Mackey: Why Twins like Suzuki over Pinto

[Otto von Ballpark]

Would he DH in AAA? Or, would he catch 60% of the time, and how is that really different than catching half the time here?

 

Don't know if you looked it up, but yes, the past two seasons (and for his career), Pinto has only caught about 60% of his total games in the minors.

[Mike Sixel]

So basically, he doesn't "catch every day" in the minors either. So what's the point of sending him down to "catch every day"?

[jay]

I don't think you can rely on any 60% number from the past.

 

A. The Twins seem to be almost primarily focused on his catching skills to prove he's ready for MLB.

B. There used to be a guy blocking him at the MLB level who is now a first baseman and there is zero question as to what position they want Pinto to play on a full-time basis at the MLB level.

[jay]

No catcher "catches every day" as a literal statement any way... and we all know that.

 

If the literal definition of the phrase bothers you, just reword it as this...

how much does he need to catch at the MLB level to justify whatever additional experience he could gain at the position in AAA?

[Otto von Ballpark]

I don't think you can rely on any 60% number from the past.

 

A. The Twins seem to be almost primarily focused on his catching skills to prove he's ready for MLB.

B. There used to be a guy blocking him at the MLB level who is now a first baseman and there is zero question as to what position they want Pinto to play on a full-time basis at the MLB level.

 

Fair point. The Twins did ramp up Ramos closer to 75% at AAA, and Pinto was trending that way too after his promotion last year (although fairly small samples, both).

 

Still, 75% of a short AAA season is only 95 games. Given that his bat looks steady and he was ready enough to promote last season, I see no reason why that isn't a reasonable target for his MLB catching load in 2014, with another 20-30 games in our wide-open DH spot. If nothing else, it will be much clearer going into 2015 whether he can handle it.

[Mike Sixel]

Can't he gain that experience in MN?

[Jim Labruno]

If the Twins want Suzuki to mentor Pinto so he is ready to take over the every day job next year or so then Pinto should be up. He learns nothing from Suzuki from being in AAA. But Pinto has not been told he is making the team yet. And out of all 4 catchers in camp he has had the least amount of work behind the plate.

[longstrangetrip]

I enjoyed Phil Miller's article about Suzuki, and it made me like him more. And it seems that with so many pitchers praising him publicly, the die is cast for Kurt catching the majority of games this year. I hope he hits a little.

 

To me, choosing to go with a veteran catcher over a prospect would be a good move if we were in "win now" mode...but we're not. Since this team is a couple years away from contending, isn't it a better idea to have Pinto catching 75% of the games at the major league level (while sitting next to Suzuki in the dugout) to make his transition to every day catcher more rapid? I understand the pitchers want a veteran back there, but as others have pointed out, our pitching staff is made up of veterans. We need Pinto to be a veteran in a couple years when Stewart, Meyer et al are making their debuts, and he's not going to become a veteran playing at Rochester.

[Craig Arko]

Were I a speculation-indulging kind of guy, I might speculate that at the start of the year, Suzuki catches 2/3 of the games, and Pinto 1/3.

 

Before the end of the summer, those fractions will be reversed.

[Riverbrian]

If Pinto starts in AAA or the majors and plays like the player that we all hope he is... And some are confident he is.

 

He will steamroll right into the starting catching position.

 

Suzuki will not block him unless Suzuki plays like the player we hope that Pinto is.

 

Its all in Pinto's hands. This issue will sort itself out.

[Mike Sixel]

I thought it was all in Gardy and Ryan/Antony's hands. Pinto can play well all he wants, but if Gardy wants a vet, he'll play a vet if he's available.

[biggentleben]

Until he was horridly abused in Oakland, leading to injuries aplenty, Suzuki was very solid with the bat. He never had an OPS+ over 100, mind you, but he wasn't a void, either, hitting .272/.329/.398 over that time with solid gap power and solid contact rate (only striking out 11.5% of the time while walking 6.6%). Oakland used him well as a hit-and-run sort of guy with good bat control. He's not a 30-homer guy or a .300 hitter, but he's not a "black hole" on offense.

[snepp]

, but he's not a "black hole" on offense.

 

That depends on if he's more like the .700 OPS hitter from earlier in his career, or the .600 OPS guy from the last two.