Photo credit: Golden Blades, Flickr
The Rangers acquired Hearn from the Pirates along with Sherten Apostel for the high-strikeout, curveball-dominant reliever Keone Kela prior to the 2018 trade deadline. While some viewed Hearn as a future left-handed reliever at the time and still may, the viability of three pitches left me intrigued when I saw Hearn in June 2018 pitching for the Altoona Curve.
Hearn sat 94-96 in the early innings, falling to a consistent 93-94 by his fifth and sixth inning of work. He threw an aggressive amount of fastballs at the time to opposing hitters, mixing his slider (84-86 mph) in on occasion early and opting for his changeup (82-85 mph) later in the game. Many grade Hearn’s changeup as his best future pitch, but he favored his slider in the outing I saw. Both are present average pitches with his slider potentially moving to above average. (Note: velocities above are from Hearn’s June 1, 2018 outing. Based on reports I’ve seen, these ranges are in line with what to expect with slight variation.)
Hearn’s delivery is initially upright and rotational as he builds momentum towards the plate but quickly becomes athletic and powerful as he utilizes superb hip-to-shoulder separation to top his fastball out in the upper 90s. While his glove arm swings high through the zone as he tucks to emphasize rotation, it doesn’t pull his front side open early and become a concern mechanically for me. His arm is loose and at front-foot strike his glove arm and throwing arm are often perfectly flat prior to trunk rotation. Overall, Hearn has an extremely clean delivery and one that should withstand a starter’s workload and above average velocity deep into games.
Despite the positives around his delivery and athleticism, Hearn does not have a present plus breaking ball or present average command, which contributes to the lack of prospect hype around this debut and his overall package. Hearn will not have issues generating swing and miss due natural ability to change eye levels and elevate with velocity, but to jump into the role of a true number-three starter there needs to be development of his secondaries.
In an era of baseball where pitchers are opting to throw their best pitch more and fastballs less, Hearn’s high-velocity fastball is his calling card, which makes him a unique guinea pig for other prospects with similar repertoires and projection. Does his lack of command and high-velocity fastball push him towards a bullpen role where he can focus on one breaking ball? Or is he more valuable to the Rangers if they develop him as a starting pitcher and work to make his slider a pitch that can succeed versus both handedness of hitter? Thursday will be our first look at Hearn at the major league level and hopefully answers start to emerge regarding those two questions. He was ranked sixth in Jason Pennini’s Texas Rangers Top 30 list.
Projections: In a small eight-inning sample, Fangraphs’ Steamer expects Hearn to hold an 8.5 K/9 with a BB/9 north of 4.5.