Ariel Jurado

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Texas Rangers #31 prospect in 2018
  Jurado went from a skinny, strike-throwing 16-year-old who signed with the Rangers throwing in the mid-to-upper 80s to a sturdy, durable starter who was one of the organization's best pitching prospects entering the 2017 season. Jurado's success stemmed from his ability to pound the zone with one of the heaviest two-seam fastballs in the minors, a pitch that had outstanding movement and generated an abundance of groundballs, weak contact and even some swing-and-miss. In 2017, Jurado kept throwing strikes but the heavy sink on his two-seamer vanished. He fought his arm slot and his lower half, tried changing grips and tinkered with his hand position, but his sinker stayed flat and his groundball rate cratered. Jurado's changeup and slider are 40-45 pitches on the 20-80 scale, so without his two-seamer, Jurado's stuff looked vanilla. If he can re-discover his sinker, Jurado could still fit in at the back of a rotation.
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  Ranked Texas Rangers #3 prospect in 2017
  Jurado was a skinny 16-year-old who threw a lot of strikes with mid- to upper-80s fastballs when the Rangers signed him out of Panama. While he throws harder now that he's nearly 60 pounds heavier, it's his feel for pitching that stands out more than his pure stuff. Jurado throws all three of his pitches for strikes. Everything works off his two-seam fastball, which sits 88-92 mph and touches 94. It's more notable for its hard, heavy sink--he led the high Class A California League in groundout-to-airout ratio--with excellent movement and a high spin rate. He generates a lot of weak contact and more swing-and-miss than other pitchers with his two-seamer. He has good fastball command to both sides down in the zone. Jurado doesn't have a true out pitch, which will test him at higher levels. His changeup is better than his slider, with both pitches having a chance to be average and play up because he locates them. He could return to Double-A Frisco, where he ended last season, but should be in Triple-A quickly and make his major league debut by the end of 2017. He projects as a No. 4 starter with a chance for more because of his command, movement and pitchability.
• 
  Ranked Texas Rangers #19 prospect in 2016
  Jurado signed out of Panama in December 2012, when he was a skinny 16-year-old who threw in the mid-to-high 80s and stood out for his ability to throw strikes. He's added velocity and has proven to be a prolific strike-thrower, averaging just 1.1 walks per nine innings in his career after a strong 2015 season with low Class A Hickory. Jurado's best pitch is his two-seam fastball, which he started throwing in 2014 while dropping down to a low three-quarters arm slot. The pitch has outstanding natural sink, which is why Jurado has become a groundball machine. The two-seamer mostly rides in at 87-92 mph, can touch 94 and it's the pitch he throws most of the time, mixing in a four-seamer as well, pitching effectively with the sinker to both sides of the plate. Jurado mostly has success with one pitch, with his secondary stuff needing improvement to develop a swing-and-miss offering against more advanced hitters. He throws a slurvy, sweeping curveball that can get weak contact at times but isn't a true out pitch, while his changeup remains a work in progress. Jurado should move up to high Class A High Desert in 2016 and could move quickly, with a chance to become a back-end starter once he finds a reliable offspeed weapon.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked California League #10 prospect in 2016
  Pitching in High Desert is often an unwinnable challenge for a 20-year-old, but Jurado mastered it so well he was promoted to Double-A by mid-July. Jurado showed a 90-94 mph two-seam fastball out of a three-quarters arm slot, and he backed it up with a high-spin slider and changeup that projects to at least average. He throws all three for strikes and fills the bottom of the zone. He led Cal League starters with a 2.5 groundout-to-airout ratio. "I thought he was really good, just got overshadowed by the other two guys on their staff (Luis Ortiz and Yohander Mendez)," Visalia manager J.R. House said. "Keeps the ball on the ground, comes after guys. As long as he stays healthy he'll find his way to the big leagues." A three-pitch mix combined with the poise he showed while pitching in High Desert, the most hostile pitching environment in the full-season minors, has raised Jurado's ceiling to that of mid-rotation starter.
• 
  Ranked South Atlantic League #11 prospect in 2015
  Jurado scuttled the Rangers' plans for his season pretty quickly. Texas had planned to keep the righthander to around 100 innings for the year, but from Day One he was so efficient and so consistent for Hickory that he kept racking up innings on miniscule pitch counts. Jurado topped 60 innings by mid-June, leading the Rangers to move him to the bullpen for a while just to keep his innings in check. This level of caution prevented him from pitching enough to qualify for the league ERA title, but if he had his walk rate of 1.1 per nine innings would have led the league easily. Jurado's 90-95 mph fastball was good enough to keep SAL hitters in check even if he didn't always have feel for his changeup or curveball. He mixes a plus sinker with a four-seamer that he can run up to 95 mph, and he also has above-average control to both sides of the plate. Unfortunately for hitters, Jurado usually did have a feel for his other offerings. He mixes in an above-average changeup and a fringe-average curveball.

• December, 2016 Scouting Report
  Background: Jurado was a skinny 16-year-old who threw a lot of strikes with mid- to upper-80s fastballs when the Rangers signed him out of Panama. While he throws harder now that he's nearly 60 pounds heavier, it's his feel for pitching that stands out more than his pure stuff. Scouting Report: Jurado throws all three of his pitches for strikes. Everything works off his two-seam fastball, which sits 88-92 mph and touches 94. It's more notable for its hard, heavy sink--he led the high Class A California League in groundout-to-airout ratio--with excellent movement and a high spin rate. He generates a lot of weak contact and more swing-and-miss than other pitchers with his two-seamer. He has good fastball command to both sides down in the zone. Jurado doesn't have a true out pitch, which will test him at higher levels. His changeup is better than his slider, with both pitches having a chance to be average and play up because he locates them.
  
  The Future: A long season saw Jurado pitch for Panama in a World Baseball Classic qualifier in March and add five starts in Venezuela in October. He could go back to Frisco but should be in Triple-A quickly and make his major league debut by the end of 2017. He projects as a No. 4 starter with a chance for more because of his command, movement and pitchability.