Scouting Report - RHP - Jaden Hill

 

Jaden Hill

 

RHP   6-4   233 LSU 

 

11-6-20  -  

 

Jacques Doucet @JacquesDoucet

 

LSU Jaden Hill was consistently throwing 94-97 miles per hour Thursday evening. Hill pitched three innings, giving up four hits and one run while recording two strikeouts

 

Joe @JoeDoyleMiLB

 

Good to see Hill building up his arm strength after taking the summer off to recover and work back to full strength. It'll be a big Spring for Hill, who has a shot at becoming the no. 1 pick in the draft thanks to a super-projectable body and loud stuff on the mound. 

 

Lookout Landing -

 

If there’s one guy in the 2021 class that may be a dark-horse to go first overall, I think Hill is the guy. There’s an immense package here to dream on if he can put it all together in February. The body, the physicality, the mechanics and operation, the arsenal, the present and projectable velocity, it’s all there. He’s not a complete pitcher yet, and some of Hill’s value certainly rests in his continued arm talent development, but Hill is a fine Geaux-Bordeaux — expect him to get better with time.

 

 AZ Snakepit -

 

Jaden Hill, RHP, Louisiana State University

 

Standing at 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds, Jaden Hill is an electric right-hander out of LSU. His fastball arguably has the best velocity in the class, sitting at 94-95 mph and touching 98 on occasion with late movement up in the zone. He has the makings of a power arm with a velocity-packed fastball, hard-breaking slider, cutter and changeup in his arsenal. 

 

Hill was drafted in the 38th round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018, he attended LSU and has seen his stock rise immensely due to his frame and overwhelming stuff. Questions surround Hill about his durability and small sample size throughout his college career. He pitched just 11.2 relief innings before the shutdown in 2020 and suffered a season-ending injury as a sophomore in 2019.

 

Despite the limited sample size, Hill has plenty of untapped potential if his repertoire comes together. If his velocity continues to trend upward and he puts together a full college season, Hill may not last when Arizona is on the clock. The D-backs have targeted pitching in recent drafts, and Hill’s selection would add to the bevy of talented arms in the system. 

 

Prospects Worldwide -

 

4. RHP Jaden Hill, Louisiana State

 

Bat: R. Throw: R. 6’4″, 235 lbs. Born 12/12/1999. Hometown: Ashdown, AR

 

2019-2020: 1-0, 0.83 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 28/8 K/BB in 21.2 IP.

 

“Who cares about track record – I’m buying for the future. If the stuff is there, the stuff is there!” If you find yourself nodding in agreement with that statement, then Jaden Hill is the pitcher for you. Hill’s big fastball and projectable offspeed stuff made him a well-known draft prospect coming out of high school near Texarkana, but he opted to head down to LSU and prove himself instead of going pro. As a freshman, he missed time due to elbow soreness and later collarbone surgery, the latter stemming from his days as a high school quarterback, and was limited to just ten (albeit impressive) innings. Fully healthy as a sophomore, Hill was untouchable in 11.2 shutout innings in which he struck out 17 and allowed just one (1!) hit, and that included non-conference outings against Indiana and Texas.

 

Let’s talk about stuff. Jaden Hill has pitched mostly in relief to this point, where he can easily touch 98 with his fastball, but in longer outings he can still sit comfortably in the mid 90’s. His go-to pitch is a rapidly improving slider that has added a ton of power since high school, showing devastating late bite as it dives across the plate. His changeup was actually ahead of the slider when he arrived in Baton Rouge, and it’s an above average pitch as well. Lastly, as he has gotten more confident in his slider, he’s been tinkering with a cutter that could split the difference in his power fastball/slider combination.

 

Hill’s delivery is clean, his frame is big and durable, and his arm speed is certainly there. He has also shown solid-average command in his short stints on the mound, bringing together the full package. Of course, the big question is proving it all, because 21.2 dominant innings as an underclassman is not enough to inspire confidence that his game will hold together under the rigor of a 200 inning MLB season. There is nothing in his profile to suggest he can’t, but until he does, it has to be a question. Scouts will for sure be bearing down on his starts this spring, and if the stuff is as loud in June as it was in February and the command holds together, then we likely have a top ten pick and potentially the most exciting arm to come out of LSU since Aaron Nola.

  

MLB -    

 

5. Jaden Hill, RHP, Louisiana State - Hill has worked just 21 2/3 innings in two years of college because he missed most of his freshman year with an elbow strain. While he lacks track record, he does offer an enticing combination of physicality (6-foot-4, 233 pounds), athleticism (He was a three-star quarterback recruit in high school), a fastball that sat in the upper 90s when he came out of the bullpen last spring and a nasty mid-80s slider.

 

 Diamond Digest -   

 

10) Jaden Hill, RHP, LSU

If we lived in an alternate universe in which Jaden Hill was ensured a clean bill of health and LSU made a run similar to the one Vanderbilt made in 2019, we may be talking about Jaden Hill the same way we talk about Kumar Rocker right now. Both guys have massive physicality (Hill is measured at 6’4/233), and extremely loud fastball/slider combinations. The difference between the two is that a shoulder injury in Hill’s freshman year and the Covid shutdown in his sophomore year have limited him to just 21.2 total innings in Baton Rouge. When Hill has pitched, he has been simply electric. His fastball puts up big velocity readings, as he has been up to 97-98 in shorter stints, and he sits around the 94-95 mark once settled in. The fastball doesn’t miss as many bats as the velocity may indicate, probably because of a steep vertical approach angle, but he can throw it for strikes to both sides of the plate when he’s on. The big thing for him will be becoming more consistent with his fastball command. Hill’s slider is a nasty swing-and-miss pitch. It has a flatter, horizontal break with great length. The problem I have with the slider is that he throws it too often out of the zone. I would like to see a more intentional focus on throwing the pitch for strikes, so he holds hitters accountable that the pitch can’t just be written off when they pick up on it. Hill throws a changeup that people really like, but because of how few innings he has thrown I haven’t seen it much. Mechanically, he is pretty solid with great athleticism, and balance/body control for a guy his size. He has a very efficient hip hinge and arm stroke, and his arm is on time at foot plant. Hill also generates solid hip/torso separation, which is an encouraging sign that some of the velocity comes from the mechanics and not just the monstrous strength. Hill is a very talented pitcher whose injury concerns leave a justifiable amount of worry, but if he pitches well and stays healthy this spring he could prove be a top five pick and show his middle-of-the-rotation potential.

 

 Moto City Bengals -

 

Jaden Hill, RHP, LSU

 

Would it even be a legitimate list if I didn’t mention a big, strong SEC power arm for the Detroit Tigers as a possibility? At 6’4″ 233 lbs, Hill is a lot of what the Tigers salivate over when it comes to starting pitchers. A mid-90’s fastball and sweeping breaking pitches make Jaden Hill a first-round talent. Unlike others, Hill will need a strong showing to cement his draft stock; considering elbow issues which shortened his freshman year and surgery his sophomore season which limited his time (before COVID)–just 21.2 innings of collegiate baseball under his belt.

  

Pitcher List -

 

6. Jaden Hill, RHP, LSU

 

I fully expect Jaden Hill to light the NCAA baseball world on fire in 2021. This is a kid who has only been able to throw 21-plus innings over his first two seasons of eligibility due to a loaded LSU roster in 2019 and an elbow injury this year. But so far he’s only allowed two runs in those 21 innings. If that UCL strain is nothing to worry about, Hill can finally be unleashed. With a mid-90s heater, a plus changeup, and a decent curveball, Hill has yet to be challenged in college. Here’s to hoping we get to see a full season of the 6-foot-4-inch righty.

 

 Camden Chat -

 

RHP Jaden Hill - LSU

 

It’s an SEC-heavy list so far and there’s still one more to come. Having another LSU pitcher around would be exciting for Orioles broadcaster and former #1 overall pick Ben McDonald. Whether Hill remains near the top is less of a sure thing, since he has already dealt with a strained UCL that interrupted his freshman action and he didn’t get much chance to prove himself as a sophomore.

 

On the other hand, as McDaniel writes at ESPN:

 

He came out this spring hitting 98.5 mph per TrackMan and the changeup was still plus and now the slider also was plus.

 

I’ve always wondered what Kevin Gausman (another LSU alum, you may recall) might have looked like as an Oriole if there was a competent pitching development program here in the Dan Duquette days. If the O’s end up with Hill a year from now, maybe we’ll find out what Elias’s people do better to actually develop off-speed pitches.

Click here for the full list of Mack's Scouting Reports.