Hardly anyone can get a hit off of this Yanks prospect right now
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Professional batters have only four more hits against right-hander Thatcher Hurd than you do over his past four starts.
The Yankees' No. 9 prospect continued to flummox hitters on Wednesday as he gave up just one hit over five scoreless innings in Single-A Tampa's 6-0 win against St. Lucie at Clover Park.
It was Hurd's fourth consecutive start with only one hit allowed. Across those 17 innings, he has permitted two earned runs and eight walks while recording 29 strikeouts. This outing came in the footsteps of his most impressive start to date as a pro: 10 K's over 4 2/3 scoreless frames versus Dunedin on June 24.
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A 2024 third-round Draft pick out of Louisiana State, Hurd underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2025 and made his pro debut this past May. He has allowed one or zero earned runs in seven of his nine outings. His start on May 21 looks like a huge outlier -- 10 earned runs allowed on eight hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings. But if you subtract that blot, Hurd has registered a 1.09 ERA and a .117 batting average against through eight starts between Rookie ball and Single-A.
Hurd succeeds on the mound with a mid-90s fastball that can reach 98 mph and a mid-80s slider with a ton of spin and movement. He also possesses a curveball that gets a good amount of depth when he can command it properly.
Command and control will be the keys for the 6-foot-4 righty as he moves forward in his career. He walked 74 batters in 141 1/3 collegiate innings split between UCLA and LSU, and he has issued 18 walks in 35 1/3 frames in his return from TJ surgery. MLB Pipeline gives him 40-grade control right now. In other words, it's below average.
There's plenty of time for refinement; Hurd isn't expected to arrive in the big leagues until 2028. In the meantime, he will look to keep stringing together one-hit starts.