What Role Will Robinson Chirinos Have With the Yankees in 2021?
One name on the list of Yankees' non-roster invitees at Spring Training that stands out above the rest is catcher Robinson Chirinos.
Chirinos, 36, has been in the big leagues for nine season, playing for four different teams along the way. In 2020, after starting the campaign with the Texas Rangers, he finished out the year with the Mets. He agreed to a Minor League deal that includes a Spring Training invitation with the Yankees this week.
At the surface, Chirinos appears to be nothing more than a reserve option at catcher. Just look at how many veterans at the position New York brought to Spring Training this time last year. Remember Erik Kratz, Chris Iannetta and Josh Thole?
Digging deeper, however, Chirinos has a connection with ace Gerrit Cole, something the two could potentially recreate in pinstripes.
Over Cole's two seasons with the Astros, Chirinos was also in Houston and the two grew comfortable working together as a battery. Cole threw to Chirinos in 16 different appearances (across 102.1 total innings). In fact, the right-hander has thrown to only five other backstops in his career for more innings than Chirinos.
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It's not just the experience working together that sparks the intrigue here, it's how well Cole has pitched with Chirinos behind the plate. Cole has a 2.46 ERA with 156 strikeouts while holding opposing hitters to a .189 batting average when throwing to Chirinos.
That said, could Chirinos be competing for more than a third-string job here with the Bombers? Is there any way at all that he could break out of camp as New York's backup catcher? Here's what Aaron Boone had to say on Wednesday regarding New York signing the veteran catcher and what it means going forward.
"I'm excited that he was on the board," Boone said. "Especially as a non-roster guy. I think trying to build the most depth and the best possible roster that we can and the fact that we were able to get Robinson this late in the game, to add to, you know, the catching depth on this team, I think is big. Obviously he's a guy with an excellent track record and has had success. So I think it was more just a really good player kind of falling in our lap late in the game and [Brian Cashman] jumped on it."
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Kratz was a non-roster invitee last spring and ended up playing a role for the Yankees during the regular season. It wasn't necessarily a big one, and ended up with two pitching appearance as well, but a reliable third catcher can certainly go a long way. Kratz, 40, made nine starts and 12 appearances behind the dish.
This is all especially true during a pandemic when a player can be out of commission all of a sudden when you least expect it. Not to mention the fact that Gary Sánchez could struggle again this year rather than bouncing back, increasing Kyle Higashioka's playing time once again.
In other words, there are multiple different scenarios where Chirinos will have an opportunity to contribute to New York's championship pursuit this year.
Asked on Thursday about the difference between working with Sánchez and Higashioka, Cole specifically brought up Chirinos. To this ace, all three of those backstops will have a role moving forward.
"Spring Training is a time to build team atmosphere and a good cohesion between the group and there's always a special bond between pitchers and catchers, especially the catchers you know can permeate for both the starting staff and the bullpen," Cole said. "So whether it's Kyle, whether it's Gary, whether it's Robinson, every pitcher's job is to try to foster good communication and continue to make a positive impact on those relationships. So whoever's back there during spring, whoever's back there during the bullpen, it's your job that day to try to get your teammate better and so that's what we'll do."
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