April 6, 2022
Right-handed pitcher Hayden Juenger is looking to build off last season, as a member of the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Juenger, who pitched for High-A Vancouver last summer put up excellent numbers in his 20 innings of relief work.
Racking up 34 strikeouts and maintaining a WHIP of 0.75 was a great start to Juenger’s professional career.
Juenger’s success comes from his ability to utilize all three of his pitches every outing. Currently, using a fastball, a slider, and a changeup in his repertoire; Juenger feels a lot of his success on the mound comes from his ability to read the opposing hitters swings.
“I work off my fastball by kind of reading the swings of the hitters and picking and choosing what off-speed would play best for each hitter I am facing,” explained Juenger. “I think that is the part of my game that has grown the most over the past year from college.”
Feeling comfortable with both of his off-speed pitches, Juenger is focused on throwing his slider and changeup for strikes.
“I like both of my off-speed pitches a lot,” said Juenger. “I think they can both be really good at times, and they help my fastball play better because they look similar to my fastball out of my hand, I think the key with both off-speed pitches is to just be able to throw them both for strikes, so the hitter has to honor both of them and not just a fastball.”
And the 2022 season will be a big test for Juenger, as it’ll be his first full season of pro ball.
But Juenger found the transition between college baseball and pro ball relatively easy last summer.
“I didn’t find the transition as hard as I thought it would be,” stated Juenger. “I think it’s a credit to how much I worked prior to the draft to make my stuff better.”
Be sure to follow Hayden Juenger this season, as he continues to be tough on opposing hitters.