2022 Prospect Previews: Steven Hajjar

Good information, Jamie.  It is interesting how many pitchers can pick up 2-3 mph or more on their fastball after working with coaches after the draft.  It seems like the Twins may be looking more at the quality of the secondary pitches when making draft picks thinking it is far easier to add some giddy up to a fastball than teach a changeup or slider to someone who has not shown the ability to throw good ones in the past.  I know the Twins love sliders, but boy I love these kids that have great changeups just as much.  I am enjoying this series.  Thank you.

A lefthander throwing 97 is a great asset, especially with secondaries to back it up. This should be interesting to follow.

I liked this pick when the Twins made it. First thing I liked was he was a lefty with a solid build.  Second was most of the analysts thought it was a good pick mainly based on projection as a fair number of them felt he had a bit more in the tank than what he showed that year in college. I agree with everything the OP said.  I think the fastball will play at the top of the zone.  He needs to find a plus third pitch and he should be good.  Pretty excited to see how he does this year.

Two questions.

1.  The baseball card lists him at 240 pounds, but the article says 215.  Which is it?

2.   All his scouting grades are 50 or higher, but his overall is 45.  Are there other components that he sucks at?

1 hour ago, terrydactyls said:

Two questions.

1.  The baseball card lists him at 240 pounds, but the article says 215.  Which is it?

2.   All his scouting grades are 50 or higher, but his overall is 45.  Are there other components that he sucks at?

Always go with the heavier weight, lol. It's amazing how long some of the early weights stick on a guy.

He doesn't have an elite score on any of his scouting grades, which will almost always pull down the overall even if he doesn't have a bad one. Scouts will always prefer a prospect that has at least one elite tool over someone who is average to above-average in everything. And I understand that, because as a kid advances through the system, if you don't have something elite to fall back on it gets harder and harder for you to master more advanced competition.

Hajjar is interesting, and seems like a quality 2nd round pick. If they can up his velocity to the mid-90's consistently without destroying his arm and he can maintain control, then he could move up pretty darn fast. I love the fact that he's a lefty and if really does have a quality changeup that could be fun. It'll be interesting to see if the additional velocity on he fastball helps or hurts it (or had no effect at all, I suppose). The bit of deception in a great changeup is one of those things that's really hard to define, IMHO, and finding what the right differentiation between the velocity of the fastball and the change could be the difference between missing bats, especially if his fastball doesn't have a lot of spin.

3 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Always go with the heavier weight, lol. It's amazing how long some of the early weights stick on a guy.

He doesn't have an elite score on any of his scouting grades, which will almost always pull down the overall even if he doesn't have a bad one. Scouts will always prefer a prospect that has at least one elite tool over someone who is average to above-average in everything. And I understand that, because as a kid advances through the system, if you don't have something elite to fall back on it gets harder and harder for you to master more advanced competition.

Hajjar is interesting, and seems like a quality 2nd round pick. If they can up his velocity to the mid-90's consistently without destroying his arm and he can maintain control, then he could move up pretty darn fast. I love the fact that he's a lefty and if really does have a quality changeup that could be fun. It'll be interesting to see if the additional velocity on he fastball helps or hurts it (or had no effect at all, I suppose). The bit of deception in a great changeup is one of those things that's really hard to define, IMHO, and finding what the right differentiation between the velocity of the fastball and the change could be the difference between missing bats, especially if his fastball doesn't have a lot of spin.

It's hard to believe they added velocity just like that.  Could be a big jump in hos ceiling, especially given his best pitch is a change-up.  He would have Johan like velocity difference between the two.  I am going to be watch a lot of Milb games this year.

Anybody else wonder about any correlation between the magic uptick in velocity and all the arm problems young pitchers everywhere are experiencing?

42 minutes ago, Linus said:

Anybody else wonder about any correlation between the magic uptick in velocity and all the arm problems young pitchers everywhere are experiencing?

Increased torque in the delivery increases the speed of a fastball. That same torque also increases the stress on joints. Some arms can take it, some cannot. There will be those that say it is the increased sliders leading to the injuries. It may be due to the increased speed. Look up the PT who writes here

14 hours ago, Linus said:

Anybody else wonder about any correlation between the magic uptick in velocity and all the arm problems young pitchers everywhere are experiencing?

18 second pitch clock. Velocity will come down across the board, and I suspect injuries as well. Not to mention more CONTACT!

On 1/25/2022 at 8:20 AM, RJA said:

Good information, Jamie.  It is interesting how many pitchers can pick up 2-3 mph or more on their fastball after working with coaches after the draft.  It seems like the Twins may be looking more at the quality of the secondary pitches when making draft picks thinking it is far easier to add some giddy up to a fastball than teach a changeup or slider to someone who has not shown the ability to throw good ones in the past.  I know the Twins love sliders, but boy I love these kids that have great changeups just as much.  I am enjoying this series.  Thank you.

I think the Twins look at guys before drafting them and say, we can see some mechanical adjustment on this guy play A  but not this other guy, player B.  We will take plaer A and add velo with him,   maybe they miss or dont prioritize looking at the secondary stuff tweaks.

 I like the change up especially as a lefty and can better get away with a single breaking ball.  Maybe he will be able to combine the curveball and Slider like Taylor Rogers or Chris Sale did and be able to mix and match.  That slurve seems to be devistating to lefties. He will be another interesting one to follow in 22

On 1/25/2022 at 9:54 AM, Jamie Cameron said:

I'd add that the scouting grades were also pre-draft, so those will need to be updated. Fastball, for example, would be 55 if he's hitting 97 mph with control.

Wouldn't a 97mph FB with decent control rate 60?  Just asking.