The Diamondbacks May Have Stolen A Trade Deadline Gem In David Hagaman

The buzz was just beginning to build for David Hagaman as he returned to a mound on June 5 with the Rangers’ Arizona Complex League affiliate. It took just three ACL appearances for the 22-year-old righthander to earn promotion to Low-A Hickory. Then, on July 31 with Texas in the midst of a playoff race, the Rangers shipped Hagaman along with lefthanders Kohl Drake and Mitch Bratt to the Diamondbacks in a trade deadline deal for Merrill Kelly.

Today, weâ€ll be continuing our offseason series on potential sleeper and breakout pitchers by taking a deep dive into what makes Hagaman an intriguing name to follow heading into 2026.

Career Background

A native of Egg Harbor City, NJ, Hagaman grew up on the Jersey Shore just 15 minutes from Atlantic City. After a standout career with Holy Spirit (NJ) High School, he committed to West Virginia, where he redshirted the 2022 season. He returned in 2023 and earned all-Big 12 honorable mention after making 22 appearances and striking out 40 batters over 38.1 innings. The next season, Hagaman remained a primary bullpen weapon for the Mountaineers, making 14 appearances spanning 35 innings and striking out 49 batters to 19 walks.

Thatâ€s when the elbow injury hit.

Hagaman missed the final month of West Virginiaâ€s season and then underwent internal brace surgery on his right elbow two months before the 2024 MLB Draft. An intriguing prospect, Hagaman ranked 183rd on BA’s final Top 500 draft board. The Rangers landed him in the fourth round, signing him for $515,000.

Hagaman would work his way back from injury, finally toeing the rubber on an affiliated mound in early June. He allowed just one run over seven ACL innings, striking out 12 of 25 batters faced. The Rangers promoted him to Low-A Hickory, where he made five starts and began to showcase the deep arsenal of quality pitches that convinced the Rangers to draft him.Â

Over those five starts, Hagaman mostly worked in 2-3 inning stints, striking out 16 batters to six walks across 15.1 innings of work. Hagaman showed off four pitches in his four-seam fastball, slider, changeup and reworked curveball. Right as the Rangers were unleashing the new curveball on unsuspecting Carolina League hitters, they dealt Hagaman to the D-backs.Â

Nearly immediately, Hagaman began to make some people in the Rangers front office likely regret his inclusion in the trade.

Arizona let Hagaman throw his reworked curveball and the pitch began to get immediate results. He dominated High-A Northwest League competition, striking out 27 batters to four walks and holding opponents to a .159 batting average in five appearances spanning 20 innings.

Hagaman’s curveball, in particular, began to drive big results. The pitch generated a 64% whiff rate and 56% chase rate, as Hagaman showed the ability to command it in and out of the zone.Â

Pitching Profile

Listed at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Hagaman has a prototypical starter build with size and strength throughout, and he’s likely close to his physical max. His repeatable mechanics and smooth arm swing allow him to throw an above-average amount of strikes. He delivers the ball from a high three-quarters arm slot that allows him to play the vertical game with his riding four-seam fastball and plus curveball.Â

Hagaman throws a riding four-seam fastball that sits 93-95 mph with 17-19 inches of ride on average with 9-11 inches of armside run. For secondaries, he mixes in a pair of breaking balls in his aforementioned curveball and mid-to-high-80s gyro slider with tight bullet spin along with a changeup.

Hagamanâ€s curveball was the least-used pitch in his arsenal this season, but it became a larger part of his attack plan as the year progressed. Thereâ€s strategic logic behind this, as the pitch was nearly unhittable in his brief sample with High-A Hillsboro:

PitchStrike%Swing%Miss%Chase%OPSCurveball72%45%62%47%0.167

The results speak for themselves, as Hagaman fooled hitters in and out of the zone with the improved offering, driving whiffs, chases and weak contact. The combination of power and movement on the curveball make it a truly unique look, particularly in the minor leagues. Itâ€s a true outlier combination of traits and movement, and Hagaman shows supreme command of the pitch.

Only seven other pitchers in the minors threw a curveball at 83 mph or harder on average with 10 or more inches of negative induced vertical break and nine or more inches of sweep:

playerorgavg velomax velospinivbhbTommy NanceTOR84.687.92926-14.7-11.6Alex MakarewichLAD84.987.52664-13.4-9.7Kade StrowdBAL83.986.52906-11.6-13.6Clarke SchmidtNYY84.486.53000-14.4-11.4David HagamanAZ83.786.32211-12.2-9.3Cedric De GrandpreATL8385.92431-10.4-9.9Colin SelbyBAL8384.72785-13.2-11.9

The rest of Hagamanâ€s arsenal is average-or-better.

With ride, run and average velocity, his four-seam fastball projects as an above-average offering. His slider is average with tight gyro spin, but its velocity is slightly below the ideal range for a pitch of that type. Hagaman’s changeup, meanwhile, shows good vertical separation from his fastball, helping it to generate strong results this season to the tune of a 40.7% whiff rate and 40.8% chase rate.Â

Health and command will determine how far his intriguing skill set takes him, but with a deep arsenal of quality pitches and a signature breaking ball designed to get whiffs in and out of the zone, Hagaman has all the ingredients to break out in 2026.

Source link