Scouting Report

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Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

It’s been a little while since Gonzaga University has produced any early-round Draft talent, with Wyatt Mills a third-rounder in 2017 and lefty Marco Gonzales a first-round selection back in 2013. Hughes, who like Gonzales, has been a two-way player for the Zags, threw well in the weekend rotation in 2021 before pitching for USA Baseball over the summer, and has taken a nice step forward as Gonzaga’s Friday night starter, while focusing only on pitching, this spring.

Hughes has an exciting combination of size, repertoire and feel for pitching. The 6-foot-4 right-hander has electric stuff, starting with a fastball that’s regularly in the 94-97 mph range with ease, leading some scouts to wonder if he might touch triple digits someday. His slider can be a wipeout pitch, up to 89-90 mph, and he even shows very good feel for his changeup.

The big right-hander can fill up the strike zone with all three pitches, throwing them to both sides of the plate and commanding his breaking stuff well. He gets high grades for his makeup, a tremendous student-athlete who is on pace to graduate in three years. Some evaluators see him as the best arm on the West Coast, one who is shooting up Draft boards with his strong spring in Washington.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

Hughes spent two years in Gonzaga’s rotation and took a big step forward as their Friday night guy in 2022, allowing him to become the Zags’ first first-round pick since the Cardinals took Marco Gonzales No. 19 overall in 2013. Hughes became the highest pick in school history when the Rockies took him tenth overall in the 2022 Draft, thinking there might be some upside from a guy who had been a two-way player for his first two college seasons. He did touch Double-A in his first full year of pro ball but needed Tommy John surgery in July.

When he’s healthy, Hughes brings an intriguing combination of size and stuff -- with feel for it -- to the mound. Even right before the elbow injury in Double-A last year, he was up to 97 mph with his fastball, though he sat at around 93. His short and hard mid-80s slider, that has cutter-like action to it, flashes plus and he’s shown feel to spin an effective upper-70s curve as well. He has an 87-88 mph changeup as well, but it’s clearly a fourth pitch.

Hughes uses an up-tempo delivery and goes right after hitters. He can sometimes run into timing issues and there’s unintentional cut on his fastball occasionally, and both can impact his command, though he’s generally around the strike zone. All of that is on hold, of course, with Hughes not expected to do much competitively until 2025.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

It may go counter to what people think, but the Rockies have had some success when they’ve taken a college pitcher with their first pick, with hurlers such as Tyler Anderson, Jon Gray and Kyle Freeland having some big league success. The Rockies had gone the college arm route just once since Freeland was taken in 2014, with Ryan Rolison in 2018, until they selected Hughes No. 10 overall in 2022. The Gonzaga standout signed for an under-slot $4 million and pitched his way to Double-A in his first full season before getting shut down in early July with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.

A former two-way player, Hughes only started pitching full-time in 2022, so there could be some serious growth potential once he's healthy. He already has the makings of a very good three-pitch mix coming from a solid starting pitcher’s frame. His fastball touches the upper 90s with some riding life to it, with more velocity to come. His slider is short and hard with cutter action to it, a pitch that flashes plus and misses bats. His changeup is probably his worst pitch, mostly because he didn’t throw it much in college, but there’s feel for it.

Hughes has already impressed the Rockies with his mound presence, work ethic and intelligence -- he was a biology major who was on pace to graduate in three years. He goes right after hitters, and there’s confidence he’ll continue to be a solid strike-thrower the more time he has focusing on the craft, though first he'll focus on rehabbing post-surgery. He’s the type of college arm who could move pretty quickly through the system.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

It had been a little while since Gonzaga University had produced any early-round Draft talent, with Wyatt Mills a third-rounder in 2017 and lefty Marco Gonzales a first-round selection back in 2013. Hughes, who like Gonzales, had been a two-way player for the Zags, threw well in the weekend rotation in 2021 before pitching for USA Baseball over the summer, then took a nice step forward as Gonzaga’s Friday night starter while focusing only on pitching this past spring. Although he tired a bit at the end of the season, he still showed enough for the Rockies to take him No. 10 overall and sign him for a below-slot $4 million bonus.

Hughes has an exciting combination of size, repertoire and feel for pitching. The 6-foot-4 right-hander has electric stuff, starting with a fastball that’s regularly in the 94-97 mph range with ease, leading some scouts to wonder if he might touch triple digits someday. His slider can be a wipeout pitch, up to 89-90 mph, and he even shows very good feel for his changeup.

The big right-hander can fill up the strike zone with all three pitches, throwing them to both sides of the plate and commanding his breaking stuff well. He gets high grades for his makeup; he was a tremendous student-athlete who was on pace to graduate in three years, with the Rockies hoping he can graduate to the big leagues at least as quickly.

Awards

NWL Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
04/16/2023

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	10/29/2024	Hartford Yard Goats activated RHP Gabriel Hughes.
	09/25/2024	RHP Gabriel Hughes assigned to Salt River Rafters.
	03/20/2024	Hartford Yard Goats placed RHP Gabriel Hughes on the 60-day injured list.
	11/06/2023	Hartford Yard Goats activated RHP Gabriel Hughes from the 60-day injured list.
	07/25/2023	Hartford Yard Goats transferred RHP Gabriel Hughes from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
	07/14/2023	Hartford Yard Goats placed RHP Gabriel Hughes on the 7-day injured list.
	07/14/2023	Hartford Yard Goats placed RHP Gabriel Hughes on the 7-day injured list.
	06/07/2023	RHP Gabriel Hughes assigned to Hartford Yard Goats from Spokane Indians.
	04/02/2023	RHP Gabriel Hughes assigned to Spokane Indians from Fresno Grizzlies.
	04/02/2023	Spokane Indians activated RHP Gabriel Hughes.
	03/20/2023	RHP Gabriel Hughes assigned to Colorado Rockies.
	03/20/2023	RHP Gabriel Hughes roster status changed by Colorado Rockies.
	09/09/2022	RHP Gabriel Hughes assigned to Fresno Grizzlies from ACL Rockies.
	08/11/2022	ACL Rockies activated RHP Gabriel Hughes.
	08/11/2022	RHP Gabriel Hughes assigned to ACL Rockies.
	07/29/2022	Colorado Rockies signed RHP Gabriel Hughes.
	06/11/2022	RHP Gabriel Hughes assigned to College Workout.
	03/17/2022	RHP Gabriel Hughes assigned to Gonzaga Bulldogs.