Tom Brennan - A LOOK AT ROSARIO AND GIMENEZ
Andres
Gimenez is the Mets’ 19 year old signing international signing wunderkind.
Three years ago, Amed Rosario was the Mets’ 19 year old
signing international signing wunderkind.
How does the progress of Mr. Gimenez
compare to his wunderkind predecessor?
At age 18, Rosario hit
.274/.320/.372 mostly in Brooklyn rookie ball in 75 games, walking 18 times, stealing
7 of 10, and racking up 21 errors.
At age 19, Rosario played all but
2 of his 105 games in St Lucie, and he hit .253/.302/.329 with 23 walks in
about 420 plate appearances. He made 17
errors in those games, and stole 13 of 17.
At age 20, he spent half the
season at St Lucie, the other half at Binghamton and hit a much better
.324/.374/.459.
Gimenez at age 18 played a level
higher than Rosario at that age in A ball, going .265/.346/.349, with 14 of 22
steals and 28 walks in 92 games and just 12 errors.
Considering he was playing a
level up from Rosario at age 18 and put up comparable numbers
This year, at 19, Gimenez through
the first 40 games at St Lucie has far exceeded Rosario’s pace at age 19.
Gimenez is at .287/.356/.441 with
6 errors, and 15 of 18 steals in just those 40 games.
Summary Thoughts:
Amed Rosario briefly was ranked
as the top minor league prospect last year at age 21.
However, comparing Gimenez and
Rosario at ages 18 and 19, Gimenez has advanced even more quickly, having hit
somewhat better, having showed a far more prolific inclination to stealing
bases, and having made significantly fewer errors.
This should make Mets fans very
happy…Gimenez is giving every indication of a being a future strong major
league starter at shortstop (his primary position) or 2nd base.
I fully expect Gimenez to get
promoted at the All Star Break to AA, thus (at age 19) mirroring Rosario’s age
20 year.
I then cannot see any reason that
he cannot be promoted to AAA for 2019, and then to the majors mid 2019.
Neither of them may reach the
levels of a Vladimir Guerrero Jr or
Gleyber Torres, but hopefully by 2020, both will be highly competent major
league starting infielders.
Add Peter Alonso at first base and perhaps the surging dark horse (and
still long shot until proven otherwise) Jeff
McNeil at 3B, and we may just end up having an exciting, young, and
entirely home-grown (and inexpensive) Mets infield in 2020.
In my opinion, Rosario is far superior in talent and thus has much higher ceiling.
ReplyDeleteGimenez is nice prospect but has some slap in his swing, has lost some foot speed, and may lose some more as he physically matures. So I don't put too much stock on those stolen bases which are likely to decrease as he moves up and against better competition.
Gimenez's baseball brain is one of his best assets and should help him become a solid major leaguer who plays good D, gets on base and hits for average. How much power he develops is open question. Can we project 10 homers and 35 2B's a season? The doubles, yes - the homers I don't know.
What separates him from Guillorme could perhaps come down to 55 foot speed, stronger arm and a far more natural middle infield physique.
Good perspective. LongTimeFan1.
ReplyDeleteTime, as always, will tell the tale.
I am still hoping to see Rosario, Gimenez, and Guillorme start someday in the same IF
ReplyDeleteAlong with Alonso - check out this video of # 13:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHXLKZ8nWQE
What caught my eye was "another guy with power" - the former slap hitter McNeil is now referred to that way, in the same sentence as Pete Alonso:
ReplyDeletePascucci noted McNeil has a willingness to keep refining his approach each day and ensure success against live pitching. "We'll do a couple of rounds of situational stuff and then you give him a free round or two to hit balls," the coach said. "He tries to get the barrel out in front. He tries to challenge Peter Alonso on our team -- obviously another guy with power. ... They're challenging guys, having fun in batting practice and he's one of the guys that tries to hit home runs. He's actually working on that stuff and getting the contact point out in front so he can drive it."
Kind of like a finesse pitcher who suddenly woke up one day and could throw 97.