"He has a lot of qualities that are MLB ready'; Hunter Dobbins draws praise from Red Sox pitching coach
Hunter Dobbins made himself known around the Red Sox organization after an impressive showing in the 2024 season.
The right-hander started the year at the top of Double-A Portland’s starting rotation and threw 105 innings. During that stretch, he carried a 3.17 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP while showing off an impressive pitch mix. It ultimately earned him a promotion to Triple-A Worcester where he finished the year on a high note.
“The driver is if we can increase his fastball velocity to hold it constantly in the upper 90’s, it will elevate the quality and grades of all his other pitches,” Worcester pitching coach Dan DeLucia said of Dobbins on ‘To the Show Baseball Podcast’. “We are just tightening things up this spring. One of the drivers is getting ahead in counts more often and when you do put guys away. We want to see how fast he can race to two strikes and how fast he can end the at-bat when he gets to two strikes.”
The 25-year-old has one of the more unique arsenal offerings in the Red Sox system. He throws a fastball, slider, sweeper, curveball, and a new pitched he debuted in 2024 that he calls a splinker, which is a combination of a splitter and sinker.
“His splinker is essentially a splitter grip that he rips as hard as he can around 90 MPH that has a splitter action,” DeLucia noted of his pitch mix. “We are also retooling his sweeper a little bit. He has a lot of tangibles and qualities that are big league ready. It comes down to how consistent can he be with all of those and can he keep that velocity at that level consistently.”
While his action has been limited to just four innings over two starts this spring, Dobbins has shown impressive velocity touching 99 MPH at times. He has struck out three, walked one, and given up three hits and two earned runs.
Dobbins seems to be a lock to start the 2025 season as a key member in Worcester’s starting rotation. While he might be battling with names like Quinn Priester and Richard Fitts in a starting competition, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dobbins used in a long relief role if injuries arise in the Red Sox bullpen. The Texas native has noted before that he will do “whatever it takes to get to the big leagues and help the big league team.”.
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