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Will Joe Jimenez be a reliable closer for the Detroit Tigers?

By Tyler Kotila

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 30: Joe Jimenez #77 of the Detroit Tigers throws a pitch in the eighth inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 30, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Tigers won 3-1. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 30: Joe Jimenez #77 of the Detroit Tigers throws a pitch in the eighth inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 30, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Tigers won 3-1. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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The Detroit Tigers recently traded closer Shane Greene to the Atlanta Braves which means it’s election season for a new closer. The track record proves its most likely going to be Joe Jimenez.

In 2018 Joe Jimenez was the Detroit Tigers, all-star game representative while having a pretty good season for the Tigers. Now the 2019 season, that’s a different story for Jimenez. He has appeared in forty-seven games for the Tigers boasting a lovely 4.93 ERA. Jimenez has struck out fifty-nine batters throughout forty-two innings thrown this season. Jimenez is currently the first in line to be the Tigers new closer for the remainder of the horrid 2019 season.

Coming up through the Tigers farm system, Jimenez had a lot of buzz and intrigue from the organization. He was touted as a flame-throwing late-game reliever. The twenty-four-year-old is in the top twenty percent of the league for velocity and the top four percent of the league in spin rate. He’s now going to get his shot to be the Tigers closer at least for the remainder of the season.

This is a perfect opportunity for Jimenez to try to prove himself as a go-to arm for the Tigers late in games. Jimenez is someone the Tigers can trot out there to close out the very few games they’ll win between now and the end of the year. If he blows the save/lead, it’s okay because it’s not like the team is contending. It is the perfect audition for Jimenez to try his hand as a closer.

Besides Jimenez, if that experiment goes south quickly there are a few other options the Tigers have as well. Coming off a solid month of July, Buck Farmer could be a candidate arm for the Tigers back-end opening. Fans could even see someone like Nick Ramirez he tossed out there for an inning late in the game to continue to make him into a versatile arm like Ryan Yarbrough, Nick Anderson, or Diego Castillo of the Tampa Bay Rays.

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The bottom line is, the job is open, and it is in Jimenez’s hands now to either brick it or be the next closer. Hopefully, he can get the ERA under control and get the job done on the few attempts the Tigers will provide him with on the remainder of the season. Look for Jimenez to lock down the job with some possible competition from Farmer and Ramirez if he cannot get things done.

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