By Mike Phillips | October 21, 2020 6:30 pm
Player Review: Robinson Chirinos
2020 Stats:
Texas Rangers: 14 Games, 42 At Bats, .119 Batting Average, 5 Hits, 1 Double, 2 RBI’s, 3 Runs Scored, .367 OPS, -0.7 WAR
New York Mets: 12 Games, 32 At Bats, .219 Batting Average, 7 Hits, 2 Doubles, 1 Home Run, 5 RBI’s, 1 Run Scored, .617 OPS, -0.1 WAR
Story: Robinson Chirinos began the year as the backup catcher in Texas and didn’t hit much. With the Rangers completely out of the race by the trade deadline, Chirinos was shipped to the Mets along with Todd Frazier for two players to be named later. The Mets needed Chirinos to be their backup catcher after Tomas Nido contracted the coronavirus and it was a good move. Chirinos hit much better than he had in Texas, raising his batting average from .119 to .162 on the year and launching his only homer on September 24 as part of a three-RBI day to beat the Washington Nationals in what would go down as the Mets’ last win of the season.
Chirinoscareer-wise is a more successful version of Anthony Recker, whose skills have now eroded to Anthony Recker-as-a-Met levels.
ReplyDeleteNo one will pay a lot for him. Only way I see him returning is 1) as a cheap back up for Realmuto, or as 2) a cheap back up for Ramos, if in fact the Mets for some reason think both will bounce back in 2021.
I may be in the minority, but I hope Alvarez will be ready to go in 2022 as a 20 year old. Hopefully the chance to work with the more seasoned guys at the alternate site and time in the instructional league will have accelerated his growth.