Taylor Hearn is a rare story as he grew up just East of Dallas and dreamed of being a rodeo star like his father and grandfather, not necessarily a baseball player. He went on to shine at a small town in Royse City where he was drafted in the 22nd round by the Pittsburgh Pirates but decided to go to San Jacinto College, a JuCo in the Houston area. He was drafted the next year by the Cincinnati Reds in the 36th round but went back to San Jacinto and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 25th round. Still not happy with where he was being drafted he went to Oklahoma Baptist University and was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 5th round, and finally signed.
Just one year later the Pirates went after Hearn again, trading for him and fellow LHP Felipe Vazquez (then Felipe Rivero) in exchange for Mark Melancon. Then just two years later the Pirates went and got Keone Kela from the Texas Rangers and sent Hearn and a PTBNL to the Rangers. On Thursday Hearn will make his big league debut on the road in Seattle but will be wearing the jersey of the team that plays its home games less than an hour from where he starred in high school.
As for the kind of pitcher Hearn is, he ranked number 6 on our preseason ranks, he is a long lefty a fastball that gets up to 97 on the radar gun. The arm comes from a slightly low 3/4 slot with good extension that allows that fastball to be a true plus offering. He also slider that can be mistaken for a curve as it can get rather slurvy, but at its best it is a solid average pitch. His best secondary offering is his change that flashes plus but sits more average as he delivers it from a good arm slot and speed that plays well off the fastball.
The command is spotty as he can fall off towards the third base side a bit much leaving the arm lagging behind the body, making mistakes up in the zone too often. The stuff is still good enough too prevent too many hard hit balls when left up in the zone and he does get swing-and-misses even when he misses his spots, but elite hitters at the highest level will be able to take advantage.
There is no reason to believe Hearn isn’t here to stay as he is one of the five best starters throughout the Rangers organization, and could develop into a solid number three or very good number four starter.
THREE QUARTER SLOT 