Gimenez Understands The Tough Road Back

Chris Gimenez has had an up and down season so far in 2010.

Gimenez received a 100 at bat cup of coffee with the Indians in 2009 and despite a hot-start, had trouble adjusting to Big League pitching. This year he came out of the gates strong by OPSing 1.013 in April and bashing 5 HR’s in only 48 AB’s and then dipping down to a .679 OPS and 1 HR in 78 AB’s in May. He leveled out in June by posting a .829 OPS and tacking on 3 HR’s. Overall his stat line stands at 279/346/474 on the season.

Gimenez started out playing predominantly left and right field, but has moved to catcher a little more frequently with the call up of Carlos Santana. He has also seen action at first base and third base.

In an interview conducted by Tony during the first series of the season, Chris shared some of his thoughts regarding the transition from AAA to the Majors, his removal from the 40-man and just provided some great insights into the 2010 Clippers and life as a borderline Major Leaguer:

Listening to Chris speak I was struck by how realistic he was regarding his standing within the organization, his own abilities and his insight into the personalities and talents of the players that we follow along in the box scores and stat lines. As an analytically inclined baseball fan, I sometimes forget that the players whose performances I look to slice, dice and distill in an effort to determine some true level of talent, are in fact just normal guys who are working to succeed at a job which pays bills and provides for the families that they truly care about. Chris poignantly said:

“ [2009] was the worst year of my life, baseball-wise, but the best year at the same time….I feel like I had so many different things going on with my wedding and trying to help my wife out and still doing the long distance thing [with my wife] and being in the big leagues for the first time.”

When Chris got the call in 2009 he hit HR’s in his first two starts for the Tribe. He seemed like lightning in a bottle and having a super-utility guy on our bench looked like a tremendously valuable commodity to have. However, like so many prospects, Major League pitchers started to show their teeth. He had trouble adjusting to the advanced stuff, control and approach of Big League pitching. He finished out the year in a slump and by his own admission was ready for a complete restart at the end of the season:

“Last year was a big hit, confidence wise…I just remember at the end of the year I could not wait to get out of that locker room…I find myself thinking back on it and sitting on that couch for a week, and I just wanted to get back into it. I thought about: ‘what if I never make it back to the Big Leagues?’“

His words really show how much these guy's careers and dreams sit on the edge of the knife. They are required to do something extraordinarily difficult (succeed at the highest level of competition) without missing a beat (auditions are often only a fraction of a season, only 111 AB’s in Chris’ case) and are expected to do this while adjusting to a new environment and overcoming the oft-forgotten specter of personal expectations that can cut-down the most supremely talented players.

He has held up his end of the bargain and continued to show the all-around skill set and flexibility that Tribe general management values so highly. Chris’ presence on the Clippers and within the organization are evident in the way he speaks about the other players in the organization. He speaks glowingly and in awe of Carlos Santana’s hitting talent, exclaiming “that kid is going to be something special”, while acknowledging how difficult the mental and defensive side of catching can be. Chris mentioned how valuable Damaso Espino has been in translating to Carlos the nuances of catching.

Along with the personal side of professional ball, we sometimes forget the barriers faced in teaching: Carlos speaks English, but it isn’t his native language and the subtleties of certain words and phrases can’t always be parsed out. Having a player like Espino that not only speaks both languages, but truly understands both languages is invaluable to a team, despite the fact that no box score will ever list Espino’s contributions.

Speaking of intangible contributions, Chris made note of his individual relationship with different pitchers and how getting to know his pitchers led to getting the most out of their stuff:

“Some pitchers, you gotta know how you can manage them and you can simply say ‘get your head on straight’ and other guys you kind of have to coddle. You can’t baby them, but … when you do it the right way; you get the best out of them.”

Finally, Chris and Tony continued to talk and stress the constant fluidity of minor league baseball, the roster process and just how difficult it is to make the permanent jump to the Big Leagues and into the million dollar salaries that we often associate with Major League baseball players. It takes five years in the minors plus six years in the big leagues before they can get that first big contract on the free agent market and no longer deal with arbitration hearings and the threat of being optioned back to the minors. Players need to avoid injuries, poor performance and the inevitable roster squeeze of a hyper-competitive job market in order to get into that echelon of being a ‘Big Leaguer’ that guarantees a salary year in and year out.

Chris is a talented, intelligent and hard-working player that will eventually find his way back on a Major League roster with the Indians or another organization. He knows that the Indians and general management care about him, but he realizes it’s a business and that tough decisions are part of management’s job:

“I know [they have to make] tough decisions…they want to make the organization better. They still think of me as an option, and that’s all I can ask for.”

Posted in: Chris Gimenez,Columbus