Hayden Durke is a pitching prospect to keep an eye on in the Diamondbacks’ farm system. In 20 appearances with the Diamondbacks’ Low-A affiliate in Visalia, he sports a 1.47 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings. Opposing hitters are overmatched against his high-octane stuff, batting just .147 on the year.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Armed with an upper-90s fastball and a slider, he has the velocity and stuff major league organizations covet for their bullpen. The Diamondbacks signed Durke to a $350K bonus out of the 13th round of the 2023 draft despite missing the collegiate season and only pitching in a handful of games in the Cape Cod League. It ended up being the team’s seventh largest bonus from that draft class, with $200K counting towards their total pool.
“It gives you a lot of confidence,” said Durke. “Not really focusing on the round you’re picked in but the money they give you shows how they feel about you. Gives you a lot of confidence going in and hopefully shows you the opportunity that you have ahead of you.”
Durke is competing for the first time in two years, getting a chance to grow and build experience in his development as a pitcher. He’s looking forward to being able to compete on a daily basis, not getting cut short, and not worrying about outside factors telling him when he can pitch again. The last time he was able to compete in this manner was last summer, pitching in the Cape Cod League. Durke compared the competition level there to the Arizona Complex League, where he pitched to close out 2023 after joining the Diamondbacks.
With Visalia, he’s been tabbed as one of their late-inning arms. 17 of his 20 appearances on the season have started in the seventh inning or later. Knowing when he’s likely to appear in a game has helped Durke develop a routine for each game.
“If I see my spot coming up later in the game, I could see that ahead of time, prepare, get ready to throw. If my number doesn’t get called that day, just get ready to prepare for the next day. So it allows you to stay on a routine and really understand what works for you to get yourself ready to throw in that situation.”
The main goals for Durke are to play out the full season and continue to build experience in his first year in pro ball. The biggest area of his game that needs improvement is his ability to throw strikes and jump ahead of hitters. He has 24 walks on the season, heavily mitigated by his ability to miss bats or barrels. In a lot of ways, his game is very reminiscent of where Justin Martinez was coming off Tommy John surgery in 2022.
“Just throwing strikes, getting outs, and getting innings under my belt. The stuff’s still there, it’s been there for the last two, three years. It continues to get better as I hone in on it and understand how to use it better.”
In the pursuit of velocity, injuries have been on the rise of late across Major League Baseball. Some of the notable pitchers out for the season include Spencer Strider, Sandy Alcántara, Shane McClanahan, and Félix Bautista.
“You can prepare and do as much as possible to prevent the major injuries from happening, but in the long run it’s part of the game. All you can do is control what you can control. A few times a week getting into the weight room, getting your body strong, ice tubs, and hot tubs. All the athletic staff here at Visalia, the ACL, and throughout the organization help you stay on your toes with it, but I think it’s just part of the game and some people are more accident-prone and some aren’t.”
A strong year from Durke could have him on a short list of arms that project to be a key part of the Diamondbacks’ future bullpen. Between him, Martinez, Bryce Jarvis, Landon Sims, and what happens with Yilber Diaz’s development as a starter, the team could feature a pretty tough bullpen in a couple of years.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
