Andres Gimenez

Position: SS
Level: AFL
Affiliate: Scottsdale Scorpions
League: Arizona Fall League
Born: 09/04/1998 (Age: 25)
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 161
B/T: Left / Right
Acquired: Signed as an International Free Agent, July 2nd, 2015 (NYM)

Prospect Spotlight

After working his way all the way to Double-A before his 20th birthday, the Mets shortstop finished his campaign in the AFL playing in limited action, mostly out of position at 2B. A quick and athletic player, Gimenez struggled across the four games I saw, but his age and tools project for a promising big leaguer.

Gimenez looked less comfortable at 2B than the limited innings he got at SS, his natural position. At the keystone, he wasn’t as sure-handed and lacked the same accuracy on his throws that I’ve seen from SS. The actions at both middle infield positions were plus, with good range to the hole and plus body control on charge plays. His hands were inconsistent, but he projects to plus at short with more reps and seasoning, his 55 arm playing well across the position. Offensively, Gimenez has a compact line drive stroke, keeping the bathead in the zone and flashing ability for hard contact to all fields. He struggled against older and more advanced pitching in Fall League, getting exposed against spin and chasing out of the zone. There isn’t much present strength and the hope is he adds some mass to better impact the ball. That strength both gets him to a 55 hit tool and yields 45 raw power, and while he can turn on an inside FB, he projects for 40 game power. His plus speed provides value on the bases.

Gimenez’ defensive tools allow for a high floor, and at just 20-years-old, there’s reason to project across the board. I’m bearing on the future power output, but the four other tools could make him an everyday shortstop at minimum–able to exceed that projection if the power takes a jump or his approach turns a corner in the high-minors.