Joe Jimenez

Joe Jimenez

28-Year-Old PitcherRP
Atlanta Braves
2023 Fantasy Outlook
After scaling back on his fastball in 2021, both in terms of pitch usage and velocity, Jimenez threw his 4-seamer more often (64% usage) last season at a career-high 95.7 mph. He mixed in an effective slider (31%) and occasional changeup (5%) to left-handed batters for an arsenal that yielded career-best strikeout (33.3%) and walk (5.6%) rates. Jimenez's 27.7% K-BB% was 8th-best among qualified relievers and he also set personal marks with a 3.49 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. The right-hander's .328 BABIP was a bit unlucky, while his 1.99 FIP and 2.90 xERA indicate his ratios could have been even better. With 20 saves and 58 holds on his big-league resume, Jimenez has enough high-leverage experience to make do on his "closer of the future" tag from long ago. Don't expect an abundance of saves now that he has been traded to Atlanta, who has a deep bullpen with plenty of capable arms for the ninth inning. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#575
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $2.77 million contract with the Braves in January of 2023.
Activated from paternity leave
PAtlanta Braves
April 29, 2023
Jimenez was activated Saturday from the paternity list.
ANALYSIS
Jimenez will return to Atlanta's bullpen ahead of Saturday's game against the Mets after welcoming a new addition to his growing family. The former Tigers closer has pitched well out of the gate this season for the reigning NL East champs.
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Pitching Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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2018 MLB Game Log
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2017 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
16
Last 10 Games
16
Last 5 Games
17
How many pitches does Joe Jimenez generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Joe Jimenez generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2021
 
 
-5%
BAA vs RHP
2023
 
 
-37%
BAA vs LHP
2022
 
 
-19%
BAA vs RHP
2021
 
 
-10%
BAA vs RHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2021vs Left .232 206 59 22 42 10 1 6
Since 2021vs Right .221 317 99 32 61 15 2 8
2023vs Left .192 27 5 1 5 1 0 2
2023vs Right .306 55 19 5 15 5 0 2
2022vs Left .253 97 32 6 23 6 0 2
2022vs Right .206 134 45 7 26 3 2 2
2021vs Left .219 82 22 15 14 3 1 2
2021vs Right .198 128 35 20 20 7 0 4
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2021
 
 
-29%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-48%
ERA on Road
2022
 
 
-34%
ERA on Road
2021
 
 
-73%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2021Home 3.84 1.14 65.2 6 2 1 11.1 3.2 0.8
Since 2021Away 5.43 1.50 54.2 3 2 2 12.7 5.1 1.3
2023Home 5.79 1.61 9.1 0 1 0 12.5 3.9 1.9
2023Away 3.00 1.22 9.0 0 0 0 11.0 2.0 2.0
2022Home 4.15 1.22 30.1 2 1 1 11.3 2.7 0.6
2022Away 2.73 0.95 26.1 1 1 1 13.3 1.4 0.7
2021Home 2.77 0.88 26.0 4 0 0 10.4 3.5 0.7
2021Away 10.24 2.38 19.1 2 1 1 12.6 11.6 1.9
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Stat Review
How does Joe Jimenez compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
4.00
 
K/9
11.8
 
BB/9
2.9
 
HR/9
2.0
 
Fastball
94.7 mph
 
ERA
4.42
 
WHIP
1.42
 
BABIP
.366
 
GB/FB
0.71
 
Left On Base
78.4%
 
Exit Velocity
87.7 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
7.1%
 
Spin Rate
2343 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
36.7%
 
Swinging Strike
15.2%
 
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Joe Jimenez See More
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74 days ago
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83 days ago
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97 days ago
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
Jimenez was once considered a potential future closer in Detroit, but after posting a 7.15 ERA in the condensed 2020 season and a 5.96 ERA last year he's become an afterthought. He's been passed up by the likes of Gregory Soto and Michael Fulmer in the Tigers' bullpen. Jimenez could pitch himself back onto the fantasy radar, but fantasy managers should take a wait-and-see approach until he displays more consistency.
In 2019, Jimenez held opposing hitters to a .243 average and had a 23.0 K-BB%. There were some flaws, most notably 13 homers allowed in 59.2 innings of work. This past season was a dumpster fire; Jimenez's velocity was way down early, he quickly lost his role as the closer and continued his charitable ways with the long ball while pitching into too many deep counts. Jimenez has a terrific slider, and one would think Detroit would tell him to throw it more often and dump his terrible changeup. He only throws the changeups to lefties, but they're 18-for-29 off the pitch over the past two seasons with four homers. If he were to dump the changeup and come to camp with a splitter or a cutter, he could take a much-needed step forward. He will need to separate himself in the eyes of new manager AJ Hinch.
Jimenez mostly struggled through the first half of the season while Shane Greene pitched effectively, resulting in Greene remaining in the closer role until he was traded at the end of July. After taking over as the stopper, Jimenez converted nine of his 14 save opportunities, posting a 31.9 K% with a 15.2% swinging-strike rate, pitching better than the surface numbers would indicate. The long ball was a problem and there is no getting around that -- his 1.96 HR/9 rate ranked eighth-worst among qualified relievers last season. However, the 24-year-old finished the year strong, recording a 1.00 ERA with a 12:1 K:BB and five saves over nine appearances in September. Jimenez should have decent job security as the closer heading into 2020 and has an above-average strikeout rate, but he has largely underperformed given his skill level and the saves will likely be scarce on what projects to be a 100-loss team.
Last year was supposed to be the year that Jimenez finally took over as the Tigers' closer. However, that never happened as Shane Greene pitched well enough in the first half to stave Jimenez off, and then Jimenez went on to struggle after the intermission. He was among the most heavily used relievers in baseball over the first three and a half months, making 46 appearances before the All-Star break. This was after Jimenez made a total of 51 appearances in 2017. It's fair to wonder if all that early work caught up to him, as Jimenez limped to the finish line with a 7.78 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 4.6 BB/9 in his final 22 outings. That poor run inflated Jimenez's ratios and masked just how good he was throughout the bulk of the season (2.91 FIP, 29.2 K%). It's taken longer than many expected for Jimenez to fulfill his destiny as the closer-in-waiting, but it seems likely that he wrestles the job away from Greene relatively early on.
Being tabbed "closer of the future" doesn't carry quite the same doom and gloom as the Madden curse, but the number of those who have succeeded is a short list. Jimenez is being groomed for ninth-inning duties, picking up saves at every level since he started in rookie ball in 2013 at the tender age of 18. The fire-balling rookie had a rather inauspicious major-league debut in 2017, recording an unsightly 12.32 ERA and 2.11 WHIP in 19 innings for the Tigers. Jimenez surrendered 15 of his 26 earned runs allowed in just four efforts. In the other 20 appearances, Jimenez recorded a still poor but more palatable 4.86 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. Obviously, Jimenez is still a work in progress, but fanning 241 with only 52 walks in 167.1 minor-league innings portends patience yielding a fruitful payoff. With Detroit in rebuilding mode, stashing Jimenez has potential long-term rewards, and who knows -- short-term benefits aren't out of the question.
More Fantasy News
Heads to paternity list
PAtlanta Braves
Personal
April 26, 2023
Atlanta placed Jimenez on the paternity list Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
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Option for saves in Atlanta
PAtlanta Braves
March 23, 2023
Jimenez might get some save opportunities with Atlanta while Raisel Iglesias (shoulder) is out.
ANALYSIS
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Clean outing Saturday
PAtlanta Braves
March 19, 2023
Jimenez struck out one in a perfect sixth inning during Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies.
ANALYSIS
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Healthy to begin camp
PAtlanta Braves
February 17, 2023
Jimenez is already throwing side sessions and is expected to be fully recovered from offseason back surgery prior to Opening Day, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports. "Oh, yeah, he's fine," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said Thursday.
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Avoids arbitration with Atlanta
PAtlanta Braves
January 13, 2023
Jimenez signed a one-year, $2.765 million contract with Atlanta to avoid arbitration, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
ANALYSIS
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