Twins minor league players of the week are Rodriguez & Hajjar

This week the Minnestoa Twins have named Low-A Fort Myers outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez and left-handed pitcher Steve Hajjar as the minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Emmanuel Rodriguez a Santiago, Dominican Republic native was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 2019. Rodriguez was a top 10 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 international prospects list for 2019-20 when the signing period opened up in July of 2019. The Twins were all in, giving the toolsy outfielder $2.75 million to sign. MLB currently has Rodriguez as the Twins 17th best prospect.

Due to some injury issues Rodriguez did not make his pro debut until 2021 with the FCL league Twins. Rodriguez who bats and throws from the left-side made a big splash with 10 home runs in 37 games. This past week Rodriguez, 19, played in four games for the Mighty Mussels, hitting .636 (7-for-11) with one double, two triples, two home runs, five RBI, six walks, a .765 OBP, a 1.636 SLG and a 2.401 OPS. This years slash line is .280/.495/.568. Rodriguez is a very interesting young prospect to follow.

Twins minor league players of the week are Hajjar & Cavaco

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.