The Twins have a new Catcher - Astudillo called up

[old nurse]

 

Anyone got the over/under on how many major leaguers listed at 5'9" and 225 #s have ever played in CF?

For that matter, how many with his body measurements are currently on major league rosters?

Kirby Puckett in his later years

[jun]

 

His size at catcher should be just fine. 3 teams in 3 straight years got a full season look and said thanks, but no thanks when it came time to promote and/or retain.

The fact remains, with his hit tool potential there for all to see, and with a severe shortage of quality catchers who can hit, why didn't the best GM eye for talent, Theo Epstein, sign Astudillo instead of Chris Giminez?

Anyone can make mistakes. Theo Epstein is no GOD. Maybe he just does not like a player with this built. Why knows? I care less. Let's see what kind of player he is. I still remember a few years ago almost nobody had faith in Escobar and I was probably the only one who believed in him. Boy I feel good looking back.

[jokin]

Kirby Puckett in his later years

So the over/under is "one"?

[old nurse]

 

So the over/under is "one"?

There might be others, don't really care to look.

[jokin]

There might be others, don't really care to look.

 

So, the number is Extremely Low. I thought of the Royals and Tigers catcher of a few years ago, Brayan Pena. He weighed about 240, but he was closer to 6' than 5'9". I can't think of any current OF or recent OF with such short stature carrying that kind of weight.

 

Perhaps the key part of Puckett's mass appeal was the unlikely teddy bear body producing such amazing results. Astudillo's body is even more unlikely. It's a great, happy story in a very unhappy, disappointing season where multiple, can't-miss stud athletes have fallen flat on their faces. I hold no illusions on it all ending with any earth-shaking success, but right now he's the best source of entertainment on the entire roster at the moment. Our group was laughing as he flawlessly charged and barehanded to first base that dribbler today, and doubled our LOLs when he hit his StandUp Triple.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

His size at catcher should be just fine. 3 teams in 3 straight years got a full season look and said thanks, but no thanks when it came time to promote and/or retain.

 

The fact remains, with his hit tool potential there for all to see, and with a severe shortage of quality catchers who can hit, why didn't the best GM eye for talent, Theo Epstein, sign Astudillo instead of Chris Giminez?

it could be that every GM including looked at Astudillo as AAA depth with no chance to succeed at MLB until one GM got desperate enough to give him a chance.

 

I hope Astudillo really does get his chance and doesn’t go straight back to Rochester. It would be icing on the cake as LaBombo comped him to Brian Harper, if Astudillo were to run with it and go on to a quality MLB career.

 

It’s a great story to latch onto during this s***-show of a season.

 

Take your chance and run as fast as those short, chubby little legs will take you Willians!

[Riverbrian]

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at Catcher because of how Bobby Wilson has performed. 

 

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at DH because of how Morrison and Grossman have performed. 

 

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at 3B because of how Dozier has performed. (Escobar can play 2B or SS).  

 

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo in the OF because of how Kepler and Grossman have performed. 

 

 

[dbminn]

 

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at Catcher because of how Bobby Wilson has performed. 

 

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at DH because of how Morrison and Grossman have performed. 

 

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at 3B because of how Dozier has performed. (Escobar can play 2B or SS).  

 

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo in the OF because of how Kepler and Grossman have performed. 

 

Falvey makes the final decision, not Molitor.

[Riverbrian]

Falvey makes the final decision, not Molitor.

True... might even be Lavine who makes that call as for who is on the 25 man but now that he is on the 25 man.

 

Molitor makes out the lineup.

[Vanimal46]

Considered an average catcher? By whom? Baseball bloggers?

There apparently must be a lot of clubs who do NOT have that consideration about his catching skills.

9 years of toiling in the minors, I think I can safely say with the shortage of average or better MLB level defensive catchers, Astudillo would have been on a major league roster before now. Especially since average defensive catchers with above average hitting skills are practically an extinct species.

Concur. Average catchers don't get moved around to different positions in the minors. They stay at catcher and play as many games as possible there.

 

He would be similar or worse than Garver behind the plate.

[Squirrel]

Anyone got the over/under on how many major leaguers listed at 5'9" and 225 #s have ever played in CF?

For that matter, how many with his body measurements are currently on major league rosters?

What were Puckett’s height and weight? I don’t think he was as short as 5’9”, but he couldn’t have been that much taller.

[Squirrel]

His size at catcher should be just fine. 3 teams in 3 straight years got a full season look and said thanks, but no thanks when it came time to promote and/or retain.

The fact remains, with his hit tool potential there for all to see, and with a severe shortage of quality catchers who can hit, why didn't the best GM eye for talent, Theo Epstein, sign Astudillo instead of Chris Giminez?

Gimenez had more ML experience and had a connection to Darvish? It’s not a real answer, just a thought.

[Craig Arko]

 

What were Puckett’s height and weight? I don’t think he was as short as 5’9”, but he couldn’t have been that much taller.

5'8", 210 lbs.

 

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=puckeki01

[Squirrel]

5'8", 210 lbs.

 

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=puckeki01

Yeah, I kept reading after I made that post.

 

All was revealed.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Astudillo was a minor league free agent each of the last 3 offseasons, so front offices have definitely passed on him.

 

But, it's a little more complicated than that. Astudillo didn't become a productive hitter in the high minors until 2017, and that season was marred by injuries / tiny sample (only 128 PA), and also in the notoriously hard-to-read Pacific Coast League. Even his winter league performances in 2015 and 2016 were poor.

 

So it looks like teams were passing on a different hitter than Astudillo is today.

 

(I can't really comment on his defense, although I've seen passing mention of it being below average.)

[ashbury]

and also in the notoriously hard-to-read Pacific Coast League.

And not just PCL, but Reno was his home park. That is a very pleasant place for a fan to visit, but it's lousy for assessing either hitters or pitchers. I would have failed to sign him for a look-see, too.

[Kelly Vance]

Willians comes up to be a catcher so they play him in left field and 3rd base?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Astudillo was a minor league free agent each of the last 3 offseasons, so front offices have definitely passed on him.

 

But, it's a little more complicated than that. Astudillo didn't become a productive hitter in the high minors until 2017, and that season was marred by injuries / tiny sample (only 128 PA), and also in the notoriously hard-to-read Pacific Coast League. Even his winter league performances in 2015 and 2016 were poor.

 

So it looks like teams were passing on a different hitter than Astudillo is today.

 

(I can't really comment on his defense, although I've seen passing mention of it being below average.)

 

I did read somewhere that he was a pretty good pitch framer, for what it's worth.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Looking closer at Astudillo's career path...

 

He started out in the Phillies organization, and they indeed had him on a slow track. 4 years in rookie league ball, then a missed season (injury?), followed by a full year at A ball and a full year at high A. They gave him at-bats, and he was consistently posting 120-130 wRC+ figures, but with pretty low power and they weren't really pushing him either. And he wasn't even playing a whole lot of catcher those years either -- only twice in 6 seasons was it his primary position, both in rookie league. So he became a minor league free agent early, after his age-23 season.

 

Then he signed with the Braves. Probably a good destination for him, they were rebuilding at the time and didn't have a lot at catcher, and indeed they pushed him to AA and made him almost exclusively a catcher there -- but he scuffled, his worst pro season at the plate (79 wRC+). So he was a minor league FA again the following winter.

 

After a second consecutive mediocre showing in winter ball, he apparently signed late with Arizona (April 2017). But again, a good destination to target, not a lot of catching, and despite his struggles in AA, they pushed him to AAA right away. But he started slow in April, and hit the DL a few times, finishing with only 128 PA. But they were good ones, as much as anyone could tell in Reno and the PCL. He followed that with a nice rebound performance in winter league ball too.

 

Interesting that he chose the Twins. Obviously we were not deep at catcher, but we were more set at starter than his previous two destinations. Still I suppose there was plenty of room to be third string or even backup or utility.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I did read somewhere that he was a pretty good pitch framer, for what it's worth.

Interesting. I just noticed how little he has been an exclusive catcher too, which might make it hard to judge his framing (sample size). Only his AA season in the Braves org was he predominantly a catcher.

[Vanimal46]

Willians comes up to be a catcher so they play him in left field and 3rd base?

Who said he was called up to play C? He brought 5 different gloves with him when he got the call. Expectations were set that he'd be playing all over the field.

[Monkeypaws]

Watching him leg out a triple made me laugh out loud yesterday. Made an excellent play at 3rd as well.

[Squirrel]

Okay, I finally edited the title of this thread when too many started misspelling ASTUDILLO’s name.

 

No strudel involved. (Thanks to jokin for that one.)

[mlhouse]

 

Pucket is listed at BBRef 5’8” 178 lb.

 

After he retired Kirby lived for a while in my neighborhood in Plymouth.  Then he was about 5-8, 450.   

[mlhouse]

That the Twins would originally call up Bobby Wilson and Taylor Motter instead of Astudillio reinforces what I have been saying for months, and for years.  Just bad choices in how the roster is composed, being more comforable with "reliable" players who basically have mostly reliable in making outs.

 

GIVE PLAYERS LIKE THIS OR THE YOUNG PROSPECTS THE OPPORTUNITY, not the waiver wire rejections of other teams.

[Vanimal46]

That the Twins would originally call up Bobby Wilson and Taylor Motter instead of Astudillio reinforces what I have been saying for months, and for years. Just bad choices in how the roster is composed, being more comforable with "reliable" players who basically have mostly reliable in making outs.

 

GIVE PLAYERS LIKE THIS OR THE YOUNG PROSPECTS THE OPPORTUNITY, not the waiver wire rejections of other teams.

There have been bad choices, but I'm not sure if Austudillo not getting the call is a hill I want to die on.

 

Have you seen him catch in person? I've only seen the 5 second clip where he threw behind the runner to pick him off at 1st. Wilson, even though he's terrible at hitting, is still an MLB caliber catcher defensively. Maybe they know more than us about their abilities.

[yarnivek1972]

That the Twins would originally call up Bobby Wilson and Taylor Motter instead of Astudillio reinforces what I have been saying for months, and for years. Just bad choices in how the roster is composed, being more comforable with "reliable" players who basically have mostly reliable in making outs.

 

GIVE PLAYERS LIKE THIS OR THE YOUNG PROSPECTS THE OPPORTUNITY, not the waiver wire rejections of other teams.

How is Austudillo not a reject of other teams?

[Squirrel]

There have been bad choices, but I'm not sure if Austudillo not getting the call is a hill I want to die on.

Have you seen him catch in person? I've only seen the 5 second clip where he threw behind the runner to pick him off at 1st. Wilson, even though he's terrible at hitting, is still an MLB caliber catcher defensively. Maybe they know more than us about their abilities.

Why do you keep spelling his name Austudillo? Is this an alternative? I’ve only seen it as Astudillo.

[Vanimal46]

Why do you keep spelling his name Austudillo? Is this an alternative? I’ve only seen it as Astudillo.

Sorry. Not intentional. Phone auto correct from the first time I typed his name.

[Squirrel]

Sorry. Not intentional. Phone auto correct from the first time I typed his name.

I get that all the time ... can’t type ‘game’ or ‘threads’ without one of my devices wanting to caplitalize them.