Kyle Hart isn’t considered a top prospect. The Red Sox drafted the 6-foot-5 left-hander in the 19th round out of Indiana in 2016.
But four other players — Twins’ Sean Poppen (19th round), Phillies’ J.D. Hammer (24th round), Rockies’ Phillip Diehl (27th round) and Pirates’ Geoff Hartlieb (29th round) — selected after him in the 2016 Draft already have made their major league debuts.
Maybe Hart will be next.
He has dominant stats this season.
The lefty began 2019 at Double-A Portland where he posted a 2.91 ERA (55.2 innings, 18 earned runs), .199 batting average against and 1.01 WHIP in nine starts. He then earned a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket where he has a 2.68 ERA (37.0 innings, 11 earned runs), .248 batting average and 1.08 WHIP in six starts. He tossed a complete shutout in his Triple-A debut, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out eight in the PawSox’s 4-0 win over Leigh Valley on May 30.
SoxProspects.com has him ranked No. 36 on its top 60 list after he went unranked to begin the season.
“He’s got a little bit of a Patrick Corbin-style to him with his mix,” Red Sox vice president of pitching development Brian Bannister told MassLive.com. “He’s gone heavier with two different shapes of cutters and sliders and made it a bigger part of his mix. So I think he’s a little more complete and well-rounded vs. both right-handed and left-handed hitters. He’s able to attack.”
Bannister obviously isn’t saying Hart will be the next Corbin, who has made two All-Star Games. He’s simply comparing their pitch mixes.
Corbin is heavy with his slider, which he has thrown 35.6% of the time this year, and his sinker/cutter (34.4%), per Baseball Savant. He has used his four-seam fastball, which has averaged 91.4 mph this season, 20.8%.
Hart features a fastball in the upper-80s and low 90s.
“He’s a really mature kid who can really repeat his delivery,” Bannister said. “But I think the two shapes of the breaking ball have really allowed him to take off.”
Hart has struggled in two relief outings for Pawtucket (seven earned runs, 8 innings) but he clearly has been outstanding as a starter this year.
He already is 26 because he spent five years at Indiana. His 2014 season was cut short after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He redshirted and returned strong in 2015, going 5-0 with a 1.21 ERA in 10 outings (eight starts).
The southpaw has a 2.98 ERA in 67 outings (62 starts) since the Red Sox drafted him.
He’s averaging 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings compared to 2.5 walks this season.
The original article written by Christopher Smith can be found here:
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2019/07/kyle-hart-meet-boston-red-sox-prospect-282-era-15-starts-who-has-bit-of-a-patrick-corbin-style-to-him-with-his-mix.html