Future Watch: Joe Jimenez Rookie Baseball Cards, Tigers

by Russ Cohen | Aug 1, 2017 | Future Watch, Future Watch - Baseball

Future Watch: Joe Jimenez Rookie Baseball Cards, Tigers – Joe Jimenez was an undrafted free agent who was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 2013. After a few seasons of minor league ball, it all started to click for him in 2015. That year, while playing for the Western Michigan Whitecaps, he had a great 5-1 record, 1.47 ERA, a microscopic WHIP and 17 saves in 40 appearances.

In 2016, he played for three teams including the Toledo Mud Hens in AAA. He had a 3-3 record with 30 saves and a 1.51 ERA. He pitched in the Futures Game and was named the Tigers Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Everything was going great and 2017 looked like it would be the year he’d get his big break. The team did purchase his contract, he made the major-league roster and started in his first game on April 13th. He pitched a scoreless ninth but got demoted after that appearance.

Knowing that injuries create opportunities Jimenez got another crack at the big club in July. An injury occurred and he got the call.

Here’s the scouting report on him according to MLB Prospect Pipeline:

Big and strong with terrific mound presence, Jimenez has all of the tools needed to succeed pitching out of the bullpen late in games. He’ll throw his fastball consistently in the 95-98 mph range That and his plus slider, which he continues to tighten, both miss a ton of bats. His changeup has come along and it looked good during instructional league play, giving him a potential weapon against left-handed hitters in the future. For a power reliever, he does stay around the zone, though he can over-rotate at times, which impacts his command.

Joe Jimenez’s most popular card to dates is his Chrome Prospects Autographs card from 2017 Bowman Baseball.

Here’s a look at ham in the WBC:

Jimenez is gaining experience. Next year could be his year.

Author
Recent Posts

Russ Cohen

Russ Cohen is an accomplished writer for www.sportsology.info and radio host for the Sportsology Radio Network and covers multiple sports including writing specifically about the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. He has numerous articles published on NHL.com and other team websites as well as Slam, CSNPhilly.com and FoxSports.com. Some of his articles have appeared in Canadian Sports Collector, Goalie News, New England Hockey Journal, The Hockey News, Beckett Hockey, Blueshirt Bulletin, NHL Publications and he has a monthly column in Center Ice Magazine that is distributed to every amateur hockey rink in the Pennsylvania. Russ has been asked to be a guest on several radio shows as a respected and valued expert on sports and has extensive AM radio experience including Hockey Prospect Radio on NHL Network Radio for the last 14 years, plus TSN 1050 and Sportstalkny WLIE 540 AM.