Chris Colabello

[jay]

Please refer to this thread for information on one of the best stories in the Twins farm system and my fellow Italiano, Chris Colabello.

 

Position: 1B (primary), LF/RF (secondary)

Bat: R

Throw: R

Height: 6-4

Weight: 220

Signed: Minor League Free Agent - February 2, 2012

Previous: Independent League (Worcester, Canadian-American League)

College: Assumption College

High School: Milford HS (Milford, MA)

Born: October 24, 1983 - Framingham, MA (30 min W of Boston)

 

Baseball-Reference Player Page - here.

MiLB Player Page - here.

[jay]

Stats back to 2005. I'll make updates to 2013 occassionally.

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 800, align: left]

Year

Age

Team

League

Level

G

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

SB

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

OPS

TB

2005

21

Worcester

CAMA

Ind

51

172

24

55

7

0

8

31

3

29

31

.320

.429

.500

.929

86

2006

22

Worcester

CAMA

Ind

90

344

52

105

26

2

7

58

4

30

64

.305

.364

.453

.817

156

2007

23

Nashua, Worcester

CAMA

Ind

91

331

64

100

29

1

13

62

6

45

46

.302

.396

.514

.910

170

2008

24

Worcester

CAMA

Ind

93

357

71

120

34

1

16

76

3

37

44

.336

.402

.571

.974

204

2009

25

Worcester

CAMA

Ind

84

321

48

97

22

0

9

55

3

34

46

.302

.373

.455

.828

146

2010

26

Worcester

CAMA

Ind

82

316

53

95

16

1

13

59

3

29

53

.301

.366

.481

.847

154

2011

27

Worcester

CAMA

Ind

92

365

75

127

32

0

20

79

1

39

39

.348

.410

.600

1.010

219

2012

28

New Britain

EL

AA

134

496

78

141

37

1

19

98

0

47

94

.284

.358

.478

.836

237

2013

29

Rochester

IL

AAA

67

255

43

94

21

0

18

61

1

31

61

.369

.437

.663

1.100

169

Totals

[/TD]

784

2957

508

934

224

6

123

579

24

321

478

.316

.389

.520

.909

1539

Ind

583

2206

387

699

166

5

86

420

23

423

323

.317

.390

.514

.903

1133

AA

AA

134

496

78

141

37

1

19

98

0

47

94

.284

.358

.478

.836

237

AAA

[TD]AAA

67

255

43

94

21

0

18

61

1

31

61

.369

.437

.663

1.016

95

[/TABLE]

[jay]

A recent Q&A by TDer Christopher Fee with Mr. Colabello about Rochester, Indy ball, the WBC, and his goals. Colabello mentions maintaining an even approach and consistent mindframe several times. Twins Daily - Q&A with Chris Colabello

[jay]

Other blogs and articles about Mr. Colabello:

'Happiest Man in Baseball' - Jon Morosi (Foxsports, 2013)

'Paid His Dues' - David Dorsey (FSN, 2013)

'Fairy Tale' - Cody Christy (ND Twins Fan, 2013)

Perseverance - Paul Daley (Sentinel and Entreprise, local MA paper, 2013)

'IL to MLB' - Rhett Bollinger (mlb.com, 2013)

'Good Story, Good Player' - Tom Powers (Pioneer Press, 2012)

'2011 IL Player of the Year' - JJ Cooper (Baseball America, 2011)

[Seth Stohs]

Here is a 12 Questions interview that I did with Colabello around New Years, shortly after he came back from his impressive run in the Mexican Winter League.

 

Twins Daily - 12 Questions With... Chris Colabello

[AlwaysinModeration]

Garrett Jones?

[jay]

Garrett Jones?

 

Umm, no, Chris Colabello. If you're trying to draw comparisons, I can see some.

[jay]

Chris was named the International League Player of the Week (April 4-14):

Colabello named Batavia Downs POTW | Rochester Red Wings News

 

Last night, April 18th, Chris rocked a two-run homer in the first inning and had an RBI later in the game to lead the Red Wings to a 5-4 win that broke their 7 game losing streak. Colabello's 5 home runs this season are tied for 3rd across all of AAA.

[jay]

Since the last update, the Red Wings have played 10 games and Chris is 9 for 38 with a home run and 9 RBIs. His 6 HRs on the season are 2nd within the Twins system behind only some prospect named Miguel Sano and puts him in a tie for 2nd within the Int'l League.

 

The .907 OPS that Chris is sporting leads the team (qualified batters w/ min 2.7 PA/g, ~65 PAs) by a significant margin.

[jay]

Chris is rolling on an 8-game hitting streak right now. During that time, he is 14-for-32 (.438) with 4 multi-hit games.

 

His season triple-slash is sitting at .339/.397/.591 for an OPS of .988. He is top-10 of the Int'l League in runs, hits, HRs, RBIs, AVG, SLG, and OPS. Impressive!

[Shane Wahl]

I wish the Twins would move to a 11-man pitching staff after a few weeks so they could bring Colabello up.

[nicksaviking]

I wish the Twins would move to a 11-man pitching staff after a few weeks so they could bring Colabello up.

 

You are not suggesting that you are less than satisfied with the current pinch hitting options?

[ashbury]

I wish the Twins would move to a 11-man pitching staff after a few weeks so they could bring Colabello up.

 

You saw how they kept Doumit in the game Monday night; they'd likely bring up whichever AAA catcher is healthy.

[jay]

I wish the Twins would move to a 11-man pitching staff after a few weeks so they could bring Colabello up.

 

I hope they DFA T. Wood shortly and at least get Colabello on the 40-man so they can bring him up in spurts when they can do without an extra arm for a bit. Walters, Deduno, and Thomas are the only other options I see right now.

[jorgenswest]

Colabello played in the outfield today. Is Rochester short or are they trying to see if he can play corner of adequately. I am aware that Thomas is injured.

[jay]

Colabello played in the outfield today. Is Rochester short or are they trying to see if he can play corner of adequately. I am aware that Thomas is injured.

 

His BRef page shows he's only dabbled a little in the OF. A total of 11 games over his career (including the Indy Leagues). It certainly wouldn't hurt his chances of making it up to MLB, but it doesn't look like a concerted effort at this point.

[jay]

Chris had a monster game last night! 3 for 4, with 2 HRs, a double, and 5 RBIs.

 

He hasn't had any problems adapting to AAA just yet and continues to mash. On the season, he's in the top 5 of the Int'l League in AVG, SLG, OPS, H, 2B, HR, and RBI. His 10 HRs have him tied for 2nd with some guy named Danny Valencia.

 

.340 / .395 / .621 (1.016) !!

[Siehbiscuit]

If Willingham is sent packing, PLEASE bring this guy up and put him in the lineup (at 1B, preferably)!!!

[jokin]

Chris had a monster game last night! 3 for 4, with 2 HRs, a double, and 5 RBIs.

 

He hasn't had any problems adapting to AAA just yet and continues to mash. On the season, he's in the top 5 of the Int'l League in AVG, SLG, OPS, H, 2B, HR, and RBI. His 10 HRs have him tied for 2nd with some guy named Danny Valencia.

 

.340 / .395 / .621 (1.016) !!

 

Fun with IL numbers:

 

Chris Colabello 4th in IL in OPS (.1016) and SLG (.621)

Jason Pridie 5th in IL in OPS (.971 ) and SLG (.609)

Danny Valencia 6th in IL in OPS (.944) and SLG (.599)

 

Both Pridie and Valencia play for the IL top team, Norfolk, in the Orioles organization (Where Else?), the ultimate home for discarded ex-Twins.

 

(Note: This is not a "Twins screwed up!" post, more of a "Let's put Colabello's numbers in Perspective!" one.)

[jay]

(Note: This is not a "Twins screwed up!" post, more of a "Let's put Colabello's numbers in Perspective!" one.)

 

Future MLB All-Star or not, at least he's definitively better than both of them!

[Shane Wahl]

Those numbers can't be avoided much longer. I actually like Wilkin Ramirez, but something's got to give here.

[jay]

but something's got to give here.

 

Might it be the young OF/1B who has only started 3 of the last 8 games?

[Shane Wahl]

Might it be the young OF/1B who has only started 3 of the last 8 games?

 

Well that would be a terrible idea right now. The Twins did their best to ruin Parmelee last year, and it is a bit precarious again this year for him.

[jay]

Well that would be a terrible idea right now. The Twins did their best to ruin Parmelee last year, and it is a bit precarious again this year for him.

 

I completely agree on all points, but his recent playing time would seem to indicate we're inching towards it. Something at the MLB level has to give. If Hicks, Arcia, and Willingham are going to play, I'd rather see Parm in AAA with Colabello as a bench option. Maybe Parm comes back for good if/when a mid-season trade takes place.

 

Ramirez has been okay, but I wouldn't mind seeing Colabello replace him outright now.

[jokin]

Future MLB All-Star or not, at least he's definitively better than both of them!

 

Don't get me wrong, Colabello making the ML roster would be a spectacular story. Who, but anyone with a heart of stone wouldn't be pulling for a guy with his story, who hung in there for years in ignominy, gets to play for his ancestral home on the world stage, and is poised to finally get a MLB call-up just short of his 30th birthday. I just wanted to point out, if you look at the batting leaders in the top 10 of the IL, they are virtually all AAAA suspects, not prospects. Remember,Clete Thomas was #1 in the League at one point a couple weeks ago.

 

Again, in a season that the Twins punted away anyway, I'd love to see what Colabello can do. I just want to be realistic about the long odds of him having it work out.

[stringer bell]

More likely that he is Bernardo Brito or Mark Funderburk than Garrett Jones. However, I believe he would be a decent fit as occasional RH DH and bench bat. It looks like he is pretty close to brutal in the field.

 

I really would like to see Parmelee thrive and I think it is in him, but when the best part of your game as a 1B/RF is your defense, and you are Parmelee's size, you have to worry about your major league future.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I was thinking Randy Ruiz -- who actually did have a nice little run one season for the Blue Jays.

[stringer bell]

I was thinking Randy Ruiz -- who actually did have a nice little run one season for the Blue Jays.

I was going to mention that guy, but just couldn't remember his name and I don't have any reference materials at work. Ruiz, Funderburk and Brito were all guys that hit RH, really couldn't play a position and lit up minor league pitching as older players (IIRC).

[jay]

I'd love to see what Colabello can do. I just want to be realistic about the long odds of him having it work out.

 

I think we're all on the same page with you here. The odds of him becoming even an average regular are nothing short of long, but we can hope... [add extra dramaticism] and if we have hope, we have a chance.

 

As pointed out in today's minor league report...

The other thing worth mentioning is that Colabello's jack was off Chris Archer' date=' the Ray's #4 prospect, and #43 in all of baseball (according to MLB.com). That means Colabello has hit his 3 homers in the past two days off of the #3 and #4 (and #42 and #43) prospects for the Rays. Pretty impressive.[/quote']

[greengoblinrulz]

After Sunday's game

3rd in BAve .361

5th in OBP .419

2nd in SLgg .657

2nd in OPD 1.076

1st in doubles 17

Tied first in HR 11

3rd in RBI 34

1st in TB 111

 

Team is not a contender & is on pace to lose 89gms. They can use some offensive help for sure...15th runs 24th in slgg

If he was 5yrs younger, he'd be here so this proves how MN moves people around due to age, not performance.

Not sure who he replaces tho....have to go w/Parm. Ramirez isnt a major leaguer either but ya need a backup CF.

Find a way Twins.