The New York Yankees’ pitching lab has transformed Ben Hess from a struggling pitcher in his college days at Alabama to a guy that is now blossoming with their Double-A affiliate, the Somerset Patriots.
“We adjusted some pitch shapes after I first got drafted. We made the change up a lot better, and I started to throw the curveball more and improve the slider,” Hess told the media on August 24 before their game against the Hartford Yard Goats at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J.
The curveball has always been a plus pitch for Hess and he learned how to throw it when he was 16-years old. It was also his best pitch at Alabama, where he pitched from 2022-2024.
Hess, 22, was the Yankees’ first-round selection, 26th overall, in 2024, and was signed for $2.7 million, which was around $600,000 under the slot value. The Yankees saw something in him that others didn’t, since he wasn’t projected to be a first pick and was the 44th-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Draft Rankings.
“You get drafted by the Yankees, you know that everything is going to be top-notch and that they are really good at developing pitching,” Hess said.
Hess only pitched 68 innings in his final college season in 2024, and his ERA was 5.80, with 106 strikeouts. This season, he made his professional debut with the Yankees and has reached 92 1/3 innings with their High-A affiliate, the Hudson Valley Renegades, and the Patriots. He was promoted from the Renegades to the Patriots on Aug. 5.
“A big part of success this year is being confident on the mound and not letting things snowball when runners get on, like I did in college,” Hess told the media.
“I didn’t set too many expectations for this season. The goal was to come out, get better each start, and make this a learning experience to ultimately reach the major leagues,” Hess said.
Hess is the Yankees’ sixth-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline, and he has had the opportunity to pitch with fellow right-handers Carlos Lagrange, their second-ranked prospect, and Elmer Rodríguez-Cruz, their fifth-ranked prospect, for the majority of the season. They all started the season together with the Renegades and are once again in the same rotation with the Patriots.
“It’s a friendly competition, you all watch each other throw well, and it makes you want to throw well, and it’s motivating to see the Yankees making guys better because they’ll do the same with you,” Hess told World Baseball Network.
Patriots manager Raul Dominguez also spoke to the media about the trio of elite arms.
“Just like Largane and Rodriguez-Cruz, I heard a lot of good things about Hess, and I knew that was another good pitcher that we were going to get in Somerset,” Dominguez told the media. “Hess wants more, he always wants to keep pitching, he doesn’t like coming out of games, and having that extra experience in college has helped him more than the other guys.”
Hess has 126 strikeouts, in 92.1 innings, with an ERA of 3.41 on the season. In his most recent start against the Mets’ Double-A affiliate, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, on Aug. 29, he pitched 5 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and three runs allowed.
Photo: Ben Hess is shown on the video board after he was selected 26th overall by the New York Yankees in the first round of the MLB baseball draft in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
