‘No hurries, no worries’: Lynnwood pitcher is throwing for the big leagues

The past three months have been a whirlwind for Jace Hampson.

He graduated from Lynnwood High School in June, was drafted by the New York Mets on July 16, signed his rookie contract on July 22 and celebrated his 19th birthday in August.

What’s he been doing the past few weeks? Eating, sleeping, breathing baseball in Port St. Lucie, Florida, home of the Mets’ spring training facility.

Hampson was the 533rd pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, selected in the 18th round. The 6-foot-1 left-handed batter and right-handed thrower was one of two high schoolers chosen by the Mets.

“It’s super surreal, and it’s a dream come true,” Hampson said. “It’s something every kid dreams of, and I’m just one of the few that gets the opportunity. And I hope I get to run with it.”

Hampson’s love for baseball began when he was around 3 years old in T-ball. And as the youngest sibling in the family, his childhood was also spent traveling across the country for his siblings’ baseball and softball tournaments. Hampson’s older brother, Justin, played baseball at Jackson High School and Central Washington University, and his older sister, Jillian, followed suit in softball for the Timberwolves and Wildcats.

“It’s just the older-(sibling) thing. I wanted to be just like (them) when I grow up,” Hampson said. “And when I picked it up and swung a bat, it just clicked, and I loved the game.”

Hampson watched New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter when he was younger but has recently admired Seattle Mariners shortstop JP Crawford. Following in the footsteps of his favorite players, Hampson served as the Lynnwood Royals’ shortstop and pitcher, earning All-Wesco first-team honors all four years and recording a .393 batting average as a senior. In his three appearances on the mound this past season, he didn’t allow any runs, recording 30 strikeouts and conceding three walks and five hits allowed over 13.2 innings, according to the Wenatchee AppleSox, a summer baseball team for college players in the West Coast League.

Hampson was also a part of the 2022 squad that won the Class 3A District 1 title and earned its first state berth since 2016.

According to Baseball Northwest, a recruiting organization, he was eighth on the Washington top-prospects list. Perfect Game, a scouting website, ranked him 500th overall and 48th as a third baseman in the nation, as well as sixth and first, respectively, in Washington.

During the summer leading up to his sophomore year, Hampson committed to the University of Oregon after a scout watched him play at a college showcase tournament the year prior with his Elevate Northwest travel team. After the scout saw him pitch in the mid-80s as a freshman, he knew a future Duck was in his sights.

However, Hampson later changed his baseball pathway and was prepared to enroll at Everett Community College for this upcoming fall until he received the call from the Mets. He didn’t need to deal with the hassle of registering for classes any longer.

“Not many people get this opportunity to play the game at this level, and I don’t want to take it for granted,” said Hampson about passing on college. “I got the opportunity, and I’m not going to push it off and act like it’s not a big deal. It’s a huge deal, and I was blessed with the opportunity I get to hopefully play this game for a very long time.”

In addition to MLB representatives scouting his high school games, what helped solidify the Mets’ choice on Hampson was seeing him play with Elevate Northwest but also the 18U Baum Bat Northwest scout team. And last summer, Hampson was invited to play for the Area Code Kansas City Royals team in California, which is a tournament limited to only the top 250 players in the nation.

In the days leading up to the draft, Hampson also made a few appearances for the AppleSox where he played third base and shortstop before making his pitching debut. On the mound, he struck out three hitters in just 17 pitches with 13 of the throws in the 90-mile per hour range. His first pitch for the team was clocked at 94.

“On the mound, it’s me and my catcher, and we’re the only two on that field,” said Hampson, even though he believed pitching was his weakness as a freshman and sophomore. “Whoever is in front of me is in front of me. I don’t care who it is. I’m going to mow you down.”

Though Hampson will most likely not be on the starting Mets lineup that people see on TV right away, he said he hopes to be selected to either the St. Lucie Mets Single-A team or Florida Complex League Mets Rookie-level squad. Regardless of what’s ahead, he’s happy he gets to “wake up and throw a baseball.”

“Baseball is such a mental game where once you get down on yourself, it’s hard to get back out,” Hampson said. “Maybe you get three, four runs earned off you in one inning, that always sucks. Maybe you lose a game, that always sucks. … I always told myself it’s a whiteboard game. You just wipe it off, and you move on. And having people around me like my brother, sister, mom and dad who always told me growing up, ‘No hurries, no worries.’ … It made baseball so easy after that.”