Sorry for the gimmicky title, but it's all I could come up with, and I think it perfectly describes what is running through my mind right now. Carlos Gomez needs to go-go away. Quickly.
Go-Go Gomez is 22-years old and is blazing fast. This we know for a fact. He is also supposed to be a great leadoff hitter and have great patience. This we hope is a fact.
He does have 21 stolen bases on the season, but Gomez has not been a great leadoff hitter this year, nor has he displayed great plate discipline.
In fact, Gomez has led off in all but three of the 92 games he has appeared in. When leading off, Gomez's numbers are .249/.284/.350. He has an OPS of .634 and a .321 batting average on balls in play. He has been awful this year, especially this past month.
Gomez started off on a tear when he first arrived with the Twins. In his first 10 games, Gomez was 5-1 in stolen-base attempts, and had a .326/.356/.465 batting line with an .821 OPS.
He didn't have a home run yet, only one triple, four doubles, and only four RBI. But he was performing the way Twins fans thought he would perform.
The thing that should have set the management off, though, was his K/BB ratio. In his first 20 games, Gomez had struck out 24 times, while only drawing two walks. That is simply not good at all.
At that 20-game mark, Gomez had batted first in the lineup every game he was in. He had an OBP of .247 to go with a batting average of .230 and a slugging percentage of .310. He still had only five doubles, one triple, and no long balls. His OPS was also down to .557.
When we skip down to Gomez's 40th game, we find much of the same. A line of .270/.301/.409 went with an OPS of .710. He had stolen 15 bases, but only had 14 RBI to go with it. The worst figure of all was—again—his K/BB ratio: 44 strikeouts to go with a measly six walks.
Gomez is not patient.
Another thing to consider is how little he was rested during this stretch. Gomez played every single one of the Twins' first 20 games, and took only five games off during the second 20.
He has taken one game off since May 17. At the tender age of 22, I think he should be given at least a few more days of rest.
To this day, Gomez has struck out 98 times and has drawn only 15 walks. His strikeout total is seventh in MLB, while his walk total is ninth worst in MLB.
When you add that to Gomez's .285 OBP (which ranks 82nd out of 83 batters who qualify), and the fact that he has led off every game he has started, you start to wonder why he isn't batting ninth, or being sent down to Rochester yet.
The reason behind Gardenhire's insistence of putting Gomez at the top of the order every night is because he doesn't want to "devastate" the 22-year old.
Come on, you're kidding, right? Since when does Gardenhire care more about a player's feelings than his teams' chances of winning?
Of course, there is his defensive range that may be play a part in this decision (or lack of). Gomez has a defensive fielding percentage of .980. He has only made three errors this year, and appears to be in control when in the outfield (despite his comment that he sometimes gets bored and chews his nails).
His range factor is significantly above the major-league average for his position in the same number of games.
Were Denard Span to replace Gomez in center field, and the first batting position, a drop in defensive performance would certainly be evident. The question then would be whether the significant raise in on-base percentage would be worth the drop in defensive production.
I think so.
Span currently has an OBP of .411, 126 points above Gomez. If Span had every plate appearance that Gomez has had this year, there would have been a total of 49 more baserunners that would have had an opportunity to score.
Based on Minnesota's percentage of baserunners that score, that would have translated to 19.11 more runs than Gomez has produced.
Statistics and mentality aside, Gomez simply needs to go away. He has provided Gardy with another player, in addition to Punto, to develop a "man crush" on, and he hasn't been very effective at all.
Do I worry about his potential as a baseball player? Certainly not. He has every chance to be a superstar, and I'm obviously all for it. I am simply worried about the year 2008. I honestly do not believe that the Twins can make the postseason with Gomez batting first in the lineup.
One of two things need to happen very quickly. Either Gomez needs to be moved to the ninth position in the lineup, with Span taking his place, or Gomez needs to spend a few weeks in Rochester with hitting coach Riccardo Ingram.
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2 months ago
I agree 100% with this article in that Gomez needs to be dropped to the nine spot in the lineup, at least while Span is producing and getting on-base on a consistent basis. Gomez' fielding is what keeps him in the lineup, but his speed does not do him any good when he can't get on base. Additionally his bunting has to improve as well.
I have to wonder what you think happens when Cuddyer comes back. In my mind that would be the point when it makes sense to start giving Gomez days off every so often.
from 2 months ago
When Cuddyer comes back everything breaks lose for Minnesota. If they don't send Gomez down, they're in a puzzle.
2 months ago
I have been following Gomez all season for my AL Fantasy Column, and it is down right ridiculous to think that this guy is a leadoff hitter for a contending club. He has like four steals since May to go along with that terrible OBP that you pointed out. And it is getting worse.
Speed is not supposed to go away as it has, and even with that speed, does he deserve to be the guy who gets the most at-bats on your team? Not that this would happen, but I would much rather see a Mauer bat leadoff with his .410 OBP and get 5 at-bats a game as opposed to Gomez. Maybe not the best example as he is a great No. 3 hitter, but the point is that speed is not the most important factor for a leadoff guy. Heck, the Indians have the AL home run leader hitting leadoff. Though he does have good speed too.
I see Span moving to center very soon. And maybe Gomez goes down to AAA when Cuddyer returns. But at the very least, the Twins need to move him out of batting No. 1. He is the worst leadoff hitter in MLB.
from 2 months ago
Totally agree. Like you said, it is downright ridiculous. Gomez obviously the most at-bats of the team, and that is also ridiculous.
Here are Gomez's July numbers:
.154/.203/.200 with an OPS of .403. He has 0 stolen bases, but has been caught once.
I think the fact that he doesn't even have many attempts take a little blame off himself. At 22 years old, most of the time the dugout will call for a steal, I doubt Gomez can make that decision by himself very often.
If the Twins have only sent him once in the last month or so, something is certainly messed up in Gardy's head.
Thanks for the comment!
2 months ago
I realized Gomez's lack of patience when he was with the Mets. When he was up with the team last year and in spring trainign, the amount of potential he has is astounding. He just needs some more work. Patience is not a talent problem, its just a training problem. It can be fixed.
This was the one guy I was very sad to see go in the Santana trade. I can tell you as fact that he is faster than Jose Reyes as well. Jose has admitted it himself. But dont be discouraged as Twins fans, I can tell you this guy will be very good in the near future.
from 2 months ago
No way am I discouraged with Gomez. Like I said in the article, I believe this guy has superstar potential. It will be fun to watch him develop it.
Didn't Gomez say that he beats Reyes eight out of ten times in a race?
2 months ago
He probably does say that, and rightfully so. And like I said, Jose has admitted that Gomez is faster.
2 months ago
Gomez has been killing my fantasy team, I thought when I picked him up in April he would be the greatest pick up in fantasy history but no, he is the only major league player the Twins got for Santana, so far nothing great
2 months ago
WOW! This article caught my eye because I'm a White Sox fan who doesn't follow the Twins on a day-to-day basis other then to see if they won or not. All our home announced Ken "Hawk" Harrelson does is praise Carlos Gomez for being a "special talent" and when the Twins have played the White Sox he's absolutely obliterated us. It's interesting to get a more up-close viewpoint on his struggles. I had no idea. Great article.
from 2 months ago
From what I hear, "Hawk" Harrelson isn't the best place to get your information. :) But that's just me.
Thanks for the feedback and POTD!
2 months ago
Probably pressure to play the main chip in the Santana deal is part of the reason Gomez is still in the majors.
The Marlins however felt no pressure to play Cameron Maybin because he was not ready to play in the majors, and they are doing okay and so is Cody Ross.
Dumb move on the Twins part.
from 2 months ago
Well, Gomez is batting ninth for the first time tonight. Either Gardy is becoming sane again, or he read my blog, lol.
Thanks for the comment!
2 months ago
Hey, Andrew. I don't know beans about baseball, but I enjoy reading your thoughts. Especially glad that you have a wholesome view of life. Jesus #1 and then just enjoy every good gift in life. PB
from 2 months ago
Thanks for the encouragement!
2 months ago
Well hey, if we're gonna put Span in center field everyday instead of Gomez, who's to say Denard won't run out of steam too? I mean, he's 24, and he has about half of the at-bats that Gomez does?
I'm just playing devil's advocate here, I think Denard deserves to stay up here much, much more than Gomez does. But it's akin to why we sent down Macri instead of Mike Lamb when Punto came off the DL...it might be more about experience and hierarchy.
2 months ago
The Twins were crazy to have Gomez in the majors so early. Personally, I think he should have been sent down to the minors and then brought up in September. At least this way he can learn to be more patient at the plate. I agree that he is a tremendous talent. I wish the Mets still had him in their system. They could have had Gomez, Beltran, and Fernando Martinez as their outfielders in 2009. Nothing better than speed in the outfield and great hitting (although Beltran has not exactly been tearing it up this year). Just have patience with the kid Twins fans. He'll come through for you in a big way.
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