Heath Hembree: A Fast Interview with the Owner of the AFL’s Fastest Fastball
By MiLB.com
Something tells me that way back in April or May, Heath Hembree imagined that, by September or October, GIANTS would be spread across his chest — not SCORPIONS.
Something tells me. Hembree doesn’t tell me. No, the Giants’ fire-balling prospect speaks in a low, South Carolina rumble and isn’t prone to statements like that one. I clearly am.
Here is why Hembree will be in Scottsdale (for the Arizona Fall League, which begins Tuesday) and not San Francisco (for the NLDS, which begins today): He was unable to repeat his amazing 2011 in 2012.
’11: 1.86 ERA, 38 SV, 78 K, .188 OPP .AVG in 53 1/3 IP spanning 54 G split between Class A Advanced San Jose and Double-A Richmond
’12: 4.74 ERA, 15 SV, 36 K, .207 OPP .AVG in 38 IP spanning 39 G at Triple-A Fresno
Straining the flexor tendon in his dynamite pitching elbow didn’t help matters. That cost him all of July and most of August. (Was he ever feeling good? He pitched on consecutive days just once before going down.)
When I spoke with him, Hembree, who was back to being lights-out in seven appearances between August and September, was pumped about his ability to bounce back from injury. He’s going to the AFL, where he will pick up some (not all) of the innings he would have accrued in the Pacific Coast League.
So what can you expect to see from Richard Heath Hembree in baseball’s “finishing school” for top prospects? Expect him to finish hitters with the league’s fastest fastball. Don’t be surprised, too, to see an occasional slider or changeup. That will be the second most important reason for his presence there.
“I’ve always been a guy that’s really been confident in my fastball, so it takes some people getting on me to say, ‘Hey, quit throwing your fastball.’ Not that I can’t get away with just my fastball to get out, but that I’m going to need my other pitches as I move up,” Hembree told me. “Developing my secondary pitches is what’s going to make me an even better pitcher.”
THE FASTBALL
Blog: How do you grip your fastball?
Hembree: Four-seam. It’s how I have held it my entire life.
Blog: What purpose do you have when you throw it?
Hembree: It’s my go-to pitch, my out-pitch, so I go to it a lot. I try to keep it down and be aggressive and attack the hitter. I have always had the mentality of attacking hitters. When I feel like I get timid or back it up a little but, that’s usually when things don’t go as well.
Blog: What’s an ideal speed range?
Hembree: 94–95 mph. (Here’s where some of that South Carolina modesty kicks in: Hembree can get his fastball up to 98-plus with ease, though it’s more straight the speedier it is.)
THE SLIDER
Blog: When did you learn your breaking pitch?
Hembree: I picked it up when I got to college and have been throwing it ever since, just something I had to get a feel for over time.
Blog: Some have said it’s not dissimilar from Sergio Romo’s cutter — that accurate?
Hembree: Mine is more of a slider than a cutter. It has a little depth to it.
Blog: How do you grip it?
Hembree: I grip it like a four-seam, with my index and middle fingers, but off-set.
Blog: What purpose do you have when you throw it?
Hembree: It’s another out-pitch for me. I want to show hitters that I can throw it for strikes and try to get them to chase it later in the count.
Blog: Ideal speed range?
Hembree: Around 85 mph.
THE CHANGEUP
Blog: When did you learn your change?
Hembree: I’m still learning it actually. It’s a pitch-in-progress . I haven’t thrown it too much in games. I’m trying to develop it, knowing I’m going to need it in the future. I messed around throwing it before I got to pro ball, but the Giants really harped on it when I got to pro ball.
Blog: In what ways are you still learning it?
Hembree: Just to get a feel for it, to know the right situations when to throw it. Just keep throwing it, have to throw and keep working with it. I feel like I am doing a good job with it here lately.
Blog: How do you grip it?
Hembree: Four seams.
Blog: Ideal speed range?
Hembree: 85 mph.
