On FanGraphs’ list of this winter’s top 50 free agents, there are plenty of familiar names for Red Sox fans. Tyler O’Neill (No. 21), Nick Pivetta (25), Kenley Jansen (43) and Danny Jansen (47) all crack the list from last year’s team as well as old friends Nate Eovaldi (17), Justin Turner (47) and… Kyle Hart (48).
Wait, that Kyle Hart?
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Yes, the same Hart who logged a 15.55 ERA and was tagged for 21 hits, 19 earned runs in 10 walks in a four-outing, 11-inning big-league back in 2020 is now considered, by at least one major publication, to be one of baseball’s best free agents. The lefty, who turns 32 on Saturday, spent last year in South Korea and logged an impressive 2.69 ERA while striking out 182 batters in 157 innings for the NC Dinos. The showing was enough for FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens to call Hart “a potential Erick Fedde bounce-back type” and project a three-year, $24 million deal for him after he, like Fedde, won the Choi Dong-won award, given to the top starting pitcher in the KBO.
Hart, at this early stage of the offseason, doesn’t know if that type of deal will come to fruition. But needless to say, the former 19th-round draft pick is ecstatic about potentially getting a second big league chance five years after a disastrous first go-around.
“There have been times where I’m embarrassed to even tell people I was in the big leagues because they’re going to Google me and be like, ‘This dip-(expletive) had a (expletive) 16 ERA,’” Hart said recently. “There’s a piece of me that is pissed off and embarrassed and would love to get a sample size of a couple hundred innings and see what we’re looking at.
“If I have (an ERA of) 15 (again), I’ll go dig a hole and you’ll never hear from me again,” Hart said. “But deep down, I believe I’m a competitive middle-of-the-rotation guy. It’s hard to explain that to people when you have four terrible outings.”
Hart’s journey has been a long one. Boston took him from the University of Indiana with the 568th pick in 2016, then watched as he dominated every level of the minors for four pro seasons. In 2020, with Ron Roenicke’s pitching running thin on a last-place team, Hart got the call to debut on July 13. Two innings and seven Rays runs later, his first start was over. He’d pitch three more times, with his last outing coming in relief against the Braves on Sept. 1. A serious bout with Lyme disease stripped Hart of his strength — a factor he looks back at now with curiosity and some regret.
“When I got called up, there was a piece of me that was like, ‘Dude, you’re physically not ready,’” Hart recalled. “I was so weak. A lot of my family will try to make an excuse that I wasn’t totally recovered from the Lyme. I don’t necessarily think that was the issue. I had finished the antibiotics, but I was weak. That was the biggest problem. I wasn’t like sick. I was just not recovered. It was embarrassing, not just for me, but for us as a club.”
Hart then logged a 4.06 ERA in 106 ⅔ innings at Triple-A Worcester in 2021, then split 2022 between Double-A and Triple-A before hitting free agency for the first time. That winter, after a down year across the board, he found no interest from clubs until begging former Indiana roommate Kyle Schwarber — “Thank God everybody loves that guy,” Hart joked — to ask Dave Dombrowski if the Phillies had a spot for him. The familiarity between Dombrowski and Hart from their shared time with the Red Sox led to a February minor league deal and a spot at Triple-A that was Hart’s for all of a single inning in April. Hart was deactivated by Philadelphia, then released when the club signed free agent Jeff Hoffman, who has emerged as one of the majors’ best relievers over the last two years.
“At least I got (cut) for a baller,” Hart laughed.
Hart latched on with the Mariners’ Triple-A club in Tacoma and logged a 4.58 ERA and 8.7 K/9 rate in 88 ⅓ innings there. That performance in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, Hart figured, would be enough to easily get another affiliated job. No teams called, though, and Hart and his agent, Nello Gamberdino, turned their sights toward Asia. In December, he signed a one-year deal worth $700,000 that included an additional $200,000 in incentives.
“That’s the only phone call that I got, and that kind of pissed me off because I felt like I pitched my ass off in the PCL,” Hart said. “An average night in the PCL could be tougher than your average night in the big leagues.
“I’m not a real well traveled person. I’ve spent most of my life in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana,” he said. “I’ve been to Cancun and I’ve been to Canada. That’s it. So just for me, going to Asia was a great experience and probably something that was just good for me as a person. The biggest thing I learned was respect … They have a deep gratitude for the game. I think that helped me a lot.”
Hart’s wife, Haley, and the couple’s young daughter spent most of the summer with him in Changwon, South Korea, where the Dinos play, and other family members visited as well. As much as Hart enjoyed Korean food and culture, it was what happened on the mound that served as the best part of his time there. He flirted with the pitching Triple Crown in the KBO and led the league in strikeouts despite throwing 40 fewer innings than some other pitchers in the league.
Hart points to three big factors for his success. First, NC’s coaches helped him re-work his slider during spring training in Arizona and the shape of it stayed consistent throughout the year. Second, Hart said that his fastball — which averaged 89.1 mph back in 2020 — had a higher velocity floor (about 91 mph) while he could reach back and flash 93 or 94 mph if needed. Most importantly, Hart believes, was his ability to settle into outings and pitch freely with the backdrop of having a guaranteed job and rotation spot every five or six days.
The performance proved to be enough for some to believe Hart projects as this winter’s version of Fedde, who parlayed a great 2023 season with the Dinos into a two-year, $15 million deal with the White Sox, then was traded to St. Louis at the deadline (and combined for a 3.30 ERA in 31 starts). At this point, though, how exactly things will develop is a bit unclear. Hart has standing interest from the Dinos, who have him under contract through December 1 and could be aggressive in trying to bring him back. Out of respect, Hart doesn’t plan on negotiating seriously with MLB teams until after that date but is expecting to consider all options.
“I had a solid year,” Hart said. “I could have done some things better. But overall, the body of work was solid. I think I deserve some looks, probably from some MLB teams, but certainly back with the Dinos or maybe some stuff in Japan. I’m open.
“I’d love to sit here and say there’s going to be a market and everything,” Hart said. “But honestly, I don’t necessarily expect that to be a guarantee just because I haven’t had the best luck at times in this game.”
The next few weeks will provide a clearer picture of exactly what Hart might be able to reasonably expect in what should be a more exciting — and active — foray into free agency than what he has experienced in the past. For now, the fact he’s even back on the radar of big league clubs is a step he’s not taking for granted.
“You could definitely argue it’s probably shocking to some people considering what has happened to me the last couple years,” Hart said. “For me, what it does is motivate me a little bit more. Now, it’s like, ‘OK, you have a chance to come back, a chance to face MLB talent again.’ I need to get to work and keep improving on some of the things I got in motion this past year.
“It has been quite a journey. I think it’ll be really sweet if I am truly able to to make something happen here in the next few months.”
Full article can be found at: https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2024/11/how-ex-red-sox-lefty-went-from-1555-era-to-shocking-24m-free-agent-prediction.html