Mets: Andres Gimenez doing the things we wanted from Amed Rosario

In his short time with the New York Mets, Andres Gimenez has been everything fans wanted Amed Rosario to be.

This isn’t an Amed Rosario bashing article. Far from it. I don’t have much to complain about Rosario. Since his debut with the New York Mets, he has grown as a player. He’s still young and I think he has a good big league future in front of him.

No, this isn’t about him or where he struggles. This is an appreciation of the things Andres Gimenez does well.

Gimenez has been on the radar of even some casual Mets fans for a few years. The 21-year-old infielder has been one of the club’s more notable prospects for a few years. His arrival to Flushing in 2020 has been exciting. The style he plays baseball is not something we see from too many Mets players these days.

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Gimenez is smooth on defense, fast on the bases, and he can hit. I think he is exactly what fans were hoping to see from Rosario immediately but had to wait a year and a half to witness. Even then, Rosario’s best defensive days don’t compare to Gimenez.

I know it’s a small sample size. This could all be a hot rookie month. Maybe, like many, I’m just dazzled by the way he fields the ball. It’s unfamiliar territory.

I like to think this is about a little more than some puppy love for a rookie. Call me crazy, but Gimenez looks like he might be one really good big league player.

An area we would all like to see more from him is at the plate. He’s not a spectacular hitter. Last year in Double-A, he hit only .250 with nine home runs.

If I’m going to nitpick on other potential future problems, he gets caught stealing quite a bit. His 28 stolen bases in 2019 are great but the 16 caught stealing are too much for my taste. We can certainly expect those stolen base totals to drop in the major leagues. Will the percentage of times caught also shrink?

Gimenez is a kid still and anyone who has watched baseball long enough knows you should never get attached to any rookie. They are the lost puppy that followed you home; don’t give it a name.

Fans don’t want to see much more from a rookie player other than some excitement. Pete Alonso captured our imagination with power. A year earlier, it was Jeff McNeil with his ability to maybe one day challenge for a batting title.

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Gimenez has checked off all of those rookie boxes early on in 2020. I don’t think he’ll be anything close to what Jose Reyes was during his prime. He can, however, become one of the most fun players to watch 162+ times a year.