Heath Hembree

[mabrowndog]

Richard Heath Hembree
RHRP
 

 
DOB: January 13, 1989
Born: Spartanburg, SC
B/T: Right/Right
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 210 lbs
High School: Broome (Spartanburg, SC)
College: College of Charleston (via U. of South Carolina & Spartanburg Methodist College)
Drafted: 2010, 5th Round by San Francisco (#168 overall)
Signed: July 3, 2010 (Scout: Jeremy Cleveland)
Bonus: $185,000
MLB Debut: 9/13/2013
Acquired: 7/26/2014 from San Francisco Giants (Traded with LHSP Edwin Escobar to Boston for RHSP Jake Peavy and cash considerations)
Roster Status: Boston 40-man
Options Used: 1 of 3 (2014)
Arbitration Eligible: 2017
Free Agent: 2020
 
 
LINKS
 
* Baseball-Reference.com MLB page
* Baseball-Reference.com minors page
* MiLB.com page
* SoxProspects profile
* Baseball America page
* Baseball Prospectus page
* Baseball Cube page
* Fangraphs page
* Minor League Central page
 
 

 

 
 
SCOUTING REPORTS
 
* Ranked as Giants #7 prospect pre-2014 by Baseball America Prospect Handbook:
 

Expected to be the club’s closer of the future, Hembree wasn’t ready for any relief role when the Giants badly needed help in May and June. Instead, he gave up 17 runs in 21 innings to Triple-A Pacific Coast League hitters. Though Hembree had recovered from the forearm strain that bothered him a year earlier, his lack of a dependable secondary pitch kept him at Fresno. He improved in the second half and kept it up into September, when he was unscored upon in nine big league appearances.
 
A seldom-used college closer, Hembree vaulted up the prospect rankings because of his 98 mph fastball and power slider. He pitched more effectively in the 92-94 mph range in 2013, but has addressed past issues of wildness within the strike zone and shows more ability to dial back and locate. Hembree’s slider was the key to his second-half turnaround. He developed the ability to shape it to steal strikes or sweep it when he wants a strikeout.
 
Hembree will be given every opportunity to win a job in the Giants bullpen this spring as a set-up man. Even if he never gets back that 98 mph heat, his size and stuff compare well with former Giant Bob Howry, who had a long career in late relief.

 
* Ranked as Giants #11 prospect pre-2014 by MLB.com, after ranking 4th mid-2013:
 

Hembree has a live arm capable of reaching the upper 90s, yet he lasted five rounds in the 2010 draft because he was hard to see as an amateur. He missed his high school senior season with a knee injury, and pitched a total of just 74 innings in college spent at three separate schools. He raced through the minors, reaching San Francisco three years after signing. Hembree dialed down his fastball in 2013, usually pitching at 92 to 95, sacrificing some of his velocity to achieve better control. He gets good sink on his fastball, and also can dial it up and throw it by hitters up in the zone. Hembree is all about power, as his second pitch is a hard slider that gets into the upper 80s and resembles a cutter. Often projected as the Giants' closer of the future, he helped his cause by recording nine scoreless outings during his September call-up.

 
* Bernie Pleskoff, ex-pro scout (6/26/2013)
 

I first saw Hembree pitch in the 2012 Arizona Fall League. He was recovering from a strained flexor tendon he suffered during his season in Triple-A Fresno.
 
The Arizona Fall League is a tough place for pitchers. Hitters are locked in as the air is light and the ball flies. Pitchers are tired. But Hembree threw well; he recorded nine very solid innings, pitching to a 3.00 ERA. He was 2-for-2 in saves and struck out 12.

Hembree has little trouble bringing the fastball between 93 and 96 mph. If needed, he can increase that velocity to three digits. However, he has his mechanics, and that may help him from overthrowing.
 
Hembree's secondary pitches include a mid-80s slider and an occasional change-up that remains a work in progress. The fastball is his bread and butter.

His issue has been yielding bases on balls -- too many of them, to be sure. Hembree has walked 56, or almost four per game. He must improve his wildness to continue his path to the Major League roster.
 
This season was rolling along nicely for Hembree, until his two most recent outings. He had a couple of rough patches along the way, but his June 17th appearance against Salt Lake City at home -- at Triple-A Fresno -- was the first of two consecutive tough games. He only threw one-third of an inning, giving up three hits, five earned runs and two walks. Was it a bad day or a bad sign?
 
In his most recent appearance, the trouble continued. He threw one inning, giving up two hits and three earned runs.
It is imperative to mention that the Pacific Coast League is very hitter friendly. Wind and overall weather conditions are tough on pitchers.
 
Based upon what I have seen of Hembree -- if he is healthy -- his arm strength is a tremendous asset. I believe he will find his command and be an eventual presence in the Giants' bullpen.

 
* Three questions with Heath Hembree (3/17/2014)
 

MLBPipeline.com: This is your third big league camp. How is it different for you now compared to the first time you set foot in here?
 
Hembree: It's a lot different. I know a lot more of the guys on a better level. I know how things are run. I knew what to expect coming into Spring Training. I know how it's going to be. It's not overwhelming this time around.
 
MLBPipeline.com: When you come in for one inning, right from the start of your pro career, is it harder to develop because the results are so immediate and obvious if you don't pitch well? You don't have the benefit of lots of innings to develop.
 
Hembree: Going one inning at a time, you want to have your best stuff. For me, it was just fastball, so I wanted to throw my fastball all the time. I didn't really get the opportunity to work on throwing my slider and my changeup, partly because I was stubborn about it. I just wanted to throw heat. Over the past couple of years, I've matured a little bit. I've started throwing my offspeed stuff a little bit more. Last year, once I started throwing my offspeed more, it helped me a lot as a pitcher. I feel like I've come a long way from last Spring Training until the end of September, so I'm just really looking forward to this year.
 
MLBPipeline.com: When you're in the lower levels of the Minors, you can always come in with that fastball and get away with it. Is that something, at the upper levels, you eventually realized you had to do something different because the results weren't the same as when you first started?
 
Hembree: The first couple of the weeks, it worked, then guys started realizing, "He's just throwing his fastball," and they started hitting it. I needed that. I needed to get hit around, have some struggles and learn from it. It was good for me. It helped me learn to throw my secondary stuff and not just throw my fastball every time out. The down times I've had have been good for me.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

Hembree will be given every opportunity to win a job in the Giants bullpen this spring as a set-up man. Even if he never gets back that 98 mph heat, his size and stuff compare well with former Giant Bob Howry, who had a long career in late relief.
 

 
Thanks for the 2003 Flashback. What's his timeline for reaching the bigs? Will they be jonesing to improve the bullpen even if it means chasing the Mendoza line at best? 

 

[mabrowndog]

He's already reached the bigs, pitching in 9 games last September without allowing a run (7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 12 K vs 29 batters).
 
Since he's on the 40-man, he'll likely get another call-up once rosters expand to see if he's ready to face AL lineups. It seems that by keeping Koji the Sox are intent on extending him a qualifying offer, so Hembree wouldn't be in line to close next year regardless. But with Badenhop & Breslow also free agents this winter, it seems he's got a pretty decent chance to stick as a set-up arm for 2015 (and certainly better odds than Alex Wilson), especially with his injury issues apparently in the rear view mirror.