Yet we have him backing up Jason Castro and not the other way around.
Btw I'm keeping count this year of how many games the bullpen blows for us this year. We're at 1 so far.
I thought it was interesting to hear from Falvey during a game how they were setting up various catcher duties well in advance. I think it's pretty clear from listening to Falvey a couple times recently they really value Castro's defensive ability and handling of the staff etc. Castro for a catcher isn't terrible at the plate either. I mean he started off poorly last year but that wasn't going to be how he hit all season. That position could end up being a relative strength like it was in 2017...that would be a pretty big help.
His career average is like .230. I've brought up defensive stats with Astudillo he's not much worse than Castro at throwing out runners. So he must be a hell of pitch framer and can call hell of a game since our staff era with him is 4.59 and avg runs a game is 4.8.
What's league average batting average for a catcher? It's probably asking too much for him to post numbers like he did his first year with the Twins since they ended up probably the 2nd best of his career. Still as we saw last year you can do worse.
When the Twins signed him he was a top 10 pitch framer. How much does that matter? I don't really know. To me the guy is likely above average in every way as a catcher and hits some extra base hits. Astudillo and Garver both can play other places to get their bats in the lineup. If Castro is healthy and the other guys are playing well enough that Castro ends up playing more like a backup... yeah he will be expensive but he would be a nice backup and...some team
may even trade for him if the Twins are willing to move him. I think we all can agree we want to see Astudillo get a legit shot at playing time including some behind the plate especially if he is hitting...which it's early but so far he has.
The last 3 years it carts from .250-260. Besides his first year with the twins where he still only batted .242. He had 4 straight years were he batted under .220. He was also 52 out of 67 catchers in pop time last year and the year before he was 52 out of 61. He's called a defensive catcher but he's just not that good of one.
So what I'm hearing from you is you value controlling the running game. There seems to be a lot more to being a defensive catcher than that. Thanks for bringing up pop time though I had never heard of that.
bleedspeed177 wrote:Which teams would Castro be an upgrade for?
Let's put it this way...a team actually wanted Bobby Wilson last year. Castro doesn't suck...unless he doesn't return to form after his knee injury which is possible.
Yet we have him backing up Jason Castro and not the other way around.
Btw I'm keeping count this year of how many games the bullpen blows for us this year. We're at 1 so far.
I thought it was interesting to hear from Falvey during a game how they were setting up various catcher duties well in advance. I think it's pretty clear from listening to Falvey a couple times recently they really value Castro's defensive ability and handling of the staff etc. Castro for a catcher isn't terrible at the plate either. I mean he started off poorly last year but that wasn't going to be how he hit all season. That position could end up being a relative strength like it was in 2017...that would be a pretty big help.
His career average is like .230. I've brought up defensive stats with Astudillo he's not much worse than Castro at throwing out runners. So he must be a hell of pitch framer and can call hell of a game since our staff era with him is 4.59 and avg runs a game is 4.8.
What's league average batting average for a catcher? It's probably asking too much for him to post numbers like he did his first year with the Twins since they ended up probably the 2nd best of his career. Still as we saw last year you can do worse.
When the Twins signed him he was a top 10 pitch framer. How much does that matter? I don't really know. To me the guy is likely above average in every way as a catcher and hits some extra base hits. Astudillo and Garver both can play other places to get their bats in the lineup. If Castro is healthy and the other guys are playing well enough that Castro ends up playing more like a backup... yeah he will be expensive but he would be a nice backup and...some team
may even trade for him if the Twins are willing to move him. I think we all can agree we want to see Astudillo get a legit shot at playing time including some behind the plate especially if he is hitting...which it's early but so far he has.
The last 3 years it carts from .250-260. Besides his first year with the twins where he still only batted .242. He had 4 straight years were he batted under .220. He was also 52 out of 67 catchers in pop time last year and the year before he was 52 out of 61. He's called a defensive catcher but he's just not that good of one.
So what I'm hearing from you is you value controlling the running game. There seems to be a lot more to being a defensive catcher than that. Thanks for bringing up pop time though I had never heard of that.
Yes I value pop time more. I guess my point I feel like front office shove down the pitch framing angle on us because Castro was there first big signing. I don't think we should get rid of him. I just think there roles should be flip flopped but from the sounds of it they're going to a committee approach.
Yet we have him backing up Jason Castro and not the other way around.
Btw I'm keeping count this year of how many games the bullpen blows for us this year. We're at 1 so far.
I thought it was interesting to hear from Falvey during a game how they were setting up various catcher duties well in advance. I think it's pretty clear from listening to Falvey a couple times recently they really value Castro's defensive ability and handling of the staff etc. Castro for a catcher isn't terrible at the plate either. I mean he started off poorly last year but that wasn't going to be how he hit all season. That position could end up being a relative strength like it was in 2017...that would be a pretty big help.
His career average is like .230. I've brought up defensive stats with Astudillo he's not much worse than Castro at throwing out runners. So he must be a hell of pitch framer and can call hell of a game since our staff era with him is 4.59 and avg runs a game is 4.8.
What's league average batting average for a catcher? It's probably asking too much for him to post numbers like he did his first year with the Twins since they ended up probably the 2nd best of his career. Still as we saw last year you can do worse.
When the Twins signed him he was a top 10 pitch framer. How much does that matter? I don't really know. To me the guy is likely above average in every way as a catcher and hits some extra base hits. Astudillo and Garver both can play other places to get their bats in the lineup. If Castro is healthy and the other guys are playing well enough that Castro ends up playing more like a backup... yeah he will be expensive but he would be a nice backup and...some team
may even trade for him if the Twins are willing to move him. I think we all can agree we want to see Astudillo get a legit shot at playing time including some behind the plate especially if he is hitting...which it's early but so far he has.
The last 3 years it carts from .250-260. Besides his first year with the twins where he still only batted .242. He had 4 straight years were he batted under .220. He was also 52 out of 67 catchers in pop time last year and the year before he was 52 out of 61. He's called a defensive catcher but he's just not that good of one.
So what I'm hearing from you is you value controlling the running game. There seems to be a lot more to being a defensive catcher than that. Thanks for bringing up pop time though I had never heard of that.
Yes I value pop time more. I guess my point I feel like front office shove down the pitch framing angle on us because Castro was there first big signing. I don't think we should get rid of him. I just think there roles should be flip flopped but from the sounds of it they're going to a committee approach.
I think we can agree that the position of catcher likely has a number of intangibles that stats can't measure. Whether Castro had/has those idk. As for the committee approach...I'm down with it. Like I said Garver and Astudillo can get into the lineup other ways. In addition you can sit Castro some days when he doesn't have a favorable matchup at the plate etc. if someone really performs well they can make an adjustment. Ultimately if Castro is the worst catcher on the roster of these guys...it's likely to be a good thing. I should also say...I'm with you on Castro's defensive wizardry maybe being overstated when he signed. I really wasn't sure he was worth that money either. I was always a Suzuki fan but I do think/recognize he was lacking in some areas and building a pitching staff with a catcher that I think probably handled the staff well but hurt you in other areas wasn't they way they wanted to go. Still like I said that Castro Gimenez combo that first year was pretty good. The players coaching staff and front office could all take a bit of credit imo. Let's hope we don't need Castro especially after this season because Astudillo and Garver have taken the position. If any of the Twins catching prospects look like they are making progress that would be a bonus.
PorkChop wrote:If the Twins continue to play good ball for a good stretch ( say 30 games) what should be done with Sano? Does he have any value on the trade market?
Unfortunately no, he's the Andrew Wiggins of the Twins he holds no value.
bleedspeed177 wrote:Good question about Sano. I wonder if you keep him in the minors until we have an injury. Who does he replace if he when he does come back?
My guess would be Austin, but I just looked and he's out of minor league options. Honestly with Larnach in the minors and with the team filling the gap with Cron. Austin is kind of expendable.
bleedspeed177 wrote:Good question about Sano. I wonder if you keep him in the minors until we have an injury. Who does he replace if he when he does come back?
My guess would be Austin, but I just looked and he's out of minor league options. Honestly with Larnach in the minors and with the team filling the gap with Cron. Austin is kind of expendable.
