UH draftee Gustin plans to sign with Padres

Left-handed pitcher Harry Gustin will forgo his junior season with the University of Hawaii baseball team and sign with the San Diego Padres.

“It’s not an easy decision to make,” said Gustin, who was the Padres’ 18th-round selection in Tuesday’s third — and final — day of the Major League Baseball Draft for First-Year Players. “Hawaii, I love that place. I want to spend more time there. At the end of the day, I understand not many guys get this opportunity (to play professionally). It would be kind of stupid to turn it down.”

Because he is 21, Gustin became draft eligible following his recently completed sophomore season.

After being drafted, the Padres told Gustin to “expect a plane flight out in the next two days to go to Arizona and get a physical and sign a contract.”

During his junior year at Smoky Hill High in Aurora, Colo., Gustin suffered an injury to his left elbow that required Tommy John surgery. He did not pitch for Smoky Hill as a senior to fully recover and focus on summer ball and his eventual career with the Rainbow Warriors.

As a UH freshman in 2022, Gustin suffered an injury to his pitching hand when he fell awkwardly during a practice. He did not pitch in the final two months of that season.

“From the moment Harry broke his friggin’ thumb, I’ve never seen someone so hungry to get back and be better,” said Mathew Troupe, who was UH’s pitching coach in 2022 and 2023. “He took the last couple months (of that season) just watching the game, studying the hitters. When he got back to work (last fall), his game plan was: just work.”

Troupe and Gustin worked on splitting the fastball into two pitches: a four-seamer with a biting movement and a cutter that broke to his arm side. In addition to a high-spin-rate curveball and slider, Gustin increased usage of his changeup. “He has a legit five-pitch mix,” Troupe said. Gustin was 5-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 2023.

Gustin, who is 6 feet, gained 20 pounds after his freshman year and now weighs 175. Troupe envisions added oomph to Gustin’s low-90s fastball when he gains even more weight. “That dude is about to put on that weight,” Troupe said. “All the other 29 teams that didn’t draft him are going to be upset when he does.”

Gustin and his family gathered at their home in Colorado to watch the draft results on a television connected to a laptop. “Sitting around with the family and seeing my name on the TV was pretty cool,” Gustin said.

Gustin said it fulfilled a childhood dream. “I had a dream when I was 12 years old that I got drafted,” he recalled. “Ever since, I tried to turn that into a reality.” In that dream, it was the Detroit Tigers who selected him. “I had no relation to the Tigers at all,” said Gustin, who grew up rooting for the Colorado Rockies.”It’s what happened.”