Hayes Heinecke

Heinecke got some interest last fall when his velocity spiked a bit and he touched 95 mph from the left side, but he hasn’t quite gotten back to that point this spring, pitching mostly in the 89-91 mph range and touching 94 at best. Even without a huge step forward with his pure stuff, scouts like the fact that Heinecke throws a ton of strikes. He posted a 4.40 ERA this spring over eight starts and 43 innings of work, with 43 strikeouts (9.0 K/9) and just 11 walks (2.3 BB/9). That walk rate was actually the highest of his career, which speaks to his track record as a control artist. His career walk rate after three seasons with Wofford is just 1.7 per nine innings. On top of his fastball Heinecke throws a slider, curveball and changeup, with the slider being his best bat-missing pitch this spring. Heinecke doesn’t have massive upside as a filled-out, 6-foot, 210-pound lefty, but southpaws who throw strikes will always have some interest for teams in the draft.