Detroit Tigers: Top 5 Futures Game Alumni

Coming in at Number 5 is Joe Jimenez, who represented the World Team in 2015 and 2016.

Joe Jimenez has been an enigma for the Detroit Tigers, with the undeniable highlight of his career being an All-Star Game appearance at age 23. Jimenez has been up-and-down for the club since then, posting an ERA above 4.00 for his first two seasons and hovering around 7.00 over the last two. He had a rough start to 2021 before being more effective as of late, allowing just four runs over the month of June en route to two victories and a 4.32 ERA. It is unlikely he will return to All-Star form, but the Tigers hope Jimenez can become a middle-inning pitcher who can plug in the gaps for the bullpen.

In his first Futures Game outing, Jimenez recorded 0.2 innings of action, retiring both batters he faced, including a strikeout of future All-Star Aaron Judge. In his second outing, Jimenez retired the only batter he faced, Chance Sisco.

Joe Jimenez has always had the stuff to succeed as a Major League pitcher but has rarely seemed to put it all together for a sustainable amount of time. Here is a clip of him striking out Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, and Ronald Acuna Jr. to show why he could be an impactful big leaguer.