Top 50 Twins Prospects 2009: #5 Jose Mijares

2009 Top 50 Twins Prospects | #5 | Jose Mijares

Position | Pitcher

Bats/Throws | Left/Left

Born | October 29, 1984 (Caracas, Venezuela)

School | Not Available

Height | 6'0''

Weight | 230 lbs.

2008 Ranking | 32




Breakdown
There's just so much that can be said about Jose Mijares. The Twins signed Mijares as a non-drafted free agent in March of 2002. He had OK numbers from 2004-2007 while making his way from Rookie Ball all the way up to Triple-A. Prior to the 2008 season, Mijares was involved in a car crash that hurt his shoulder and broke his left arm last January. Many originally thought that the injury could have even been potentially career-ending, but he defeated the odds and returned to action in June and not only did he come back, he dominated his competition while doing so. After stops in the Gulf Coast League, Ft. Myers and New Britain, the Twins thought Mijares was ready for the "Big Show" and recalled him from Double-A despite only having 8.2 innings of experience at Triple-A (which happened in 2007). Mijares was nothing short of spectacular in his 10 games with the Twins. Despite having erratic command throughout his career, he had a 4.2 K/BB ratio in 2008 and gave up no walks while with the Twins. He showed great command of all of his pitches and his velocity on his fastball was in the mid-90's, where it was prior to his injury. The thing that has always held Mijares back, besides his lack of command, is his attitude both on and off the field. He's clashed with coaches and right when everyone thought those days were behind him, this winter he "had a rift with manager Buddy Bailey and walked out on the team." Mijares has drawn comparisons to former Twins reliever J.C. Romero, which seems pretty accurate. Both have great stuff, but are head cases with command problems. Hopefully the Twins can "tame" Mijares better than they could Romero because they have a very talented pitcher on their hands that could be a dominating reliever, which is something this ballclub desperately needs right now.

2008 Statistics

Level      W      L      ERA      IP      K      BB      WHIP     FIP

R          2      1     2.45    11.0     16       1      1.00    0.56
A+         0      0     2.61    10.1      8       3      0.97    2.52
AA         1      1     2.93    15.1     17       7      1.50    4.05
MLB        0      1     0.87    10.1      5       0      0.29    2.16

2009 Outlook
Mijares will have to prove that his off-field antics are behind him and win a roster spot. Despite what many think, he doesn't have a locked-spot in the bullpen.

Pitching Repertoire

• Fastball
• Curveball
• Slider

Video

Sorry, it's the best I could do.

Estimated Time of Arrival
2008