Brewers appear to have struck gold with their 2024 12th round pick

The MLB Draft is less than two months away, and the Milwaukee Brewers' impressive recent draft execution should have fans excited about the talent that could be added to the organization during the second week in July. One trend that fans should look out for in this year's draft is the Brewers' success in the later rounds — they have turned many day two picks into intriguing prospects. As is the case with their 2024 12th round pick, Tyson Hardin, who is off to a stellar start in 2025 while pitching for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in High-A ball.

Hardin was drafted out of Mississippi State University, the same school as the Brewers’ 2014 11th-round pick, Brandon Woodruff, who turned out to be pretty good. Hardin spent two seasons playing junior college (JUCO) ball for the Daytona State Falcons in Daytona Beach, Florida, before joining Mississippi State's baseball team in 2023.

His first season in Starkville, MS, was one to forget. Pitching out of the bullpen, Hardin posted a 12.81 ERA across 15 appearances and had more earned runs allowed than strikeouts. However, the following season, 2024, was a different story; he made 25 appearances, two of which were starts, and posted a 3.22 ERA. Hardin did, however, surrender 23 walks in just 36.1 IP during his second year with the Bulldogs, showing that some refinement was required for his stuff to play well in the minor leagues.

After making two post-draft appearances for the Carolina Mudcats last summer, Hardin began this season with the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, which seemed like a jump for the 23-year-old right-hander. Not only that, but the Brewers elected to convert Hardin into a true starting pitcher after he made just 17 total starts in four years between Daytona State and Mississippi State. However, that decision could not be paying off more for both the Brewers and Hardin himself.

Tyson Hardin's spotless outing against Beloit continues his impressive start to the 2025 season

Last Friday, Hardin pitched the first leg of a double-header for the Timber Rattlers, squaring off against the Beloit Sky Carp, the Miami Marlins' High-A affiliate. It's fair to say that Hardin dominated. He threw seven scoreless innings of two-hit baseball with six strikeouts and no walks. He was perfect through the first 5.2 innings before allowing a single to left field. As doubleheaders in the minor leagues are just seven innings long, Hardin was credited with both a complete game and a shutout in the Timber Rattlers' 1-0 win.

Friday's outing was just the latest example of Hardin's dominance in 2025. Through seven starts with the Timber Rattlers this season, Hardin sports a 1.16 ERA while striking out 40 batters in 38.2 innings. Perhaps most impressively, he's walked just four batters all year. It's a ridiculous turnaround for someone who struggled with command and didn't post amazing numbers during his college seasons.

His conversion to a starting pitcher has come with two changes. First, as Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan of FanGraphs noted in their recent analysis of their top-45 Brewers prospects, the Brewers raised Hardin's arm slot when he joined the organization. Hardin had been closer to a three-quarters slot in college, but is now much more over the top. Second, the switch to starting pitcher has caused Hardin to lose some of his velocity, as is to be expected. While his fastball would consistently touch 97-98 when he was pitching out of the bullpen in college, Hardin now sits in the low-90s, topping out around 96 MPH.

In Longehagen and Fegan's words, "there’s a chance Hardin could become a no. 4/5 starter if his command holds up like this and his changeup progresses. If only one of those things occurs, he’s more of a stock no. 5." For now, he simply looks like the most recent entry in the long list of diamonds that the Brewers' front office has found in the "rough" of the late rounds of the MLB Draft.