“If Hynes wanted to find some high school pitchers to follow in their footsteps, he doesn’t have to look too far back to find some fellow Ontario natives. Just a year ago, the A’s took Josiah Romeo in the sixth round, and Mets 2022 seventh-rounder Jonah Tong has become one of their better pitching prospects. With strong performances for the Canadian Premier Team against professional teams in Arizona in March and then with the Junior National Team in Florida in April, Hynes has put himself into mid-Day 2 conversations.
Scraping 6-foot-2 and turning 18 just days before the Draft, Hynes offers an interesting combination of projection and feel for pitching. He’s up to 94-95 mph with his fastball, a heater that has a mix of run and sink to it, helping it play up. His high-spin slider will register 2,700 rpm and elicits good swing-and-miss. His changeup is a bit behind the other two, but there’s some feel for the offspeed offering, even though he doesn’t throw it much.
Hynes has shown a penchant for throwing strikes and pitched well against the Giants and Guardians in Arizona, then held his own against the Blue Jays and Yankees in Florida, albeit in shorter stints. There’s some upside here, with perhaps more velocity to come as he physically matures, something teams will be sure to consider when deciding if they can sign him away from his Wake Forest commitment.”