How about that Andrés Giménez?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I know it's early in the season. After all, it's only August 6!



But why not raise the question... Is it possible that we have a Rookie-of-the-Year candidate in Andrés Giménez? I have a feeling that even if everyone is healthy, as unlikely as that may be, Andrés will keep playing if he keeps producing. So let's assume he does that.



Are there any obvious competitors that we'd have to worry about?

[Edgy MD]

I've been following the "race." Right now, the main contender is former Met tanning champion Phillip Evans, currently leading the league with a .485 on-base percentage for Pittsburgh.



But behind him, Gimenez is as solid a contender as any.

[LWFS]

How do you forget about a guy nicknamed "https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maydu01.shtmlGingergaard?"



https://a.espncdn.com/photo/2019/0803/r578695_608x342_16-9.jpg>



(Note to our man Gimen: tonsorial appeal helps)

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maybe they should give the awards by Division this year. Have an Eastern Division MVP, Cy Young, etc, and Central, and West. So Gimenez wouldn't be competing against Gingergaard (That's great! I have no idea who he is, but it's a great name!) but against rookies in the NL and AL East. The Mets aren't really sharing a league this year with the Dodgers and Giants and Cubs and Cardinals, but with the Yankees and Red Sox etc.

[LWFS]

XXXXXXX

Edited August 6, 2020 by Guest

[LWFS]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: So Gimenez wouldn't be competing against Gingergaard (That's great! I have no idea who he is, but it's a great name!)...

If you like filthy run on a fastball, the https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/dustin-may-sinker-video-01eezjtbvc5hpitching is https://blogs.fangraphs.com/dodgers-dustin-may-is-dazzling/fun, too.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I know it's early in the season. After all, it's only August 6! But why not raise the question... Is it possible that we have a Rookie-of-the-Year candidate in Andrés Giménez? I have a feeling that even if everyone is healthy, as unlikely as that may be, Andrés will keep playing if he keeps producing. So let's assume he does that. Are there any obvious competitors that we'd have to worry about?

Not only is it possible, but if Gimenez can win the 2020 ROY award while accumulating less than 130 at-bats, he'd still be eligible to win the ROY award next season, as well.

[ashie62]

The book on Gimenez is all star glove but his slight build questions the offense he can bring



Not fair to Gimenez but the "scouts" made Rony Mauricio their designer pick



What a nice dilemma.If things go south play Anres everyday. If Mauricio is working out in Nashville bring him up also!

[Edgy MD]

I take it back somewhat. While fWAR suggests Andrés has been productive in the abstract, his negative WPA tells a tale of him not being productive in the concrete. So if you weight both of those metrics equally, he sits in the back of a still-tight field, but one or two big hits can turn around WPA numbers, especially this early.



(Not for nothing, but "Nashville"?)

	RK		Player		Team		Pos.		fWAR		WPA		AVG
	1		Edwin Rios		Dodgers		1b/3b		0.20		0.69		0.45
	2		Carter Kieboom		Nationals		3b		0.50		0.32		0.41
	3		Phillip Evans		Pirates		lf		0.40		0.21		0.31
	4		Jake Cronenworth		Padres		1b		0.40		0.16		0.28
	5		Yency Almonte		Rockies		rp		0.10		0.41		0.26
	T6		Dennis Santana		Dodgers		rp		0.20		0.26		0.23
	T6		Rowan Wick		Cubs		rp		0.20		0.26		0.23
	T6		Dustin May		Dodgers		sp		0.40		0.05		0.23
	9		J.T. Brubaker		Pirates		rp		0.20		0.20		0.20
	T10		David Peterson		Mets		sp		0.30		0.08		0.19
	T10		Sam Howard		Pirates		rp		0.10		0.28		0.19
	12		Ryan Helsley		Cardinals		rp		0.10		0.26		0.18
	13		Chadwick Tromp		Giants		c		0.20		0.07		0.14
	14		Drew Smith		Mets		rp		0.10		0.14		0.12
	T15		Stefan Crichton		Diamondbacks		rp		0.10		0.10		0.10
	T15		Sam Hilliard		Rockies		rf		0.20		-0.01		0.10
	17		Brusdar Graterol		Dodgers		rp		0.20		-0.08		0.06
	18		Andrés Giménez		Mets		2b/3b/ss		0.20		-0.15		0.03
	19		Javier Guerra		Padres		rp		0.00		0.04		0.02
	20		Mauricio Dubon		Giants		2b/ss		0.00		-0.11		-0.06
	21		Shogo Akayama		Reds		lf		-0.20		0.06		-0.07
	22		Edward Olivares		Padres		rf		-0.20		0.03		-0.09
	23		Tyler Heineman		Giants		c		0.00		-0.24		-0.12
	24		Nico Hoerner		Cubs		2b/ss		0.00		-0.35		-0.18

[Edgy MD]

Javier Guerra, by the way, is trying to pull a Skip Lockwood, debuting in 2018 as a big league thirdbaseman, but now trying to re-establish himself as a big-league reliever.

[ashie62]

Those three big blue Mets prospects are all playing well. Peterson could be freaky good

[Centerfield]

I like Gimenez a lot. Great hands. Fast. And he just kinda looks like a player. Has a swing that suggests he will hit for average.



The problem is he just doesn't have a track record for hitting. A sub .700 OPS at AA isn't exactly encouraging. And the Fall League was nice, but like this season, it's a small sample size.



But he's young. Will fill out, and may learn to hit consistently.



Was surprised to see him listed as 6'. Doesn't seem like he is.

[Edgy MD]

The Mets have a long history — and it's continued under several regimes/development directors — of pushing a class of Latin American infielders hard, so that observations of their seemingly pedestrian offensive stats are frequently tempered by "but that's pretty good considering he was the youngest/second youngest player in the league."



The idea is that they pass a level just proving that they're good enough to belong there, even though they aren't really hitting like All-Stars or anything, and they gain confidence playing with older players, and catch up once they get to the bigs. They are in their third year by the time other players their age are coming up, and they are ready to dominate.



That's the theory, anyhow. I tend to have my doubts. Too often such players have been playing defense at the plate facing older pitching, and they debut with little idea of the strike zone.

[G-Fafif]

The ROY issue has crossed minds, says Jayson Stark in the Athletic.

Here's the deal: We're now two weeks into a 60-game season. There are just seven weeks to go — hopefully. But for the moment at least, baseball's powers that be haven't altered the qualifications for what it means to be “a rookie,” shortened season or no shortened season. And what makes this fascinating is, they're still debating whether changing those qualifications is even a good idea. “We had this discussion with them two weeks ago,” says the Elias Sports Bureau's John Labombarda. “They brought it to our attention, that a player could possibly win the Rookie of the Year without disqualifying himself from winning next year's award.

https://theathletic.com/1978925/2020/08/06/next-up-the-first-two-time-rookie-of-the-year/https://theathletic.com/1978925/2020/08/06/next-up-the-first-two-time-rookie-of-the-year/

[Edgy MD]

That would be interesting and fun.

[Lefty Specialist]

Giminez is up too early, and he's going to struggle. He'll be good long term, though. I agree with the 'Mets push their young Latin players hard' theory. Rosario is a prime example of that.