Castro to 7 Day (Concussion) DL, Granite Promoted

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins announced that Zack Granite is returning to the club with Jason Castro placed on the 7-Day Disabled List with a concussion.

 

Castro left last night's Twins game with concussion-like symptoms. 7 Days is the minimum, but Twins fans are fully aware of what a concussion (er, Brain Injury) can do to a player. Examples such as Justin Morneau, Denard Span and Joe Mauer ring loudly in our collective memories.

 

Granite has played the last two games in Rochester after missing six days with some minor injury. 

 

Taking Granite's spot in Rochester is CF Levi Michael. 

[wsnydes]

Not a great time to lose a starting catcher, not that there ever is one.  

 

Seth, do you think they'll start Giminez and spot start Garver or will they split the load 50/50?

[mickeymental]

john ryan murphy, we hardly knew ye.

[Otto von Ballpark]

This is an example why we probably should have had Garver up earlier, if only to get his feet wet a little more.

[USAFChief]

 

Well, I guess we will get to see what Garver can do behind the plate and with more regular at bats. we need a RH bat pretty badly. It would be nice if Garver could fill that role.   

Maybe, but I kind of doubt he'll get more than two games if Castro's DL stint is only 7 days.  Gimenez will get the starts.

 

And ironically, the need for a catcher on the bench probably means fewer PAs for Garver, not more.  He likely isn't in the lineup on days Gimenez starts.  

[wsnydes]

 

Maybe, but I kind of doubt he'll get more than two games if Castro's DL stint is only 7 days.  Gimenez will get the starts.

 

And ironically, the need for a catcher on the bench probably means fewer PAs for Garver, not more.  He likely isn't in the lineup on days Gimenez starts.  

Agreed.  That's kind of why I was wondering if they may split the starts more evenly just to get him a few more PA's.

[spinowner]

I'm not an engineer but I would think that improvements could be made in catcher's masks.

[The_Phantom]

I didn't realize Levi MIchael had been switched to Center Field this year. 

 

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

I didn't realize Levi MIchael had been switched to Center Field this year.

Yup. He finally said, "Put me in, coach! I'm ready to play, today."

[yarnivek1972]

 

I'm not an engineer but I would think that improvements could be made in catcher's masks.

 

 

Some catchers use the so-called "hockey goalie" masks.  Presumably they protect better.  I would guess that not all catchers like wearing them or more would.  I don't know what they use for padding, but would hope it is similar to what the NFL now uses in it's helmets.

[gocgo]

 

Some catchers use the so-called "hockey goalie" masks.  Presumably they protect better.  I would guess that not all catchers like wearing them or more would.  I don't know what they use for padding, but would hope it is similar to what the NFL now uses in it's helmets.

What they need is that My Pillow guy to invent something.

[drjim]

This is an example why we probably should have had Garver up earlier, if only to get his feet wet a little more.

I would go the other way. They likely weren't going to 3 catchers. This type of injury is precisely why they didn't clear out Gimenez for Garver to get his feet wet.

 

Actually timed out ok, as Garver got several days on the bench before he gets called upon to catch.

[Mike Sixel]

CF Levi Michael?

 

And yes, this is why they didn't cut Gimenez.....and I wont' go further down that rat hole.

[drjim]

Maybe, but I kind of doubt he'll get more than two games if Castro's DL stint is only 7 days. Gimenez will get the starts.

 

And ironically, the need for a catcher on the bench probably means fewer PAs for Garver, not more. He likely isn't in the lineup on days Gimenez starts.

Hard to get much fewer PAs than he has been getting so far.

[wsnydes]

 

I would go the other way. They likely weren't going to 3 catchers. This type of injury is precisely why they didn't clear out Gimenez for Garver to get his feet wet.

Actually timed out ok, as Garver got several days on the bench before he gets called upon to catch.

While I wasn't one that wanted Giminez DFA'd, Garver could have DH'd, spelled Mauer at 1B, played some LF in a pinch.  He didn't need to come up exclusively as a catcher.  There was room for both of them.  You are correct though that this is why Giminez wasn't DFA'd.

 

If they would have called him up a month ago, he'd likely have at least one game behind the plate.  At least he would have gotten his feet wet already.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I would go the other way. They likely weren't going to 3 catchers. This type of injury is precisely why they didn't clear out Gimenez for Garver to get his feet wet.

 

Actually timed out ok, as Garver got several days on the bench before he gets called upon to catch.

I wasn't saying they should have dropped Gimenez, but they probably could have worked in a couple appearances for Garver in their various roster machinations. Give him a couple games caught in case of this contingency.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Apparently Garver in the lineup at 1B tonight.

[USAFChief]

Apparently Garver in the lineup at 1B tonight.

Gardy is probably aghast.

[drjim]

While I wasn't one that wanted Giminez DFA'd, Garver could have DH'd, spelled Mauer at 1B, played some LF in a pinch. He didn't need to come up exclusively as a catcher. There was room for both of them. You are correct though that this is why Giminez wasn't DFA'd.

 

If they would have called him up a month ago, he'd likely have at least one game behind the plate. At least he would have gotten his feet wet already.

What's the difference between 1 game caught in the last month and playing when hr is next needed? It was probably more beneficial to have the extra reps at AAA.

 

Basically every benefit gained from your plan had been realized with how it played out.

[drjim]

I wasn't saying they should have dropped Gimenez, but they probably could have worked in a couple appearances for Garver in their various roster machinations. Give him a couple games caught in case of this contingency.

Him catching now is the contingency.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Him catching now is the contingency.

My point was, we got into this weird zone where our third catcher (and now our backup) had zero MLB experience (okay, 1 inning caught). I rather would have gotten him a couple games experience before this point. Not a huge deal, but you could have had more freedom to picked his initial matchups (battery mate), had a bit more flexibility to sub him out in the late innings, etc. I imagine the first few games caught can be more challenging than the first few games at other positions in MLB.

 

Now we're in a tight spot of not daring to pinch hit for Gimenez for awhile.

[wsnydes]

 

What's the difference between 1 game caught in the last month and playing when hr is next needed? It was probably more beneficial to have the extra reps at AAA.

Basically every benefit gained from your plan had been realized with how it played out.

Except the fact that Garver still has next to no MLB experience.  A month is still a month working with the big league coaches and learning from big league players.  He can't get that in AAA.  I think that is more important with where Garver is in his development than extra reps in AAA.

[spinowner]

So we're worried that Garver doesn't have MLB catching experience but we're also worried about letting him catch to get experience? Just let him catch every second or third day and we get what we get.

[Rosterman]

I would have Garver catch anyone that he has caught in the minors - Berrios, Gee, should've caught Melville.

[Halsey Hall]

Keep Garver off of 1st base. 

[jorgenswest]

Garver not very impressive behind the plate today. I can see why they might be reluctant to put him back there while in the pennant race. 

 

Catching is incredibly difficult and probably the most important position defensively.

 

[drjim]

Garver not very impressive behind the plate today. I can see why they might be reluctant to put him back there while in the pennant race.

 

Catching is incredibly difficult and probably the most important position defensively.

His performance overall does probably explain why they weren't necessarily in a hurry to get him up and helps explain his prospect ranking.

 

He is a nice depth piece, will contribute, and has value, especially while he still has options, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Twins sign another vet backup catcher in the offseason.

[Mike Sixel]

One game. Talk about SSS. 

[drjim]

 

One game. Talk about SSS. 

 

Sometimes that is all that it takes to understand why the front office/coaching staff make the decisions that they do.

 

I'm concerned he's going to be a tweener. Not enough glove to be effective anywhere, and not enough bat to cover the fielding deficiencies. Going to take more time in AAA behind the plate I would guess.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

 

Sometimes that is all that it takes to understand why the front office/coaching staff make the decisions that they do.

 

I'm concerned he's going to be a tweener. Not enough glove to be effective anywhere, and not enough bat to cover the fielding deficiencies. Going to take more time in AAA behind the plate I would guess.

Maybe Garver just had a bad game. it was his first MLB start behind the dish. Plenty of reason to be nervous. Reports were earlier this year that his glove has come a long way in the past couple years.  

 

Its hard to tell, maybe you're right and there's reason to be nervous. Maybe he just had a bad game.