Mason
Hickman

5/20/15 - At 6-foot-6, 215-pounds, Hickman's upside is obvious, and he showed to be one of the top arms in the 2017 class tonight. Hickman's fastball routinely sat 86-88 mph, touching 89 on a few occasions, and his sharp breaking ball generated many swings and misses. Hickman struck out 14 and allowed just two hits in a 1-0 loss in the bottom of the 7th.

5/24/17 - Hickman brings both size and athleticism to the mound and at 6'6, he maintains an intimidating presence that gives him an immediate leg up.  His fastball sits 87-89 but can be dialed up to 90-91 when he needs it, with hardly any extra effort.  While his curveball could be a little more consistent, it can be devastating and has the potential to be a swing-and-miss pitch at any level.  Hickman's arm action is a little funky, but is long and finishes smoothly through his release.  His upside may be the greatest of anyone in this class (in Tennessee) and will have a chance to turn some heads at Vanderbilt.

DRAFT 2020: A master in the art of pitching, he reminds me of MLer Kyle Hendricks (Cubs). Hickman repeats a simple delivery with a great lower half. Compact to full arm path, bit stiff in back, but quick and loose out front. Paired an upper-80s fastball with an above average curveball that played up due to his ability to repeat the pitch, Hickman was very sharp during his five-inning start against Michigan. His feature pitch was an 80-82 mph hard curveball that he commanded and painted to his gloveside. He also mixed in a useable 78-79 mph changeup as his third pitch. For the evening he allowed no runs on just three hits with two walks and three strikeouts and maintained his poise throughout, despite an especially tight strike zone. Besides his breaking ball, his very good extension out front and the resulting deception, sets him apart from other 88-91 mph right-handers. Overall, Hickman’s raw stuff might not be the sexiest, but his ability to pitch and the elite results he produces (2020: 12 IP, 0 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 15 SO) give him Day Two value. Another fair comparable is Michael Byrne (Florida). Both deceptive, three-pitch SEC arms, with Hickman possessing the better breaking ball and Byrne the better changeup. Byrne was drafted in the 14th round by CIN in 2018, but received a signing bonus ($260,000) more commensurate of the 6th round.

4/3/18: Easter Sunday starter Mason Hickman is a freshman righty who pitched mostly at 87-89 mph after bumping 90-91 in the first inning. He also showed a short, downer breaking ball at 76-81 mph and a fringy changeup 79-83 mph. (Seifert)