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Season Preview: Felix Jorge

Matthew Lenz

Entry posted by Matthew Lenz ·

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blog-0985724001520715309.jpgThrough the 2018 Adopt-A-Prospect draft I drafted Felix Jorge with the 27th overall pick as my guy for the upcoming season. It will my objective to give you bi-weekly(ish) updates on the Twins prospect this season, but I wanted to start by providing some background information and project what we might see from him in the 2018 season.

 

Profile

Felix De Jesus Jorge is a 24 year old right handed pitcher who will be entering his 8th season in the Twins organization after being signed as an international free agent in 2011. He made is Major League debut on July 1st, 2017 against the Kansas City Royals. He pitched 5 solid, yet unspectacular innings before getting pulled and eventually shelled in his second and final Major League outing of the season against the Orioles. He enters the 2018 season currently ranked as the Twins 17th best prospect according to MLB and 7th rated pitching prospect. He is currently on the Twins 40 man roster and has been assigned to start the season at AAA Rochester.

 

Scouting Report

Jorge stands at 6' 2", 170 pounds which makes him on the smaller side for your standard Major League pitcher. He has four pitches in his repertoire with his fastball and change-up being his two best pitches followed by his slider and curveball, respectively. His fast ball sits low 90's and then he loses about 10 miles per hour on his change-up, which is a good change of speed. He's a classic Twins pitching prospect as he doesn't overpower hitters, is very hittable, yet has pretty good control averaging about 2.2 walks/9.

 

His delivery is very clean and smooth and he throws from over the top as you can see below from Spring Training a year ago.

 

giphy.gif

 

Projection

Being that we already saw him in 2017, I am confident that we will see him again sometime in 2018. That said, he has fallen down the prospect list in the last year and he will be competing with Fernando Romero and Stephen Gonsalves who are currently rated much higher than him. As it stands right now, I would put him third in the pecking order behind Romero and Gonsalves as those two have had pretty solid springs thus far. With injuries, double headers, and other factors it's hard to know exactly when we'll see him but worst case scenario he will be brought up when rosters are expanded on September 1st. Looking a little more long term, I don't think Jorge as the "stuff" to be a reliable starter at the Major League level. He's still young and has room to improve, but I think a #4 or #5 starter is the top end of what to expect from him. More realistically, I view him as being a guy who could come out of the bullpen as a long or middle reliever down the road.

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DocBauer

Right now, I'd slot him behind Slegers as well for a call up. And that's not a knock on him, but the reality of Slegers having more AAA time.

 

I think you're spot on with him as a solid back end SP, with his role probably being a long and swing man. To me, despite being a very different pitcher overall, he reminds me of Stewart. If he could just get that 3rd pitch to really develop, he might take off.

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Matthew Lenz

 

Does he have a chance to bulk up that 6'2" frame and gain some power?

Good question.  I think at this point he is what he is.  Adding to your frame can be a little dangerous for a pitcher as it also puts more stress on your arm since it is not used to the extra mass.  That said, velocity shouldn't be generated by the arm but more by the legs.

 

Analyzing the GIF above, I would like to see him utilize his lower half more.  This is just an intrasquad scrimmage so he may not be going at 100% but it looks like he more just falls onto his front foot rather than using his back leg as a driving force.

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Matthew Lenz

 

Right now, I'd slot him behind Slegers as well for a call up. And that's not a knock on him, but the reality of Slegers having more AAA time. I think you're spot on with him as a solid back end SP, with his role probably being a long and swing man. To me, despite being a very different pitcher overall, he reminds me of Stewart. If he could just get that 3rd pitch to really develop, he might take off.

With his lack of velo, his career will be defined by locating pitches and having a good repertoire.  He seems to have the control/command part figured out, but as you noted, developing a 3rd pitch will be crucial.

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