Introducing Landon Sims, a Hillsboro Hop on the Rise

The Arizona Diamondbacks might have a future closer on their hands in Landon Sims who's performing excellently with the Hillsboro Hops.

Jun 30, 2021; Omaha, Nebraska, USA; Mississippi St. Bulldogs pitcher Landon Sims (23) pitches against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the eighth inning at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Diamondbacks might already have a potential dominant closer in Justin Martinez but that doesn't mean they should stop developing closers. One of the top D-backs prospects is Landon Sims, a pitcher that has the moxie and makeup to handle late innings and become a closer.

Sims is currently with the High-A Hillsboro Hops working out of their bullpen late in games in high-leverage situations. He's excelling in that role.

With the Hops, he has a 2.37 ERA over 30.1 innings across 22 games. He's struck out 41, walked 12, and allowed just 30 hits while pitching in late and critical situations. Sims talked about his season so far below.

"I think it's gone pretty well this year, just getting back into the swing of things. My first full season since 2021. Learning the ins and outs of a full professional baseball season."

He started the season in Single-A with the Visalia Rawhide where he pitched terrific over the first few months of the season and got promoted rather fast. He spoke about climbing a level this year.

"It feels great. Those are kind of things that you try to keep on the back burner and try to just focus on where you're at and where your feet are...It's definitely great and hopefully I keep climbing the ladder."

Back in college in his junior year at Mississippi State, he suffered a torn UCL that required Tommy John surgery. Despite that, the D-backs still selected him with the 34th overall pick. He made his professional debut in June of 2023 and has never looked back as he shared below.

"It feels good, everything feels healthy. It's been a super long road back to getting to this point. I can say that I feel 100% healthy now for sure."

Sims' pitching arsenal features three different pitches, a four-seamer, cutter, and slider. He walked through what his plan of attack is against hitters.

"Fastball's the highest usage pitch, then it's a cutter and then it's a slider. I offer all three of those to righties and then lefties, it's mostly fastball and cutter. I like to attack with my fastball. I like to put guys away with my fastball."

"I would say fastball's the best pitch, cutter; I've used it mostly as a weak contact pitch, but also I've been able to get some swing and miss with it...It's a new pitch in the repertoire...so I'm just kind of learning what counts to use it in and when to use it."

While he has three quality pitches, that isn't preventing him wanting to add more range to his arsenal including either a changeup or curveball to throw mostly against left-handed hitters to keep them guessing at the plate.

"I think a changeup would be great or maybe a sinker of some sort or a curveball. Something that's getting some kind of depth that I can use against left-handed hitters. It's something I would like to do this offseason."

His slider has the potential to be as good as Kevin Ginkel's slider and it's something that Sims is working hard to improve his command of it in order to make it a devastating wipe-out pitch.

"It's okay, it's been a little hit or miss sometimes. I used it a pretty good amount in college, especially in swing and miss count...it's been the worst of my three pitches this year so picking and choosing what counts and worrying about the execution has been the biggest thing for it."

Sims talked about what he would throw when he absolutely needed to throw a strike. "Fastball and cutter, I've got really good command of the cutter too. Any count, fastball or cutter, I'm comfortable throwing it for a strike."

Sims is used to closing and high-leverage relieving from his days out of the bullpen in college and helping lead the Bulldogs to the College World Series Championship. He shared below how much he enjoys late-inning pitching.

"It's definitely a spot I enjoy being in. Those are the spots where I want the ball. Hopefully, I continue to get those opportunities...put my best foot forward whether it's coming in with guys on...or coming in 7th or 8th and keeping the lead...I really enjoy those spots."

He says that he has the closer mindset after being exposed a lot to it in college and that it's "definitely something I'm comfortable with."

It was quite a jump from college-level hitters to minor league hitters as Sims expressed, "It's very different, especially the depth of it. The best four or five guys in an SEC lineup are going to get drafted but every guy in every lineup we face has signed a contract to play professional baseball."

In 2021, Sims helped lead the Bulldogs to the CWS Championship round in which Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt to win the title, a moment that Sims will never forget. He talked about it below.

"Best feeling I've ever had on a baseball field...It was great, it was a long journey, a tough journey but I really enjoyed that time with my teammates, and being able to accomplish that with some of my best friends surrounding me was great."

He spoke highly of the Mississippi State fans and how well they traveled to Omaha and were on the edge of their seat for every pitch raising the atmosphere in Omaha. Though he pointed out that the crowd size didn't affect him due to the size of crowds they would normally draw at home games.

Sims spoke about his hobby of golfing. "This year, I picked up a little bit of golf. It's slow but I'm trying to make some improvements this off-season and next year be a little bit more competitive."

He's very excited about football coming back, especially college football. He's an Atlanta Falcons fan, and an avid fantasy football fan.

"I'm really excited for college football season watching Mississippi State play but then NFL, I'm a big Falcons fan too."

Asked about the Kirk Cousins signing and if he was happy about it, "I am. I was super pumped about that. I was kind of hoping they would do that...I'm a huge Kirk Cousins fan. It worked out really well."

He commented about his passion for fantasy football too, "I'm in a couple of different leagues. I had my first draft [Monday] night. I enjoy doing that."

The way the Arizona Diamondbacks have been playing is not going unnoticed by Sims, as he has been following along and cheering them on from afar.

"It's great to see. I think they are just going out to prove that last year wasn't a fluke. They're playing the best baseball in the bigs right now so it's exciting to see as a minor leaguer trying to get to that point and just being a part of the Diamondbacks' organization and it's always great to see the big league club having success."