Reusse: Florimon's Long Journey

[Seth Stohs]

Reusse: Florimon had long journey to majors | StarTribune.com

 

At Star Tribune, Patrick Reusse wrote a nice article about how long Pedro Florimon has been working toward this goal of being a big league shortstop.

 

Remember that he had 3 or 4 errors in the first week of the season?

 

This season, Florimon has been charged with four errors … and none in his past 27 games. On Thursday night, he shut off a Milwaukee rally with a tremendous stop on a hot shot — turning it into a forceout with a quick flip to Dozier on second base.

 

Also:

“He’s holding his own at the plate,” Gardenhire said.

 

I think if he can hit in that .250 range, we will be thrilled with Florimon. Not bad for a waiver claim!

[TheLeviathan]

The lack of stupid little errors has been the biggest improvement. His defense now actually looks as advertised.

[stringer bell]

See my blog: Defense! It Saved Two Jobs and Solidified One. Florimon's throws to first were an adventure the first couple weeks and Morneau saved him another 3-6 errors early. Now almost every throw has been strong and chest high. Warmer weather and confidence seem to have made a big difference. Pedro has been an asset on defense and certainly hasn't been the problem on offense. While I doubt the ceiling is much higher than his current level of play, Pedro Florimon has done everything asked of him in 2013.

[Joe A. Preusser]

As I've stated elsewhere, Floriman and Dozier could be excellent defensive pieces on a contending team that has Arcia, Sano, Hicks, Mauer, Buxton et al. carrying the offense. If both can hit north of .250 and keep up the level of defense we've seen the past month I would be overjoyed to have them man the middle when he win back to back to back world championships in 2015-2018.

[jokin]

Reusse: Florimon had long journey to majors | StarTribune.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also:

 

I think if he can hit in that .250 range, we will be thrilled with Florimon. Not bad for a waiver claim!

 

I think this is significant. Despite what many on this board have dismissed what actually was yet another Twin advantage when they were down after consecutive last place finishes- ie, "Who cares anyway about claiming someone nobody wants for the 25th man on your roster?"- Constant scanning of the waiver wire can yield helpful pieces to build towards solutions. Guys given an opportunity can sometimes take advantage of the change in scenery and be motivated to focus on their big chance and/or make the necessary changes in their games that have held them back previously. Florimon has always appeared to be talented, just seemed to have lacked the ability to keep his focus for a sustained level of performance necessary for a starting MLB SS. This looks like one the Twins scored on- and demonstrates in real time why you must look to acquire talent from every possible means of acquisition.

[bird]

Based on the article, while the scouting people deserve credit for the find, Gardy deserves some praise for making a good call on Florimon too.