Off Topic
Hot Bat Brings More At Bats
May 21, 2063 The season is only some 30% complete and already veteran catcher Pedro Jimenez is nearly eight runs saved better than Ivan Quintana, his back-up behind the plate. And, yet, in recent weeks, it seems that their roles might well have been reversed. The backup has started ten of the eighteen games in May, and seen 43 plate appearances to Jimenez's 32.
Quintana is
Mr. SlugSo what gives?
It's the bat, stupid. It's that bat that's what gives.
Jimenez had a morbidly obscene start to the season, hitting .217/.276/261 in April, with no homers and only three doubles. In that same period, Qunitana blasted a pair of homers in limited play while posting an eye-raising .353/.425/.588 slash. The man was on fire--and has continued being productive to date through May. And while Jimenez has rebounded to post respectable numbers in his time behind the plate in May, Quintana has still found more and more time.
"We're matching them to our needs at the time," manager Kate Fiscus said. Sometimes that's difficult, but it's nice to have two guys who can get the job done."
The disparity of the two catcher's skill sets has fans of Earth's Team calling them Dr. Gloveman and Mr. Slug.
When asked if Jimenez's contract situation had anything to do with his playing time (he's a free agent at the end of the year, and is rumored to want multiple seasons at considerably more than his current $6.2M salary to re-up with the team), Fiscus grew frosty. "If he didn't hit .217 in April, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
AGENT DISAGREES
Jimenez is
Dr. GlovemanJimenez's agent, the ubiquitous and outspoken Bertie Myers, more than suggested the Fiscus was blowing pure grade smoke. He recently purchased ads in multiple fan circles that read "4.6 4.0 4.0" which are Jimenez's WAR totals for the past three seasons. And he's clearly miffed at his player's reduced profile. "Everyone gets cold for a moment," he said. "That's baseball. But the guy's season slash is fine and his May numbers are outstandingeven better than Qunitana's. So if you're going to throw lines of shit down, you better throw them all."
He went on a longer diatribe about the club also pretending that minor league catchers Carlos Valenzuela and David Castillo could play in the mix, too. "None of them will come close to 4.0," he said after noting that he's made it clear to the team that his client is waiting for a reasonable offer that respects his intelligence. "And that's a fact. Other teams are tossing cash at their players right and left right now, and my guy is arguably the best gloveman in the league right now. So I figure the market for Pedro will be pretty good," he said, referring to multiple in-season extensions that have been enacted, the latest an eye-blistering deal for upwards of $20M a year that Sacramento gave star center fielder Lou Bayou.
May 21, 2063 The season is only some 30% complete and already veteran catcher Pedro Jimenez is nearly eight runs saved better than Ivan Quintana, his back-up behind the plate. And, yet, in recent weeks, it seems that their roles might well have been reversed. The backup has started ten of the eighteen games in May, and seen 43 plate appearances to Jimenez's 32.
Quintana is
Mr. Slug
It's the bat, stupid. It's that bat that's what gives.
Jimenez had a morbidly obscene start to the season, hitting .217/.276/261 in April, with no homers and only three doubles. In that same period, Qunitana blasted a pair of homers in limited play while posting an eye-raising .353/.425/.588 slash. The man was on fire--and has continued being productive to date through May. And while Jimenez has rebounded to post respectable numbers in his time behind the plate in May, Quintana has still found more and more time.
"We're matching them to our needs at the time," manager Kate Fiscus said. Sometimes that's difficult, but it's nice to have two guys who can get the job done."
The disparity of the two catcher's skill sets has fans of Earth's Team calling them Dr. Gloveman and Mr. Slug.
When asked if Jimenez's contract situation had anything to do with his playing time (he's a free agent at the end of the year, and is rumored to want multiple seasons at considerably more than his current $6.2M salary to re-up with the team), Fiscus grew frosty. "If he didn't hit .217 in April, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
AGENT DISAGREES
Jimenez is
Dr. Gloveman
He went on a longer diatribe about the club also pretending that minor league catchers Carlos Valenzuela and David Castillo could play in the mix, too. "None of them will come close to 4.0," he said after noting that he's made it clear to the team that his client is waiting for a reasonable offer that respects his intelligence. "And that's a fact. Other teams are tossing cash at their players right and left right now, and my guy is arguably the best gloveman in the league right now. So I figure the market for Pedro will be pretty good," he said, referring to multiple in-season extensions that have been enacted, the latest an eye-blistering deal for upwards of $20M a year that Sacramento gave star center fielder Lou Bayou.
