Minnesota Twins: 5 Goals for the Twins as the Season Winds Down
By Otto Johnson
Minnesota Twins September Goal No. 3: Get Jovani Moran to the Big Leagues
Jovani Moran is in a very similar spot to Jose Miranda. Moran is one of the top relievers in the farm system as the 24-year-old slots in as the Twins’ No. 26 prospect, and a player who has consistently produced since being converted to a reliever in 2017.
Moran has a 2.41 ERA (3.03 in Triple-AAA) and 109-32 K-BB (45-18 in Triple-AAA) over 67.1 IP this year. He’s been dominant as a reliever in 2021 and had similarly strong years in 2017 and 2018. His career ERA in the minors is a sterling 2.64 and his 1.052 WHIP is very solid.
In terms of playing time for Moran, the situation is a lot less complicated. He’s a better reliever than Andrew Albers and is a lefty to boot, so there’s simply no explanation for why he’s not there and on the 40-man.
His options in relief might be limited with a bullpen of solid contributors ahead of him, but he could be far better than most of those guys. He’ll also be on the team longer and is supposed to be a key piece of the bullpen in the future.
Moran turns 25 in April, so he’s a little older than some the other top prospects the team has, but the to for the former seventh round pick still has loads of talent to show off. It’s time to get the strikeout machine up to the highest level.