by Brian Joura
Some eyebrows were raised when Andres Gimenez made the Opening Day roster once the 2020 season got underway. But manager Luis Rojas has done a good job finding ways to get Gimenez’ feet wet. He’s come in as a defensive replacement in his first five games and now he’s been the starter five of his last seven games. He certainly figures to start a bunch more as long as Robinson Cano remains on the IL and he has the chance to establish himself as someone who needs to be in the lineup more times than not.Gimenez was long considered one of the Mets’ top prospects, first for his youth and then later for his production, too. But the 2019 season was the first time that he dealt with major adversity since beginning his professional career.
After a solid debut in Double-A after a mid-year promotion in 2018, some thought he might start 2019 in Triple-A. But the Mets chose to return him to Binghamton last year. With Amed Rosario essentially learning on the job in the majors, there was no reason to rush their other top young shortstop. Gimenez got off to a solid start in 2019, posting a .744 OPS in his first 31 games. Maybe not as good as fans might have hoped but certainly not an indication of what was about to come next.
Gimenez posted just a .250 BABIP in his next 28 games and that was made even worse as he struck out 32 times in 108 ABs. The end result was a .176 AVG and a .499 OPS that effectively sunk his season. Gimenez finished the year with a .250/.309/.387 line. Instead of being viewed as the future shortstop, especially given Rosario’s strong finish in the majors, fans started to look to Ronny Mauricio as the guy who would force the Mets’ hands as to who to play at SS in the future.
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8 comments:
Gimenez may be small, relatively, in stature, but he did hit 9 HRs last year, so no one is knocking the bat out of his hands. He is no Bud Harrelson.
Still very early - he just 8 for 25 with 2 Ks - but very encouraging. Hopefully he takes full advantage of Cano's absence. Hopefully, he'll have accumulated triple the ABs withing 2 weeks and we'll know.
Interestingly, the older Guillorme has just 7 at bats, so it appears in Luis Rojas' mind, Gimenez has moved ahead of Luis in the depth chart.
Move Jeff back to second... put Gimenez on short... mover Rosario to third.
Done until Mauricio arrives.
I feel bad for Guillorme
who doesn't look like he'll ever get a shot with the Mets. He seems like the guy who if you gave him 400 PA in a season would surprise you with what he gave you offensively. Most teams would love to have an infielder like that. It's just Guillorme's misfortune to be in an org that needs that from an outfielder, not an infielder.
Rosario's issues defensively seem to come from making the play in the hole. So, putting him at 3B where he'll have to make many more plays to his left is a good idea. Assuming the bat plays, of course.
When Cano comes back G needs to stay somewhere on the infield if he is still hitting. McNeil has not looked good at 3rd and we know 2nd is his natural position but with Cano playing well it makes the most sense for McNeil to go back to left, lineup stays strong and infield defense much better. Why has
Pete not DH'd yet, putting Dom at first on occasion again makes defense better and doesn't weaken lineup. Pete hasn't looked good in the field or at the plate so letting him just DH occasionally might be the break he needs to get going.
Here in Medellin we have a large group of displaced Venezuelans and Gimenez is making them Mets fans!
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm guessing hes probably not a .333 hitter, but maybe he is. Either way, not overexposing him seems to me to be the Luis Rojas way and I think that benefits the player, let him earn his job. I think
I remember reading a Mike Vail article here a few months back, making a big first impression doesn't guarentee future success.
I think Gimenez has a higher ceiling but it's been 12 games, you have to keep things in context. I think hes the manager's favorite and a weapon that can be deployed effectively in a lot of different situations. I'm not a Cano guy but give credit where credit is due, he can still hit. McNeil is not coming out and neither is JD. Dom has also earned his ABs so continuing to use him as the super sub is probably what's gonna happen and probably what should happen.
Brian
He is the Anderson Hernandez of our time.
I don't feel sorry for him and pass on any clarification of this personal statement.
Gimenez was projected to develop late pop and go to the outfield.
We will see.
Gimenez hits the ball a lot harder Guillaorme and is a younger, more dynamic player. Hes Rojas favorite for sure
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