When Hudson Haskin arrived at Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Conn., he was a 5-foot-7, 135-pound freshman with a head full of baseball dreams. On the semester¡¯s first day, baseball coach Rob Dowling gathered the new arrivals to educate them on some alumni whose paths they could hope to follow.
To Haskin, one player¡¯s name stood out above the others. The player enrolled at Avon Old Farms nearly a decade earlier, standing 5-foot-1, 110 pounds. His name rings familiar to baseball fans all over now: George Springer, the three-time All-Star and World Series champion outfielder for the Astros.
¡°I remember sitting there being 5-foot-7, 135 [pounds] and I was like, ¡®I¡¯ve got six inches and 25 pounds on him,¡¯¡± Haskin recalled after the Orioles selected him in the second round of this year¡¯s MLB Draft. ¡°That was my mindset. If somebody has been successful in my shoes, there is no reason I can¡¯t.¡±
By the time the Astros drafted Springer 11th overall out of UConn in 2012, he stood 6-foot-1, 225 pounds and was an All-American. He eventually grew into the player he is today; the '17 World Series MVP Award winner has hit 160 home runs across six big league seasons, including a career-high 39 in '19. Though Haskin has never met Springer, he said the Astros star ¡°had a huge impact on my life for sure.¡±
¡°He has served as a mentor for me,¡± Haskin said. ¡°Ever since I got to Avon, he¡¯s somebody I looked toward as a benchmark and pushed myself to accomplish half of what he has.¡±
A funny thing happened after Haskin first learned Springer¡¯s story: He enjoyed a similar growth spurt and grew into one of the sport¡¯s best amateur prospects. At Avon, Haskin broke Springer¡¯s school record for career stolen bases by swiping 36 in 21 games. He bypassed a 39th-round selection by Oakland in the 2018 Draft to play college ball at Tulane, where he hit .372/.459/.647 as a freshman in '19. He enjoyed a strong summer in the wood-bat New England Collegiate League and then hit .333/.452/500 in 17 games this spring, shooting up Draft boards as a 6-foot-2, 198-pound Draft-eligible sophomore.
When the Orioles selected Haskin with the 39th overall pick, scouts pegged him as a potential 20-20 player at the next level, comparing him to Hunter Pence because of his unorthodox right-handed swing. But the parallels to Springer are there, too, especially in regards to his tools.
¡°The first thing that stands out is the overall athleticism that he has,¡± Orioles scouting supervisor Brad Ciolek said. ¡°He¡¯s a double plus runner who we believe will end up in center field. He also has a knack for barreling up the ball consistently and [has] sneaky power. We think if the season went on, we¡¯d have seen a power spike. He¡¯s a very tooled-up athlete.¡±
The Orioles¡¯ next order of business is getting Haskin to forgo his remaining three years of college eligibility, which he indicated was his intention (the 39th overall pick comes with a slot value of roughly $1.9 million). If signed, he¡¯d become the latest addition to the organization with Avon ties. Haskin was high school teammates with right-hander Thomas Girard, whom the O's signed after the Draft out of Duke.
The school boasts only one other alumnus to reach MLB besides Springer (at least for now) -- former right-hander Juan Nieves, who made 81 starts for the Brewers in the late 1980s.
¡°It¡¯ll be cool to come in with someone I know so well,¡± Girard said. ¡°He¡¯s really taken off in college. I can remember he¡¯s one of the hardest-working kids I know. Whether it was hitting or working out, he would be doing whatever he could in his free time to get better. I knew that hard work would pay off for him.¡±