For years Minnesota Twins fans have been waiting for Jose Berrios to reach the major league level, and finally when it looks like that has a chance to happen in 2016, there’s a new pitching prospect for fans to be excited about.
MLB Pipeline named Twins minor league lefty Tyler Jay as the No. 5 left-handed pitching prospect in professional baseball.
“Jay has the repertoire and the command to be a starter, and that’s how Minnesota plans to develop him. He could have at least four Major League average pitches with above-average control when all is said and done.”
Jay finds himself among some of the biggest name prospects in Major League Baseball.
The Twins made Jay the top left-handed pitcher taken in the 2015 draft when they selected him at No. 6 overall out of Illinois. He was primarily a reliever in college, but the Twins are planning to develop him as a starter.
Scouts predict that Jay’s fastball eventually will settle in between 93-95 mph. They also rave about his slider and note that he has a curve ball and change up.
2015 first-rounder Tyler Jay ranks fifth on the @Twins' Top 10 list. https://t.co/I037oIpgpP pic.twitter.com/NnAZ35wpqz
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) January 13, 2016
According to MLB Pipeline, Jay is already the Twins No. 3 prospect, behind only Berrios and Byron Buxton.
Left-handed starters are not something the Twins have a lot of – not on their big league roster nor in their minor league system.
Tommy Milone is the only lefty in the mix to make the Twins rotation, while Stephen Gonsalves is the only other top 10 Twins prospect, who figures to be a left-handed starter.
While it might be a couple of seasons before Jay makes it to the majors, it appears the team has another young arm that fans can get excited to see.
