The Reds have acquired left-hander Tyler Jay from the Twins, according to Roster Roundup. There’s no word on what the Twins received, but they presumably got a meager return for Jay.
The Twins used the sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft on Jay, who starred as a reliever at the University of Illinois. At the time Minnesota selected him, there was plenty of optimism Jay would continue to thrive in the majors as either a reliever or starter. But injuries – including to Jay’s shoulder and neck – have helped derail his career since he entered the professional ranks.
The 25-year-old Jay hasn’t yet ascended past the Double-A level, where he has pitched since 2017 and owns a 4.60 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 103 2/3 innings. While assessing the Twins’ prospects this past April, Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs wrote Jay remains “a multi-pitch lefty with average stuff, and that seems rosterable.” The Twins disagreed, even after all they invested in Jay, leaving the Reds to hope he’ll one day realize some of his vast potential in their uniform.
“Seems rosterable” is not the praise you like to here about your former first round pick.
Damning with faint praise?
He has good stuff when he can stay on the field. He was a bulldog at Illinois but it appears he and Corey Sedlock have had different paths.
Apparently not. He had good stuff in college and it did not translate to the pro game, clearly.
He doesn’t have good stuff. He hasn’t been able to make the adjustment to higher quality competition and has struggled to hit the strike zone or fool batters for whatever reason.
This is why you shouldn’t use super high picks on college relievers. Historically they have one of the worst success rates of any position when it comes to making it to the big leagues. And even the ones that make it tend to flame out quickly. With a pick as high as 6, you need to go a safer route.
They didn’t draft him as a reliever. They drafted him because he had 4 pitches and they thought they could make him a starter.
I was so ticked when the Twins picked Jay instead of Benintendi. For as much time as we gave Wimmers to perform, this seems really strange.
Comparing the two, Wimmers actually had stuff. Just another bad pick by Terry Ryan. It shouldn’t seem strange…gotta make room for draft picks.
Falvine have not been known for their sentimentality about Terry Ryan’s crappy picks. He was always a big subscriber to the fallacy that you need to waste time on formerly well-regarded draft picks just because they might come back and burn you. TR always seemed terrified that everybody might turn out to be David Ortiz. Well, usually they don’t. If they’re not part of the plan going forward, move on to something else that aligns with the plan, and don’t waste any more time.
Jay is from the from the same hometown as me so I wish him nothing but the best. If he can avoid injury he may have a decent chance at making the show.
If he can avoid injury, develop better command, improve his velocity and develop his curve or changeup further, he has a decent chance at making the show.
Was listed on MLB transaction log yesterday morning. Cash considerations.
It’s fine. Twins failed quite a bit picking pitchers with their top picks. It was an organizational flaw in that they valued control pitchers over power arms and the results of that approach speak for themselves. Gladly they have shifted their mentality over the years and have put together some very nice drafts that have produced big league talent. 43-21 Tyler who?
Tyler Jay wasn’t considered a “control” pitcher. He was a reach trying to convert a reliever from a 95-96mph fastball with an 86mph slider into a starter, hoping his changeup and curveball could be developed further.
In the end, his mechanics led to injuries, he lost his velocity and his changeup and curve never developed.
JD 396: Excellent post………hoping that Falvine don’t sit around and wait to see the best RP’s available now get gobbled up by other contending teams. The days of TR I’m hoping are long gone. Time is NOW for Falvey to trade some prospects for some legit arms….dangling Nick Gordon and another low level prospect for Shane Greene would be, imo, a positive first step.