Twins' Jack Noble Makes Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game

[Matthew Lenz]

Right-handed reliever Jack Noble was named to the Arizona Fall League Fall Stars game on Thursday as the lone representative of the Minnesota Twins organization. 

Image courtesy of © William Parmeter

Jack Noble is a bit of an unheralded prospect in the Twins organization which is largely the case for most minor league relief pitchers. The 24-year-old was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022 out of Long Beach State where he posted a 3.36 ERA, a 61:20 K:BB ratio, and led the team with six wins across 10 starts and seven relief appearances in his junior season. He was immediately assigned to the Florida Complex League where he made two appearances, striking out three and walking one while giving up no earned runs.

He started at the same level in 2023, and after three successful starts he earned a promotion to single-A Fort Myers where he made nine more starts and one relief appearance. With the Mighty Mussels he posted a 9.4% K-BB rate and 3.38 ERA / 4.91 FIP across 50 ⅔ innings. He’d again start at the same level in 2024, where he spent a majority of the season, making one start and 32 relief appearances totaling 58 ⅓ innings. He struggled despite being two years older than the average pitcher with a 4.78 ERA / 5.39 FIP but did improve his K-BB rate to 16% and posted a solid 28.8% called strike-whiff rate (CSW). He would be promoted to high-A Cedar Rapids for 3 ⅓ innings and then double-A Wichita for three more innings before his season came to a close.

The righty has an incredibly deep pitch mix featuring a low-to-mid 90s four seam and two seam fastball, the latter of which averages 13.1 inches of horizontal break, as well as a cutter, slider, curve, changeup, and split-finger fastball. While his breaking balls spin at more than 3,000 rotations per minute, he has struggled with control throughout his career posting a lowly 60.1% strike rate in 2024.

His struggles with control notwithstanding, the Twins sent him to the Arizona Fall League where he posted a 5.56 ERA and a 10:7 K:BB ratio in 11 ⅓ innings of work. Now, he’ll look to get an appearance in the 18th annual Arizona Fall League Fall Stars game with first pitch set for 7:00 pm CDT on Saturday, November 9th.

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[mikelink45]

Not excited by this.  Good for him.

[Otaknam]

Not sure why he went to the AFL, given his stat line and age. But best of luck to him as he chases his dream.

[jmlease1]

Says something about the pitching in the AFL if this is an all-star? Good luck to him but...not expecting him to suddenly transform into a viable MLB relief option.

[LambchoP]

How is he an all-star with an ERA like that? Must be all offense in the AFL still. 

[old nurse]

If every team has a representative the Twins’ players did not do so well. If there was a recap article, I already forgot about it 

[DocBauer]

So far in his brief career, the HITS per 8 and K per 9 are solid. Over 4BB per 9 is not so hot though. 

What's interesting is it appears he was a much better pitcher in 2023 than 2024 when you glance at the balloon in ERA. However, while his HITS per 9 were slightly up last season, the IP and BB were almost identical, and the K's and K %in 2024 were higher. The sudden jump on HR appears to be the culprit.

I'll be interested to see if he begins the year at CR or Wichita. I'm certain being in the AFL was not only about work, but helping to establish his starting point in 2025. Decent stuff and almost 25yo, you'd like to see him at AA. But it's possible he gets a jump start at CR and an early promotion to Wichita.

I don't know that Noble is an arm to be excited about. But with a deep pitch mix and K ability, you're hoping fewer HR and even a small drop in BB % might offer up a solid pen option in the near future.

Best of luck to him and congratulations on the honor.