Joe Jimenez (RP, DET) - Week 21 Waiver Wire Pickups

Brady Grove profiles Detroit Tigers reliever Joe Jimenez as a potential waiver wire acquisition of value for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 21 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

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ANALYSIS: The Detroit Tigers bullpen has seen better days, but at least they have 24-year-old, 2018 All-Star Joe Jimenez to smile on in the present and hold promise for towards the future. The entire Tigers pitching staff has 25 saves for 2019. 22 of those saves were racked up by Shane Greene before he was traded to the Atlanta Braves. Despite pedestrian numbers on the year in total, the high-leverage opportunities have been passed to Jimenez to close out the season, and he has now accumulated three saves for Detroit since August 9th. It wasn't a leap of faith over fellow reliever Buck Farmer either, considering the fact that Jimenez holds a 1.93 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, with 12 strikeouts, just two walks, and a home run allowed over the last 9.1 IP.

The San Juan native is known to throw for impressive velocity across his heater, slider, and changeup, and he appears to finally be hitting an anticipation-worthy stride since his uptick in staff responsibilities. His 35.3% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate for the month of August serve as evidence for his increasing proficiency in the strike zone, and his 20% allowed hard contact rate on batted balls leaves very little opportunity for opponents to do considerable damage. Even if save chances come scarcely for the Detroit Tigers, it's a great time to be in the corner of Joe Jimenez.