Grant Hockin | RHP
Background
Hockin attends Damien High School in the Los Angeles suburb of La Verne. His older brother Chad pitches for Cal State Fullerton and his grandfather is the late Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, so he has some serious baseball bloodlines. Hockin is not a power hitter like his grandfather, however. He is committed to UCLA.
Scouting Report
Hockin is a classic projectable prep pitcher listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 lbs. He throws both a straight four-seam fastball and a running two-seam fastball, usually sitting in the 88-91 mph range but touching 93 on the occasion. A sharp slider is his top secondary pitch, plus he also throws a promising changeup and a very inconsistent curveball. There’s some thought he will have to simply scrap the curve at the next level and focus on the slider and changeup. Hockin is a good athlete and his delivery is very smooth and low effort, suggesting there is more velocity coming as he fills out. He also draws high marks for his makeup, work ethic, and leadership skills.
Outlook
Keith Law (subs. req’d) recently ranked Hockin as the 48th best prospect in the draft, though neither Baseball America nor MLB.com included him in their most recent top 100 rankings. This draft class is deep with right-handed pitchers and I think Hockin is getting overlooked. Good size, two fastballs and two offspeed pitches (maybe three), athletic, easy delivery, good makeup, Hall of Fame bloodlines … what box isn’t checked? This is the type of kid who comes out as a top ten pick in three years if he winds up in college and stays healthy.
Scouting director and Southern California native Damon Oppenheimer loves his SoCal prospects (Austin Romine, Ian Kennedy, Gerrit Cole, Ian Clarkin, Gosuke Katoh, Tyler Wade, Angelo Gumbs, Gabe Encinas, etc.) and he’s always been keen on high school arms, so Hockin seems like someone who could be right up his alley for the Yankees’ top pick in the second round (55th overall) next month. I’ve always been a fan of prep pitchers and I’d be thrilled if the club wound up with Hockin.