Position: SP B/T: L/L
Age: 32 (11/23/1992)
2024 Traditional Stats: (NC Dinos, Korean Baseball Organization) 13-3, 2.69 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 182 SO, 38 BB, 157 IP, 26 GS
2024 Advanced Stats: 28.8 K%, 6.0 BB%, 3.28 FIP, 3.53 xFIP, .290 BABIP, 77.4 LOB%
Rundown
Kyle Hart was selected in the 19th round of the 2016 draft by the Red Sox, and looked good as he worked his way through the minors, but flopped in his 11-inning stint in the majors during the 2020 Covid-shortened season. He gave up 19 earned runs on 24 hits for a 15.55 ERA over four appearances. Ouch.
He spent the next three seasons in the minor league organizations of the Red Sox, Phillies, and Mariners, scuffling with ERAs of 4.22, 5.25 and 4.53 at the Double- and Triple-A levels before heading overseas to play for the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization.
In South Korea, Hart found his way. He set the KBO record for strikeouts in a single season with 182 en route to winning the league’s Dong-won Award for the best starting pitcher. He won an award for best defensive pitcher, too.
According to MMO Editor-in-Chief Mike Mayer, as many as 13 teams are now interested in Hart.
“There have been times where I’m even embarrassed to tell people I was in the big leagues because they’re going to Google me and be like, ‘This dip-(expletive) had a (expletive) 16 ERA,'” Hart told MassLive.com last month. “There’s a piece of me that is pissed off and embarrassed and would love to get a sample size of a couple hundred innings and see what we’re looking at.
“If I have (an ERA of) 15 (again), I’ll go dig a hole and you’ll never hear from me again,” he said. “But deep down, I believe I’m a competitive middle-of-the-rotation guy. It’s hard to explain that to people when you have four terrible outings.”
FanGraphs believes in Hart enough to rank him No. 48 on its list of top 50 free agents, one spot ahead of Jose Quintana.
Contract
FanGraphs projects Hart for a three-year, $24 million deal. He is coming off playing on a one-year, $900,000 contract for the Dinos.
Recommendation
I have never had the chance to watch Hart pitch. Here’s more from FanGraphs: “Hart looks like a fifth or sixth starter type, though there’s a risk his fastball-oriented approach won’t be viable against big league hitters due to his lack of velocity.” I would not recommend committing three years to a 32-year-old who had one excellent season in South Korea after logging 701.2 innings in the minors. I would give him a chance on a shorter-term deal if other free-agent targets go elsewhere.
