The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are LHP Steve Hajjar and shortstop Keoni Cavaco. Both are playing for the Low-A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
Steve Hajjar was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI). After being selected #61 overall in last July’s draft, Hajjar a Massachusetts native received a $1.13 million signing bonus and spent the rest of the summer in Fort Myers working out with other prospects. MLB Pipeline has Steven Hajjar as the Twins 20th best prospect.
Hajjar, a 6’5″ lefty began his pro career this year with the Low-A Fort Myers Might Mussels and has seven starts so far. According to Primetimesportstalk.com, “Hajjar has a decent fastball and loopy curveball, but his best pitch is his changeup, which comes in with a lethal delivery and just fades at the end to baffle batters. He also employs a slider that can be lethal, though he opted to use it less in 2021; this could have been his best pitch if he used it more.” Hajjar’s slider is supposedly a “gyro” slider and you can read more about that and other things that Primetimesportstalk.com had to say about Hajjar here.
Hajjar, 21, started for the Mighty Mussels on Thursday at Bradenton, pitching 5.2 shutout innings (82 pitches-56 strikes), with two hits allowed, one walk and a career-high tying 10 strikeouts. Over his last three starts, Hajjar has dropped his ERA from 3.77 to 2.17, and over his last two, the lefty has struck out 16 while walking only two.
