RADIO
Joe Jimenez 2020 Outlook: Highly Volatile Closing Option
5 years agoJoe Jimenez emerged as the ninth-inning option for the Tigers after the trade deadline last season, but he found little success converting nine of 14 save opportunities. He finished the 2019 season with an underwhelming 4.37 ERA and 1.32 WHIP, but he provided some fantasy value with 82 strikeouts in 59.2 IP. Jimenez’s results appeared worse than what Statcast said they should have been as his .243 BA and .474 SLG against had expected totals of .215 and .412, respectively. His SIERA also settled at nearly a full run lower than his ERA (3.41), but his inability to keep the ball in the park ended in disaster. The right-hander’s 1.96 HR/9 finished as the eighth-worst mark among all relievers as he only found success in this department with his slider. This delivery was elusive enough to produce a superb 40.5% Whiff% and 40.3% K-rate as only one of these offerings left the yard all season. Jimenez will remain the closer for the Tigers in 2020, which gives him fantasy value for that fact alone. He possesses a high-strikeout arm, but his volatility doesn’t bode well for shining results in the ratio columns. Jimenez owners will have to surround the 25-year-old with reliable arms if they want to call his name around his 219.3 ADP.
