Yankees see first-round draft pick Ben Hess as a big-league starter

The Yankees told Ben Hess they envisioned him as a major-league starter, and who was he to disagree?

“They see a lot of potential in me and I see a lot of potential in myself,” said Hess, the team’s first-round draft pick, 26th overall. “They see me as a starter, a guy that can mix pitches as well as throw a power fastball…and that translates to a guy that can start.”

Hess, 21 and from the University of Alabama, has a fastball that sits mid-90s, but tops out at 99 mph with ride and carry, a curveball, a plus slider, and is developing a changeup, according to an MLB.com scouting report. He has the upside of a No. 2 starter. the scouting report said, but will need to throw strikes to get there.

The changeup is "definitely a pitch I've thrown really well in the past," he said Thursday. "It's a pitch I have confidence in. It's got good shape. It's just something I need to throw a little more, I think, and that's something I'll do going forward. It's a priority."

The 6-5, 255 pound righty owns the Crimson Tide’s career record for strikeouts per nine innings at 13.35, and had a 5.80 ERA in 15 starts last year. He’s struggled with injuries through high school and early in his college career, but “I’ve grown past that,” he said. “I’m in the best physical condition of my life.”

In a statement, Yankees vice president of amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer described Hess as “a big, power righthander that can throw two breaking balls and can reach up to 97…We think there is even more to come from Ben with our player development program.”

Hess, who signed with a below-slot $2,747,500 bonus, added that having his name called in the draft “is obviously the peak of it all - it’s a childhood dream…especially being called by the New York Yankees.

“It’s a dream really," he said. “It’s a very emotional day but it’s one of the greatest days of my life.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.