St. John’s Pitcher Masters Craft, Awaits Baseball Draft

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Thomas Hackimer credits a knee injury with stimulating his baseball career to potentially become a high pick in next month’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

The St. John’s University senior, a walk-on for his first three collegiate seasons, is 5-0 with eight saves and a 0.21 earned run average entering a three-game series at Seton Hall University on May 13-15.

Hackimer has surrendered one earned run on 12 hits and 13 walks in 43 1/3 innings. He has 59 strikeouts and opponents are hitting .088 against him.

“If you had told me this when I was sitting outside coach’s office waiting to learn if I was on the team or cut that I would be here in four years, I would have told you I thought you were crazy,” said Hackimer, a sidearm throwing righthander.

Hackimer, who was an infielder at Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, Queens, planned on studying physics at St. John’s to become a theoretical physicist or engineer with the hope of continuing his baseball career.

After posting ERAs of 3.91 and 4.26 in his first two seasons at St. John’s, Hackimer sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee when his spikes locked into the ground during a summer league game, requiring surgery in August 2014 from Dr. Stephen O’Brien at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Hackimer could not throw off a mound for three months.

“I threw off a flat ground and worked on command. I worked on hitting that spot and that started me down this path,’’ Hackimer said.

Ten months after the surgery, Hackimer was drafted in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the New York Mets following a 4-1 junior season with a school-record 15 saves and a 1.92 ERA. He was a unanimous first-team All-Big East honoree and a second-team American Baseball Coaches Association All American.

“He just gets better and better,’’ said St. John’s head coach Ed Blankmeyer. “He has three pitches and he can give you a couple of different looks. You can’t focus on one. He has the ability to command the fastball on both sides of the plate. He has a slider and change with his slider being his knockout pitch. He holds runners extremely well. He’s got a very good arsenal and has very good command of his pitches.’’

Last summer, Hackimer pitched for the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod Baseball League, which showcases the top college baseball players in the country. He struck out 28 in 19 1/3 innings, saved 10 games and pitched to an ERA of 0.46 to earn All-League honors and a roster spot in the league’s all-star game.

Hackimer, whose fastball hits 90-plus miles per hour, has continued his domination out of the bullpen in 2016 and hopes to lead the Red Storm to a second consecutive Big East Tournament title before the start of the Major League Baseball draft on June 9.

“I see him drafted in the top five rounds. It’s my biased personal opinion,’’ said Blankmeyer. “It’s difficult talking about relievers and their value in the draft—it’s an organizational decision. Thomas is giving you a totally different look by what he can do. He can probably pitch in Double A right now.’’