The Minnesota Twins apparently decided to focus on college pitchers on Day of the 2012 MLB Draft. After picking Mason Melotakis with the 63rd pick, Minnesota went back to the college ranks to grab J.T. Chargois with the 73rd overall pick.
Chargois, a 21-year-old righty out of Rice University, seems to project as a closer or set-up guy ... which isn't exactly ideal, but should make his trek to the big leagues go a little bit quicker. Chargois' scouting report on the MLB website makes it seem like the Twins might have either picked up a steal or a bust because of the lack of scouting teams were able to do.
Rice has had some success with first basemen-pitchers (see Savery, Joe) and Chargois is the next in line, playing first every day for the Owls while also serving as the team's hard-throwing closer. Chargois' dual roles have made it difficult in the past to evaluate him properly. His future is on the mound and scouts haven't always been able to see him consistently enough to know what he brings to the table.
His fastball is a plus pitch, up to 95 mph and it has above-average movement. Chargois combines that with a spiked curveball that can be above-average to plus when his mechanics are right. He doesn't have tremendous command, but is around the strike zone enough for short relief work.
College closer types tend to do well on Draft Day and even if Chargois is a bit of a wild card, his potential as a future big league setup man or closer should have him off the board fairly early.
It'll be interesting to see what the Twins picked up in Chargois, won't it?
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