Minnesota Twins fans, ask and you shall receive: Jovani Moran has officially received the call to the Major League level:
This is true. #MNTwins https://t.co/8URLpd1rhv
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) September 11, 2021
The news was originally tweeted out by Edwin Hernandez Jr., a news-breaker who does a lot of work with the Puerto Rican Winter League and Puerto Rican athletes. Darren Wolfson of KSTP confirmed it four minutes later. It was later officially stated that he’d be taking Randy Dobnak’s spot on the 40-man roster and Andrew Albers’ spot in the majors.
This is big news for the Minnesota Twins, as Moran is currently the No. 26 prospect in the Twins system. Moran is best known for his plus changeup, an elite pitch that allowed him to strike out 333 batters in just 225.1 minor league innings. His fastball isn’t elite for a reliever, sticking around 92-93, but it’s hit 96 before.
He’s had his issues with walks, walking 5.5 batters per nine innings at Triple-AAA this year, but he does a good enough job limiting hits and damage where it doesn’t really matter. It’s very rare that a relief prospect has a lot of hype, and while Moran may not be well-known across baseball, Twins fans like him here.
Earlier this week, I wrote about one of the Twins’ goals for the rest of the season should be promoting Moran and Jose Miranda, as both players have been excellent in the minors. Miranda has been one of the minor leaguers all year, but he remains blocked by Josh Donaldson, Luis Arraez, Andrelton Simmons, and Jorge Polanco.
Moran doesn’t have this issue. As a reliever (and an exceptionally talented one), there is always room for more innings, especially for a franchise that’s trying to preserve two young arms in Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan.
The team also has a limited number of left-handed relievers that they can turn to with Taylor Rogers and Lewis Thorpe on the IL. Danny Coulombe can’t be trusted in big innings, leaving just Caleb Thielbar in important moments. Jovani Moran could come in and get some of those big innings.
It’s very clear that Moran could be a big help to the Minnesota Twins in 2021 and beyond if he can continue to produce like he has in the minors. Twins fans will be waiting excitedly to see how he does in his MLB debut.