RHP Ryan Hagenow, Farragut HS [TN]
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DoB: 6/11/2002. Commitment: Kentucky.
I find Hagenow to be one of the most interesting pitchers in this high school class. He ranks 69th on MLB Pipeline and 185th on the Baseball America 500, but I just get a good feeling about him and I'm taking a bit of a leap of faith by ranking him higher. I did something similar with high school lefty Asa Lacy in 2017, and that one worked out extremely well, so I'm hoping to have similar success with Hagenow. Coming from the Knoxville area, he's the top high school pitcher in Tennessee and the number two high school prospect in the state behind likely first rounder and Nashville-area outfielder Robert Hassell.
Hagenow is much more about projection than present ability, and it's clear that he'll take a bit longer to develop than some other arms. For now, he sits around 90 with his fastball, though he has reached as high as 93 on a few occasions and doesn't throw with a ton of effort. The pitch plays up because of its running action and he also gets some deception on it with his crossfire delivery and long arms. His slider and changeup need significant refinement, though he has shown really good versions of both in the past. His command, like everything else, needs refinement, but he generally does a good job of throwing strikes and staying around the zone.
The real draw here is what Hagenow could be. At a skinny 6'5", he has plenty of room to fill out his frame, and he's an athletic enough player to get the most out of it. His mechanics could also be cleaned up a little bit, which in this case presents a great opportunity to help him drive into his pitches a bit more and get more consistent with that offspeed stuff. Between the frame and the delivery, there's a good chance he adds as much as five or more miles per hour to his fastball and sits routinely in the mid 90's down the line. With the movement and deception he already has on it, it could become a true plus pitch in time. With a June birthday, he's also relatively young for a high school senior and nearly a year younger than Hassell, his Volunteer State counterpart.
The projection in Hagenow's profile is extremely enticing, though most teams are understandably wary of a pitcher with that much to prove. He had a chance to move himself up boards by hitting the upper end of his velocity band more frequently this spring, though unfortunately that couldn't happen. Hagenow probably fits more on day two than day one at this point, potentially in the triple digit picks even if he's signable, though he could head to Kentucky and establish himself as an ace there. He'll still just be turning 21 as the 2023 draft rolls around and has plenty of time to develop.
Summer action
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