We’ve learned the following while watching new Twins center fielder Carlos Gomez during the first month of the season: no bathroom breaks or channel surfing when he is batting or on base. The best advice is to keep your TV set tuned to the Twins’ telecast all the time because the 22-year-old entertainment machine may do something spectacular in the outfield, too.
On a team looking for box office draws after losing mega stars Torii Hunter and Johan Santana during the off season, the Twins offer a potential replacement in the intriguingly unpredictable Gomez. Blessed with running speed more common on a track than a baseball diamond, Gomez frequently has Twins fans applauding, but also sometimes wincing.
He seems capable of maintaining a minimum .250 batting average on bunts alone, a staple of his 14 total hits in 12 games so far. He has so much speed that even a not so well placed bunt is almost a sure base hit for him. With his numerous bunts and other hits Gomez has an average of .269, falling off over the weekend from above .300 because of a 2-14 series in Kansas City.
Once he reaches first base, the nail-biting begins for other teams, particularly the pitcher and catcher who reach for the Tums. Gomez is about as reliable in stealing a base as he is beating out a bunt. He has stolen five in six attempts
Not that it’s all good with Gomez. He’s a raw talent, learning on the job after playing in 58 games with the New York Mets during the 2007 season. A week ago Sunday, for example, Gomez was thrown out against Kansas City trying to stretch a routine single into a double at the Metrodome. Last Tuesday in Chicago against the White Sox left hander John Danks picked him off first base after he had drawn a walk. In a game earlier this season against Los Angeles he tried and failed with a sacrifice bunt because he was apparently bunting for a base hit. Just Saturday night in Kansas City he struck out with the bases loaded when he chased bad pitches.
It doesn’t take long, though, for Gomez to jump-start the applause meter again. For example, soon after being picked off first base in the White Sox game he made an all out run and sensational diving catch in the outfield to prevent a Chicago base hit.
The precocious Dominican came over to the Twins, of course, in the trade that sent Santana to the Mets. Three pitchers, none of them on Twins roster currently, came, too, so it’s Gomez that has the local public feeling better about the loss of the two-time Cy Young winner.
After last season Gomez was rated the third best prospect in the Mets’ organization by Baseball America. He came up to the Mets in May of last season as a 21-year-old rookie who had been leading the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in stolen bases with 17 while playing for New Orleans. His minor league numbers included a 2005 season when he stole 64 bases playing for Hagerstown, Maryland in Class A.
Gomez hit .232 with the Mets in 58 games and 125 at-bats. He had two home runs, 12 RBI and 12 stolen bases. Presumably those numbers would have been better had he not missed almost two months of the season after fracturing a small bone in his left wrist while batting.
With the energy of the youngster he is, Gomez frequently is diving into bases. It does add to the excitement of watching him but it probably brings out the worry warts among the Twins management, fearing he will be injured.
As he adds experience and judgment, Gomez will play smarter, probably lessening his contact with the ground, plus swinging at better pitches and maximizing opportunities to run for extra bases, and throwing with more accuracy from the outfield. But, hey, this guy is just getting started and before long his resume is likely to grow with accomplishments ranging from stealing home to a timely home run, and to a circus catch and throw from deep center field.
Let the applause continue.