A roster crunch forced the Rays’ hand in trading Jake Woodford to the Brewers, but I’m still a bit disappointed by it on a personal level because he was one of my favorite players in camp this spring. He’s a funky, unique pitcher with an offspeed pitch that has no comps from his slot. It’s impressive that the Rays were able to acquire an actual prospect for someone who was a minor league free agent just a few months ago, but understandable given Woodford’s data.
In exchange for Woodford, the Rays acquired RHP K.C. Hunt. Hunt is a 25-year-old pitcher who put together a solid 2025 season in AA. His blend of physicality, stuff, deception, and command give him a relatively safe projection as a back-end SP with the path to be a mid-rotation starter depending on the development of his command and offspeed pitch.
A former two-way player and multi-sport athlete in high school, Hunt put away his outfield glove and turned down opportunities to play college basketball to pitch at Mississippi State. His mid-7.00 ERA in college didn’t align with his strong performances on the Cape and in the MLB development league, so the Brewers signed him as an UDFA in 2023 with the intent of developing him as a starter. He broke out in 2024 across A-ball and AA, throwing 102 innings with a 2.03 ERA / 2.29 FIP, a 34.7% strikeout rate, and just a 6.2% walk rate.
His 2025 season was a step back (4.45 ERA / 3.90 FIP in 121.1 innings) with a dip in strikeout rate (23.8%) and a slight rise in walks (8.4%). Still, his underlying whiff rates remained above average, pointing to bat-missing ability that outpaces the surface results.
Hunt throws from a higher 3/4 slot with a slightly below average release height relative to his 6’3 frame and fairly average extension. It also looks like he hides the ball well in his delivery – adding a bit of deception to his stuff.
Hunt works off a low 90s four-seamer with no outlier movement, so it projects as a below-average offering in both shape and velocity. His best pitches are an above average upper 80s cutter with solid ride, and a gyro-ish slider around 83-84mph. Hunt also throws a below-average, upper 70s curve and a below average mid 80s changeup; both of which he has solid feel to land for strikes. The average-to-solid command of his entire arsenal helps him get more swing and miss than you’d expect from his kind of stuff.
The pitch that I think can take Hunt to the next level is his fringy changeup. Both the movement and velocity separation from his fastball are below average, but he commands it well and the Rays have had a lot of success – especially lately – in developing offspeed pitches.
One potential path is to experiment with some sort of split grip similar to what the Rays helped Jesse Scholtens find. This adjustment could improve the movement separation from the fastball and further optimize the VAA separation as well.
There’s also a more unconventional angle here. Hunt has past experience throwing a knuckleball – a pitch some scouts viewed as viable earlier in his development.
It’s unlikely to become a primary offering, but it does raise an interesting question: does he need a traditional changeup at all?
At a minimum, he likely needs a pitch he can show to left-handed hitters that creates more separation from his fastball. Whether that comes from refining his current changeup, experimenting with a split variation, or even revisiting a knuckleball in limited usage, the exact shape may matter less than simply introducing a credible fourth pitch closer to the velocity band of his slider. Without a viable offspeed pitch, left-handed hitters can narrow their decision window. With it, even an average offering can expand it and force more swing decisions.
