Detroit Tigers pitcher Jaden Hamm — a new top 100 prospect — explains breakout 2024 season

The Detroit Tigers selected right-hander Jaden Hamm in the fifth round of the 2023 draft out of Middle Tennessee State at No. 143 overall . Thirteen months later, he has been ranked by Baseball America as a top-100 prospect.

In 2024, Hamm emerged as a top arm in his first full season in the minor leagues. The 22-year-old posted a 2.64 ERA with 31 walks (7.8% walk rate) and 122 strikeouts (22.8% strikeout rate) across 99 innings in 24 games (23 starts) for High-A West Michigan.

Hamm checks in as the 95th-ranked prospect in baseball on Baseball America's top-100 list , joined by six other players from the Tigers' farm system: Jackson Jobe at No. 3, Max Clark at No. 21, Kevin McGonigle at No. 23, Jace Jung at No. 73, Bryce Rainer at No. 84 and Thayron Liranzo at No. 90.

That means Hamm is now considered the Tigers' second-best pitching prospect, behind only Jobe.

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Here's what Mark Conner , the Tigers' scouting director, said about Hamm when the Tigers selected him in the 2023 draft : "He is an absolute sponge for knowledge, and that is a big part of this process for selecting him. We know his eagerness to learn and develop. He has real spin to his breaking ball. He is a natural spinner of the ball that can land it for strikes. He also has the ability to soften it with a really good changeup. He is a player that we feel is on the come and our player development is going to do great things with."

Hamm could begin the 2025 season in Double-A Erie.

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In early August, Hamm talked to the Free Press (and two other reporters) about his fastball-curveball combination, the development of his slider and changeup, his steady success in the 2024 season and what he has learned since joining the Tigers' organization.

What has 2024 been like for you?

"It's been awesome. It's everything that I worked for this offseason after getting a short stint last year (in Low-A Lakeland) after getting drafted. Coming off that, you go into the offseason and want to put yourself in the position that I've put myself in this year. The biggest thing is just attacking guys. That's been the biggest adjustment for me. I had a little walk problem in college, but just trying to eliminate that and give myself the best chance at not giving up any free bases and make them earn it has been the best thing for me."

Can you walk us through your pitch mix?

"The fastball-curveball is definitely the main two pitches. I added a slider halfway through spring training. The changeup has been a work in progress, just something that can fade off and change velo. ... If I throw it correctly, I do get a lot of swing and miss on it if it's in the zone. I just got to keep throwing it with conviction. ... That's what I've been working with. Being able to throw everything to everybody has been a big thing for me this year. ... Fastball has been averaging like 92-94 (mph). It's late in the season. This is the most I've ever thrown. Spring training, I was 94-96. And then the curveball is 80-82. I try to keep it 80 and below."

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Who taught you the slider in spring training?

"(Pitching coordinator Stephanos Stroop . We had talked about it after getting drafted, maybe developing a slider-cutter thing. Coming off that, they didn't want me to add it before spring training because they wanted me to focus on my first offseason. I get in there, and like a week before spring training, Stroop tells me to start messing with the slider grip and add it to my catch play. We get to spring training, and they told me to add it to my bullpen, like we probably won't need it this season, but it's something to work with. I threw it a couple of times in spring training games, and coming off the curveball and the fastball, it definitely is something different. It was kind of working. Being a new pitch, I really didn't have the feel for it, so metrically, it was all right, but location-wise, it was not really exactly what we were all looking for. It's a work in progress."

Is the slider a pitch you're going to need in the big leagues?

"I think so. If I was to write a scouting report against myself, I'm going to be the north, south guy, and then I'm going to occasionally throw a changeup. If I have a changeup and a slider, then I have four pitches, and they're all going in different directions. For the long term, I'm going to need that slider and changeup. I think the slider is definitely going to be something, especially going into this offseason, where I can hone in and really make it one of my pitches that I can throw anytime."

How have you adjusted to pitching against teams for the second and third time this season?

"The biggest thing I've noticed is they're just selling out for the heater. A lot of my success late in the season has come after throwing a first-pitch curveball for a strike and then throwing maybe a changeup off of it, so now they're 0-2 without seeing a fastball, and then the cards are in my hand at that point. I'm just trying to reverse the roles on them now instead of just giving them heaters like I did at the beginning of the year. If it's not a heater, they're taking it early, and then they're just fighting off stuff late trying to put the ball in play."

Does your fastball average 20 inches of induced vertical break?

"Yeah. That's why they're selling out for the heater. They're going to get it at some point, but it's got to be executed. Earlier in the year, they were just swinging at it and missing it because it was riding above their barrel, but now, I've seen in pregame batting practice where they have the big hack-attack machine shooting ride balls at the top of the zone. They're going to be able to adjust to it. That goes back to adding the changeup and the slider. It's a huge pitch to get something going other than north and south."

How much have you learned about metrics, such as induced vertical break, since getting drafted in 2023?

"When I'm pitching, I don't really care about the metrics. I'm just going to go attack. I think the understanding that I've gained in pro ball has been what my stuff does and where I need to throw it. I knew what it was doing in college, but with the fastball, I've always been taught to throw fastballs at the knees. When I was throwing fastballs at the knees in college, it was riding to belt high. Being able to work at the top of the zone with the heater and then getting back down to freeze has been huge for me."

You didn't throw your fastball at the top of the strike zone at Middle Tennessee State?

"Not with any intent. I didn't really know. The catchers would always say it had some pop, but nobody ever dove in. I went to a mid-major at MTSU, so we didn't really dive into the metrics. It was just throw your stuff in the zone and try to get outs."

What have you changed about your pitch mix since joining the Tigers?

"The only thing that I've changed since college is I added a slider. My changeup grip, my fastball grip, my curveball grip, mechanically, everything is the exact same."

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When did you start throwing your curveball?

"I've had the same curveball grip since I was 11. I always struggled to throw a curveball with my (over-the-top arm) slot with two fingers. It would never have the downward break. It was more like a slider. I learned from a buddy of mine who played pro ball. He was like, 'They have me throwing this spiked curveball.' We have similar slots, I started throwing it. I got more and more comfortable with it and was able to get the fingers out front a lot better with the spike. I've had the same grip since I was 11. I can grip it in my sleep at this point. It's been years."

Who is the friend who taught you the grip?

" Heath Slatton , (a 30-year-old left-hander). He was drafted (in the 18th round of the 2015 draft) and he played for the San Francisco Giants. He made it to Triple-A and decided to hanging it up (after the 2017 season). He went to my high school (Central High School in Columbia, Tennessee) and everything like that, so he would come home in the offseason."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers pitcher Jaden Hamm — a new top 100 prospect — explains breakout 2024 season