Tyrell Jenkins Impressive in First Two Starts in Johnson City

Posted on August 31, 2010 on Rising Redbirds

The Cardinals organization has made it very clear that the club plans on taking baby steps when it comes to their supplemental first-rounder Tyrell Jenkins, and one of those steps was made Monday night in Johnson City.

Jenkins is a 18-year-old right-hander out of Henderson HS in Texas. He’s 6’4″, a very tall, lengthy kid with tremendous upside. He was taken 50th overall by the Cardinals but some scouts had him in the top-25. His control is a little rough at times, although he is only 17. Jenkins was probably the most athletic pitcher in the draft. He was set to attend Baylor University on a baseball and football scholarship before being drafted.

His fastball hovers around 90-92, but he has hit 96 several times over the summer. Jenkins also has a curveball, slider, and changeup in his repertoire. He is about as raw as they come, but certainly has all the tools.

The newest Cardinal prospect to make the top-20 made his first professional start last Thursday. The Cardinals have him on a very strict pitch count, so he only pitched one inning. Let’s just say they are using this time to ”get his feet wet”. In that scoreless inning Jenkins struck out one and walked none.

Last night, in Tyrell’s second professional start, he seemed to be just as good as advertised. In his two innings of work Jenkins struck out one, allowed no runs, two hits, and two walks. His control was a bit off (26 pitches/13 strikes), but a lot of that could have been nerves.

According to sources, Jenkins’ second start of the season could be his last of 2010 even though Johnson City will likely make the playoffs.