In the 19th round of the 2016 draft the Boston Red Sox took a lefty by the name of Kyle Hart. Hart out of Indiana is now 26-years-old and in 2019 worked his way up to Triple-A Pawtucket.
The 6-foot-5 170 pound lefty was apart of former President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski’s very first draft class and for the moment Hart appears to be a pitcher on the rise in the organization.
Hart hails from Cincinnati, Ohio and back in college he racked up 31 wins, the 2nd most in Indiana Universities history. That winning way he had back in college has followed him into the minor leagues.
In the 2019 season Hart’s 9-7 record lead all PawSox pitchers, the second closest on the team was 6 wins. And that 9 win total comes despite the fact that his first 9 starts of the season came in Double-A Portland before being promoted on May 28th.
Hart’s Triple-A debut is one that he will likely remember for quite some time. It was a day game at McCoy Stadium and the lefty threw a complete game shutout over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Between Double and Triple-A Hart posted a 3.52 ERA in 27 games, 24 starts, with a 12-13 record and throwing 2 complete games with a total of 156 innings pitched. He struck out 140 batters while walking 53 and held opposing batters to a .233 batting average.
In Hart’s minor league career he owns a 3.13 ERA in 423.1 IP with a 25-29 record.
As for what he projects to be long-term. Well Hart has the ability to work with runners on base and get out of jams and when he doesn’t have his best stuff he is able to grind out innings and limit the damage. He has a true four-pitch mix and is a pitcher, not a thrower, meaning he hits his spots with excellent command and control.
Hart’s number one issue is his velocity on his fastball, it tops in the low 90’s which could be a major problem in the big leagues. Bottom line is Hart has proved himself at every level thus far and will likely be knocking on the Major League debut door in 2020. He has been able to climb through the system rather quickly and is a player to watch.
Look for Hart to open the season in Triple-A Pawtucket in 2020 as needs to look to get his ground ball rate up and reduce the amount of fly balls he gives up.
The original article written by Tanner Rebelo can be found here:
https://www.trifectanetworksports.com/red-sox-prospect-kyle-hart-has-all-the-makings-of-a-dombrowski-success-story/