Rays 6th Round Pick - 191st Overall: Jesse Hahn

BaseballAmerica:(rated #31 overall)
Three years ago, one of Hahn's high school teammates and rotation partners was getting tons of draft attention. The teammate was righthander Matt Harvey, who ended up dropping to the third round and honoring his commitment to North Carolina. Now, both Fitch (Conn.) High alums could be drafted in the first round. Hahn has an ideal pitcher's frame at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, but he missed three weeks of action this spring. He had an MRI on his right elbow that revealed no structural damage. When healthy, Hahn has an electric arsenal. He has a plus fastball that sits 92-94 mph with some armside run. He has been able to run his fastball up to 96-97, especially when he pitched out of the bullpen in the Cape Cod League last summer, but has learned that he's better when he dials it back. He has two average to plus secondary offerings in a slider and curveball, as well as a potentially average changeup. His curveball has 12-to-6 action, but he raises his arm slot on the pitch, which could give it away to hitters. He mixes in an 80-82 mph slider that occasionally gets big on him but is also an average or better offering. His changeup has some fade and really works well when he locates down and to his arm side. His command isn't exceptional, but scouts don't see it as a problem moving forward. Working against Hahn are a spotty medical history and limited track record of performance. As a freshman he went 3-7, 4.64 in 64 innings with 36 strikeouts and 25 walks. He saw significantly less time as a sophomore, going 1-2, 6.00 in 24 innings. Only two of his 17 appearances were starts. Hahn has seen a big turnaround this season, going 5-2, 2.81 with 64 strikeouts and 14 walks through 58 innings.

Andy Seiler:
Jesse Hahn is an elite right-handed starting pitcher from Virginia Tech. Hahn came to Virginia Tech from Fitch High School in Groton, Connecticut, a small town about 15 miles south of Norwich and close to the Rhode Island border. Hahn was teammates with the better-known Matt Harvey in high school, but until going down with an injury late in the year, Hahn was the better prospect for this draft class. As it stands, Hahn went undrafted out of high school, and got his college scholarship largely as the result of the attention that tagged along with Harvey in high school. However, Hahn has shown his natural talent with the Hokies, and he’s a solid bet to become a number two starter if healthy and developed properly. After a pair of unsuccessful years both as a starter and reliever, he came into this spring hoping to put together a string of successful starts to show scouts what he has in the tank. He’s done more than that, and until he tweaked his elbow in April, he was a candidate for the first half of the first round. His arsenal has a pair of plus pitches, and it’s the development of his changeup that will be the key to how successful he comes. His fastball is a 92-94 mph pitch with plus movement, and he’s showed surprising command of it this spring. He throws a pair of breaking balls in a potential plus curveball and an aboveaverage slider, and his changeup has the potential to be average, as well. With a big frame, big arm, and plus current stuff, he should still go in the first round despite his injury late in the year, and he’ll likely sign for slot money or close to it.

Fell due to injury concerns(forearm).