Tyler Grimes Position Change

[bobby_baseball]

I read on Twitter this morning that Tyler Grimes spent the winter making the switch to catcher after playing the last two seasons as a shortstop. Jake Mauer made it sound like he'll catch 4-5 days a week for Cedar Rapids this season.

 

I remember being pretty excited when the Twins drafted him. Has the arm and athleticism - and maybe he'll finally hit in his 3rd stint in A-ball.

[ashbury]

I think this is not a totally rare position change for a young guy. Past a certain age it tends to go the opposite direction of course. Hope it goes well for him, though to me it somewhat smacks of desperation.

[Seth Stohs]

It's good to see that the move seems to be working. He just made the move at Instructs, and then this spring.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

From everything I've heard, he's taken well to the new position. His cannon will come in handy in the run game, too.

[Thrylos]

Grimes' issue has not been the position but the bat. He has been hitting a cummulative .209/.315/.359 in 2 seasons in Beloit. He is going to three-peat single A, but I believe he has to perform in order not to be counted among the numerous high round middle infielder busts the Twins have drafted from Colleges recently. Maybe they feel that those numbers are ok for a catcher, since there are several catchers in the organization who perform like that in their respective levels...

[Bob Sacamento]

I saw him in Instructional League just making the switch and to be honest he looked pretty good for not much him there. The coaches were praising him for how quick he took to it. Today I saw him doing drills and some side action and he looks like a natural back there. Good footwork and a strong arm, he still needs to get more reps and work on his blocking.

[Paul Pleiss]

He needs to hit, more than anything else. Organizationally the Twins have a lot of catching depth; for him to be anything more than organizational depth at the lower levels his bat will have to come alive. Minnesota doesn't need another Drew Butera.