The 2013 amateur draft is less than one week away, so between now and then I’m going to highlight some prospects individually rather than lump them together into larger posts.
Hunter Harvey | RHP
Background
Hunter is the son of former All-Star closer Bryan Harvey, and he attends Bandys High School in the Charlotte suburb of Catawba, North Carolina. He has not committed to a college and has made it no secret he wants to start his pro career as soon as possible.
Scouting Report
Listed at a projectable 6-foot-3 and 175 lbs., Harvey sits in the 90-94 mph range with his fastball and has run it as high as 97 in the past. He aggressively pitches inside to both lefties and righties even though his command is far from refined. A mid-to-upper-70s curveball is his top secondary pitch, and sometimes it will be a true a power downer that finishes in the dirt. Other times it will sweep and have more 11-to-5 break. Harvey hasn’t faced great competition in high school and never bothered to improve his changeup. He has a high arm slot and throws across his body a bit, so whichever team drafts him will have to work on keeping him in-line with the plate during his delivery. There are a bunch of videos on YouTube.
Miscellany
Keith Law (subs. req’d) and Baseball America ranked Harvey as the 24th and 33rd best prospect in the draft class in their latest rankings, respectively. For what it’s worth, Harvey is one of several prep arms the Yankees are watching according to Jim Callis. He has the size, the velocity, and the makings of an out pitch breaking ball, which is a pretty great starting point for a prepster eager to begin his pro career. The Yankees have three first round picks (26th, 32nd, 33rd) and Harvey would be a fine selection at any of the three slots.
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