Ben Hernandez

If changeups are your thing, then Ben Hernandez is your guy. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Illinois-Chicago commit is routinely recognized as having the best changeup in the prep class, a likely future plus offering that has long been his biggest weapon. While Hernandez never got to throw for his high school team this spring thanks to the novel coronavirus, scouts did see him in February at Prep Baseball Report’s Super 60 showcase, where he touched 95 mph. That’s a tick higher than the 90-94 he showed with the pitch last summer, but scouts are still waiting on the development of a reliable breaking ball. He’s thrown a mid-70s curveball that has big depth and some solid spin, but the pitch lacks power and his arm slows down. Hernandez is an advanced pitcher, with good feel to spot his fastball and changeup, and those pitches both come out of his hand with ease and good life. It’s a clean arm action and delivery with easier mid-90s prep velocity than you’ll typically see. He is older for the class, turning 19 in at the beginning of July, but has a polished overall package headlined by two above-average or better pitches. The development of his breaking ball will determine his ceiling, and he could go off the board in the third or fourth round for most teams.