Joe Jimenez Stats & Scouting Report

IP	68.2
ERA	2.62
WHIP	.99
BB/9	3.01
SO/9	10.75

Full name Joe Alexander Jiménez
Born 01/17/1995 in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Profile Ht.: 6'3" / Wt.: 277 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Puerto Rico Baseball Academy
Debut 04/13/2017

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Jimenez was an effective reliever for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and he followed that up by making his big league debut just a week into the season. He went up and down between Triple-A and the major leagues with the exception of May when he went on the disabled list with a back injury. Jimenez dominated with Triple-A Toledo largely on the basis of his fastball, but every time he returned to Detroit he found his wildness and lack of a consistent slider led to too many big innings. Jimenez's 94-96 mph plus fastball is effective but not good enough unless his inconsistent slider improves. Jimenez's slider flashes above-average, but too often it flattens out. He also has to prove it's more than just a chase pitch, because big league hitters laid off of it and waited for him to come back to the fastball. He will mix in a fringy changeup exclusively against lefthanded hitters. Jimenez's control is also below-average. If Jimenez improves his control or refines his slider, he has the stuff to be a seventh/eighth-inning reliever, but he can't succeed long-term without doing one of the two. He's worked to get into better shape to prepare for a pivotal 2018 season.
After teams passed on Jimenez out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy in 2013, the Tigers decided to take a flyer on him as an undrafted free agent. They were rewarded with a jump in velocity and one of the fastest-moving relievers in their system. Jimenez has pitched in the last two Futures Games, and rose to Triple-A in 2016 after beginning the year in high Class A Lakeland. Jimenez throws from a three-quarters arm slot and can get across his body at times, which leads to command issues the Tigers have worked to clean up. He has primarily been a two-pitch pitcher in his career, coupling a 93-98 mph fastball with a slider he uses to get swings and misses. He worked this year to tighten the break on his slider, which some evaluators described as having slurve-type break. Jimenez has also worked on adding a changeup to his repertoire. The pitch currently gets the fade necessary but Jimenez slows his arm during his delivery, which detracts from its effectiveness. He is likely to return to Triple-A in 2017 to continue working on improving his command and achieving his ceiling as a setup man.
Teams whiffed on Jimenez as an amateur, when he went undrafted out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy in 2013 and signed with the Tigers as a nondrafted free agent. His velocity jumped quickly, with Jimenez quickly proving to be a bargain as he served as closer for low Class A West Michigan during its Midwest League championship run. He pitched well this winter in Puerto Rico (19-1 K-BB mark in 14 innings). Developed as a reliever since he signed, Jimenez struck out 38 percent of the batters he faced for West Michigan. Jimenez does it with two pitches, starting with a fastball that ranges from 94-99 mph. The fastball has sneaky late life, which combined with his velocity makes it a swing-and-miss pitch. Jimenez can also miss bats with his 55 slider, which he adds and subtracts from, throwing it with more force as a putaway pitch when he gets to a two-strike count. There's effort to Jimenez's delivery and his arm stroke is long, but he has deception, repeats his mechanics and is able to throw consistent strikes, with his stuff effective against both righties and lefties so far. Being a relief prospect limits his ceiling on Jimenez and he still has several levels to climb to get there, but he has the stuff and control to be a major league closer. He's advanced enough that the Tigers could fast-track him through the system if they wanted to do so, with high Class A Lakeland his next move.
Jimenez signed with the Tigers as a nondrafted free agent out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy in 2013 and has quickly looked like a steal. After throwing in the low 90s in high school, Jimenez spiked his velocity up to 95-98 mph. Even though Jimenez has a long arm action and effort in his delivery, he's able to repeat his mechanics surprisingly well and throw plenty of strikes. His fastball is a swing-and-miss pitch, but he also made strides tightening up the break on his slider over the course of the season. He can manipulate the shape and speed of the pitch, throwing it softer for an early-count strike then ramping it up for a harder-breaking chase pitch when he's ahead in the count. With one plus pitch in his fastball and a second in his slider, Jimenez has the weapons to profile in a big league bullpen and the control to move quickly through the system if the Tigers want to push him, with low Class A West Michigan his next stop.

Minor League Top Prospects

Since signing as a nondrafted free agent out of Puerto Rico, Jimenez has struck out 12.7 batters per nine innings during stints in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and NYPL. He was the centerpiece of Connecticut's strong bullpen this summer, blowing hitters away with premium velocity. The physical Jimenez has a high-effort delivery that produces 95-98 mph heat, and he has surprising control of his fastball and his slider. "He made tremendous improvement with the slider," Connecticut manager Mike Rabelo said. "He could throw it as a get-me-over slider, where he would mix it in behind in the count, and had his put-away slider. To start the season, it had a little more air underneath it, a little more loopy. As the season progressed, it was tighter. It's nasty at about 83-85 mph." Jimenez is a reliever all the way, but he has back-of-the-bullpen upside, and still is young for his level.