this had anything to do with Gardy's dismissal, and in my opinion, it's neither important or a likely contributor. I also am guessing that most managers would have handed in very similar lineup cards to what we saw in September. Obvious conjecture on my part here too.

Why do I think that might be the case? As much as we'd like it to be different, I lean toward the view that the baseball people, and not just Gardy, see Pinto as a poor long-term fit. After nine years in which he's been given every opportunity, it's not conjecture to say the Twins pretty much know what they have, even if some of us don't. It's always curious to me why any of us think that, because WE haven't seen enough of a prospect to draw our own conclusions, that there is some inherent flaw in how said prospect is being evaluated and handled.

Can he back our starter up? Maybe. But getting him AB's at DH is perhaps counter-productive given possibly better offensive options. Expecting significant defensive improvement is wishful, wouldn't you say? 

While I have mentioned several times that Pinto has been in the organization for most of a decade, he signed with the Twins when he was 16 or 17.  A lot of changes go on between 16 and 25 for most of us.  Pinto wasn't considered much of a prospect until 2012, when he turned a lot of flab in muscle (can't remember for sure, but I think he lost 15 pounds) and started turning on balls.  It seems that the fine points of catching either weren't conveyed to him or he didn't get them. 

 

I like his power, plate discipline and use of the whole field, but going into next season at 26, he really needs to be able to catch acceptably.   

I really hope he is able to catch acceptably in 2015, but if not, would it be fair to say if he starts out poorly, but is able to make a breakthrough with his catching ability in MN or Rochester sometime during the season and gives the "evaluators" reasons to be optimistic about him handling it semi-full time in 2016, that would be okay?

Personally, I hope he can be our back-up catcher next season and get 250PA (a few at DH) because his bat can help the 2015 team, but if he is relegated to mostly AAA time and he can show that he can rise to the challenge of being a passable backstop, I can wait until 2016 for him to be the primary catcher at the age of 27.

Another article recently referenced Alex Gordon's routine to achieve the defensive excellence for which he is now known. This article states that Pinto has a good work ethic, or at least that he hasn't been called out by the organization for a lack thereof. So, what's the deal then? If he's working hard on his defense then he should be getting better. Why isn't he? Is the problem with the Twins' coaching staff that's teaching him? Is he not as talented as we'd like to believe? Is he not working as hard as we'd like to believe?

I was very impressed with the reference to how Alex Gordon works so hard on his defense and I'd like to see the Twins encourage Pinto to go the extra mile in a similar fashion to improve his defense. It could be a focus for him in the offseason and during Spring Training.

I see the future catcher(s) as the Garver/Turner tandem.  Pinto is a placeholder at best, and could be a nice addition as an added chip in a multi-player trade.  I can't see him as anything close to a Gomez evoulution. I would like to see him as the backup, and getting at least two starts a week for through June.  I am open to be surprised.