Catchers Jason Castro and Chris Gimenez have brought a much-needed boost defensively this year for the Twins, but the two don’t bring a lot to the table offensively.
Castro is hitting .223, while Gimenez is below the Mendoza line with an average of just .196. But down in Triple-A Rochester, Twins catching prospect Mitch Garver is destroying baseballs.
Who is this guy?
In 71 games this season, he’s smacked 14 home runs and has a slugging percentage of .532 at the plate; while having a batting average of .282.
But he’s not one-dimensional, he’s also been just as effective behind the plate, having thrown out 31 percent of potential base stealers and has committed just three errors.
The 26-year-old backstop has been in Twins organization since 2012 when he was drafted in the 9th round of the MLB Draft.
So what’s the problem?
Although Castro and Gimenez have helped the Twins to turnaround season, finding catchers who can do both are tough to find. Typically catchers are either one dimensional – either they’re great offensively and bad on defense or vice-versa.
Which is why players like Buster Posey, Salvador Perez and Yasmani Grandal are insanely valuable because they can do both.
Currently in the MLB, there’s just seven catchers who are hitting over .270 this season – based on a minimum of 250 at bats.
Learn from your mistakes
Remember in 2010, when the Twins traded highly-touted catching prospect Wilson Ramos for reliever Matt Caps – which was an epic fail – and then they didn’t have any kind of catching depth after Joe Mauer’s injuries forced him to first base?
Castro is signed through the 2019 season and he’s mostly getting paid for his defensive abilities.
If Garver is the real deal, Minnesota can’t wait for three more years until Castro is a free agent, so he may end up forcing the Twins hand sooner rather than later.
