Jovani Moran Hoping To Stay Healthy, Build Innings

Sending Jovani Moran to the Arizona Fall League is part of the Twins’ overall development strategy for the lefthander this offseason. It’s a blueprint that—as far as the Twins are concerned—should also include everything from a stint in winter ball to renting him out for your kid’s streetball games, if they can guarantee enough innings.

“More or less, we just need him to pitch,” Twins’ chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said.

“Development is a process, and it’s not as structured or linear as it used to be. Jovani has had some problems staying on the field, but he’s healthy now and he’s shown how effective he can be when he’s feeling good. We want him to absorb what that’s like, and the only way to do that is to pitch.”

Moran, 22, was drafted by the Twins in the seventh round out of Puerto Rico in 2015 and has alternated between thrilling lefthanded-pitching prospect and training room patient ever since. He missed the entire 2016 season after surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow but returned the following summer for a Rookie-ball bullpen stint that was cartoonishly effective. In his return, he recorded a minuscule 0.36 ERA and a strikeout rate of almost two per inning.

“His swing-and-miss rates really get your attention when he’s going good,” Falvey said. “He’s got a slider that can be absolutely devastating.”

Trouble is, that dream season of 2017 constituted only 24.2 innings, and he was available for only 34.1 innings this year at Double-A Pensacola.

With a whip-like pitching motion that produces a fastball in the low to mid-90s, Moran has had occasional elbow flare-ups and a bout of shoulder soreness. He finished the season so strong, however, that the Twins decided to supplement his season with some time in Arizona.

“For some guys, [the AFL is] a reward,” Falvey said. “For others, it’s a chance to learn new pitches or positions. For Jovani, it’s simply making up for lost time.

“He’s got really good pitches—that slider is a real weapon—but he needs more chances to use them. This seems like a good intersection of health and opportunity.”