43.5 F
Pittsburgh

2012 Over-Slot Draft Pick Hayden Hurst Retires

Published:

First baseman Hayden Hurst has been placed on the Voluntarily Retired List by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was drafted in 2012, taken in the 17th round and signed for $400,000, which was one of three late round over-slot signings by the Pirates that year. Hurst was drafted as a pitcher that could touch mid-90’s with his fastball out of high school, but injuries limited him to one outing back during the 2013 season and he had major control issues that day.

When he returned to action in 2014, he was playing first base, though most of his game time was as a DH. The 21-year-old Hurst hit .245 last year in 15 games in the Gulf Coast League, with no extra-base hits and a 3:26 BB/SO ratio. He was in Extended Spring Training this year competing for a spot on one of the short-season teams, with a return to the GCL likely.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

Related Articles

Article Drop

Latest Articles