Indians Top 100 Prospects: #18 Chris Gimenez

18. Chris Gimenez - Catcher
Born: 12/27/1982 - Height: 6'2" - Weight: 190 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2004	21	Mahoning Vy	A-	71	260	40	78	23	3	10	38	30	62	2	.300	.419	.527	.946
2005	22	Lake County	A	112	384	54	90	24	1	13	66	48	90	4	.234	.354	.404	.758
2006	23	Lake County	A	91	329	55	84	25	1	11	40	33	72	6	.255	.364	.438	.802
2007	24	Kinston	A+	83	269	56	76	14	1	20	54	50	55	3	.283	.406	.565	.971
	24	Akron	AA	30	113	20	25	6	0	6	12	9	31	1	.221	.285	.434	.719
2008	25	Akron	AA	55	177	46	60	15	1	6	26	52	33	0	.339	.487	.537	1.024
2008	25	Buffalo	AAA	54	195	23	53	9	1	3	19	23	60	2	.272	.354	.374	.728
		Career		496	1727	294	466	116	8	69	255	245	403	18	.270	.385	.466	.851

History:  Gimenez was drafted in the 19th round of the 2004 Draft out of the University of Nevada.  After an impressive professional debut at short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley in 2004, two freak injuries sidetracked his career where a severe staph infection in 2005 almost led to the amputation of his leg and in 2006 an injury to the ligament in his thumb while sliding into second base sidelined him several months.  His power was put on display where he won the Home Run Derby at the 2007 Carolina League All Star Game. 

Strengths & Opportunities:  Gimenez is an athletic player who can play all over the field and do a lot of things. Without any injury setbacks the past two seasons, he has resurrected himself as a top hitting prospect in the system with very good power potential.  He is a physically imposing specimen, and with his chiseled physique arguably may be the strongest player in the Indians system.  He is one of the best makeup guys in the system, and his success the last two years has been the result of a lot of hard work in the cages.  Last season he made a conscientious effort to focus on being more selective at the plate to allow him to get into better hitter's counts and improve his on-base percentage with more walks.  His much improved plate discipline was helped by the Indians winter development program held at Progressive Field last January where after listening to instructors, coaches, front office personnel, and guest speakers it helped him adopt better strike-zone awareness and a penchant for drawing walks.  Because of this hard work, his walk-rate has improved a lot to where he had the best walk-rate in the system last season. 

In 2006, Gimenez was converted to a catcher, and the move to catcher has sort of made him a jack-of-all-trades in that he can play virtually anywhere on the field except the middle at center field, shortstop and second base.  By concentrating just on catching it will allow him to better pick up the nuances of the game from behind the plate, and also help him maintain consistency when he steps into the batters box.  From the start of spring training last year, he put a lot of extra work in before games with catching coordinator Tim Laker working on his mechanics, leaning with a pitch, and receiving the ball.  He is still working through all the mechanical issues with being quick with his release and also making an accurate throw down to second to cut down a would be base-stealer.  He has worked on has transfer-and-throw since he has more of an outfielder's throwing motion and it needed shortening up.  He is extremely strong and durable with the ability to handle injuries and blows at the catching position, and he is a natural leader and has no problem taking charge in a clubhouse or game.  While the Indians are committed to developing him as a catcher and believe he can handle the position, his best position is third base. 

Gimenez still needs to work on staying down through the ball with his swing to generate more backspin when he connects.  He has the tendency to get the bat in the right position, but he generates a lot of topspin because he does not follow through with his swing path which leads to him cutting it off and rotating his shoulders.  If he starts to consistently generate more backspin on his hits, his home run and double totals will surely increase.  He has done well in his conversion to catcher, and the final thing for him is to get more consistent throwing to second base to make sure that he can keep control of a running game.  He also needs more work and experience with his game calling like reading swings and realizing when his pitcher does not have his best stuff. 

Outlook:  When he has been healthy, Gimenez has put up some very good numbers at the plate and proven to be very valuable.  His toughness, durability, and skill with the bat is very intriguing.  He has more than made a name for himself in a utility role, and now that he is on the 40-man roster  - because of that versatility and his powerful bat  - he could be a very valuable bench option for the Indians as a super utility player sometime this coming season or in 2010.  He should open the 2009 season in Triple-A Columbus. 

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr 

Chris Gimenez MinorLeagueBaseball.com stats page 

Chris Gimenez Baseball-Reference page 

Chris Gimenez MinorLeagueSplits.com page 

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