Ben Hess Is Proving the Yankees Right
- Jared Goldstein
- Jun 11
- 3 min read
Ben Hess was one of the more controversial first-round picks the Yankees have made in recent memory. Taken 26th overall out of Alabama, he posted a 5.80 ERA in 68.1 innings his final collegiate season, not exactly numbers that scream Top 30 pick. But the strikeout stuff? Undeniable. Hess punched out nearly 34% of batters across three years with a fastball-slider combo that made hitters look silly.
Coming in ranked 44th on most draft boards, the Yankees saw upside well beyond the surface numbers. Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ vice president of domestic amateur scouting had great things to say about the 1st round draft pick. “Ben checks off a lot of things for us,” and “He fits what we are looking for in a potential top-of-the-line Major League starter. Specifically, he’s a big, power right-hander that can throw two breaking balls and can reach up to 97 [mph]. We think there is even more to come from Ben with our player development program.” one Bryan Hoch MLB.com Article said.
In Hess’s debut season he showed more of the same with a bit more command on his pitches, with is something that he struggled with in his years of college ball. Starting the 2025 season at High A, with the Hudson Valley Renegades, he made 15 starts while holding a 3.51 ERA, struck out batters at a 33.9% clip (93rd percentile) while holding batters to just a .263 wOBA and also generating 31% whiff which all ranked among the top of all of MILB.
From High-A he earned a mid-season promotion to Double-A, and if anything, he looked even better. In seven starts with the Somerset Patriots, Hess posted a 2.70 ERA and a 2.34 FIP. His K% dipped just two points, but so did his walk rate, he looked more comfortable in Bridgewater than he did in Hudson Valley. His impressive four-pitch mix: Fastball, Slider, Curveball, Changup had been working extremely well and has undeniably been some of the best strikeout stuff in all of minor league baseball. By the end of his debut season he finished with a 3.22 ERA, 2.50 FIP, 33% strikeout rate, and a 10.9% walk rate which helped him crack MLB Pipeline's Top 4 in the system, ahead of now-rotation mainstay Will Warren.
After his first full MILB season he would end with a 3.22 ERA, 2.50 FIP, while striking out 33% of batters and walking 10.9%.
Through his first two starts of 2026, Hess struck out 14 batters in 7.2 innings. Then arm fatigue hit in his second outing and shelved him for just over a month.
He's been back since May 14th, working on a limited pitch count while he ramps back up. The run prevention hasn't been pretty 4 earned runs in 8.2 innings since returning but he's still missing bats at an elite rate, punching out 11 while walking 4 during that stretch. His season ERA sits at 3.86, as he’s clearly still working his way back from injury.
What was once a very controversial draft pick by the organization has now turned into one of the organizations most talented pitchers. Ben Hess proved that he can put batters away with his seriously impressive swing and miss stuff, but the development isn't over, once Ben Hess develops even a little bit more control over his pitches that K% will only go up. Im very excited to see Ben Hess this season as he battles adversity for the first time in his professional career.
Every Prospect. Every Level. Every Day.
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