{"id":9021,"date":"2023-12-11T10:21:24","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T18:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=9021"},"modified":"2023-12-11T10:21:24","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T18:21:24","slug":"taylor-hearn-to-play-2024-season-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2023\/12\/11\/taylor-hearn-to-play-2024-season-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Hearn to Play 2024 Season in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Texas Rangers<\/a> left-hander Taylor Hearn<\/strong><\/a> will spend the 2024 season in Japan. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japan\u2019s NPB has agreed to terms on a deal with the 29-year old lefty, as reported by Yahoo Japan<\/a>. Hearn elected free agency back in October. The Rangers designated him for assignment in July. Reports indicate that Hiroshima\u2019s agreement with Hearn is worth $900,000 for the next year. The team also agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.3 million with right-hander Thomas Hatch<\/a><\/strong>. The Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> released Hatch late last month. He was was initially expected to sign with the Nippon-Ham Fighters prior to landing a deal with the Carp.<\/p>\n

Swing Role with Rangers<\/h4>\n

Taylor Hearn made his major league debut in 2019 with the Rangers, and spent parts of five seasons with the club. Hearn posted an ERA of 5.11 and a 4.45 FIP during that time. From 2021-22, Hearn became versatile with the Rangers. He pitched both as a member of the starting rotation and out of the bullpen throughout those two seasons. That stretch accounted for a 204 1\/3 of Hearn\u2019s career 229 innings for the Rangers. Both campaigns saw him post strong numbers out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n

Limited Innings in 2023 for Hearn<\/h4>\n

Unfortunately, that success didn\u2019t translate over in his limited time as a full-time reliever during the 2023 season. He struggled to an 11.40 ERA in 15 innings while splitting time between the Rangers, Royals<\/a>, and Braves<\/a> organizations. As for the 2024 season, Hearn figures to have the opportunity to pitch in a full-time relief role on a regular basis with the Carp. Hatch, on the other hand, has found more big league success during his career than Hearn. He was a third-round pick by the Chicago Cubs<\/a> in the 2016 draft, and made his big league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> during the shortened 2020 season. He impressed in his first taste of big league action with a 2.73 ERA in 26 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

Hatch struggled the following two seasons, however, as he pitched 14 innings in the majors with a 10.93 ERA. He got a more extensive opportunity in the majors in 2023, however, and did reasonably well with it. Across 28 2\/3 innings with the Blue Jays and Pirates, Hatch posted a 4.08 ERA. He had a strong 52.3% groundball rate and a respectable 20.2% strikeout rate. Those decent results and promising peripherals surely made Hatch an attractive target for Hiroshima, and he\u2019ll now join Hearn on the Carp pitching staff in 2024.<\/p>\n

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Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>