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.
Keoni Cavaco was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (13th) of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Eastlake HS (Chula Vista, CA). The 6’2″ right-handed hitting shortstop was signed to a $4.05 million signing bonus. That’s $147,300 below the assigned slot value for the 13th overall selection. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said the team watched him 55 times over the last year, led by Southern California scout John Leavitt before drafting him. MLB Pipeline has Keoni Cavaco as the Twins 21st best prospect.
Cavaco, who turns 21 on Thursday, played in six games for the Mighty Mussels, hitting .429 (12-for-28) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, eight RBI, a .448 on-base percentage and a 1.163 OPS. The California native who was the Twins first selection in 2019 has had more struggles than success since starting pro ball, both during his debut that summer and for much of his first season in 2021, after the shutdown. He did show glimpses of offensive promise last year, though he missed time with a concussion.
Defensively, Cavaco does have the skills to stay at shortstop, particularly with a plus arm. He needs to work on suring up his hands and maintaining focus to make the routine plays.