Revs Sign Miller, Zavolas, Hintzen, and Hull for the 2023 Season
(April 4, 2023, York, Pa.) — The York Revolution has signed utility man Jalen Miller as well as three pitchers, right-handed starter Noah Zavolas, righty J.T. Hintzen, and lefty Denson Hull, to contracts for the 2023 season. The signings were announced by Revs manager Rick Forney live on Monday’s episode of Revs Hot Stove Weekly presented by Shipley Energy on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK.
Miller comes to York with seven pro years under his belt, most recently with his hometown Atlanta Braves organization, following five years with the San Francisco Giants. Miller has played mostly second base, along with shortstop, left field, and one game in center field during his career. In 2018, Miller was a California League Mid-Season & Postseason All-Star. He ranked eighth in the league in runs, ninth in hits, sixth in total bases (222), fourth in doubles, fifth in extra-base hits (51), and seventh in games played, while also putting up career numbers with a .276 average, 14 home runs, and 62 RBI. In 2019, Miller was an Eastern League Mid-Season All-Star in his first season at Double-A, finishing seventh in the league with a career-high 27 stolen bases. The 26-year-old was a third-round draft pick of the Giants in 2015 out of Riverwood International Charter School in Georgia. He enters his eighth pro season as a career .232 hitter with 138 doubles, 17 triples, 53 home runs, and 284 RBI in 698 games and spent the last three seasons at the Double-A level.
Forney said of Miller, “I’m really excited about Jalen, I love the versatility that he can play in the infield and outfield. He’s got some speed, he’s got some pop, he’s an exciting player, and I can’t wait to see him work.”
Zavolas comes to York with four years of pro experience with the Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers organizations. Zavolas was selected in the 28th round of the 2018 draft by the Mariners and combined to go 5-2 with a 3.03 ERA as a reliever between Everett and Modesto during his first pro season. After being dealt to the Brewers that off-season, Zavolas was Carolina League Pitcher of the Year in 2019 with the Carolina Mudcats, a Mid-Season & Post-Season All-Star, twice his league’s Pitcher of the Week, and ranked fourth in the league in ERA (2.98) and WHIP (1.14), fourth in innings, and issued the fewest walks per nine (1.56). In 2021, he again displayed his talents on the hill, leading Double-A South in innings, starts, and strikeouts while ranking seventh in WHIP (1.19), sixth in walks per nine (2.31), and 10th in strikeouts per nine (9.02) with Biloxi. Zavolas pitched four years at Harvard University, winning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year as a senior, going 6-1 with a 2.96 ERA in 11 starts, while also throwing a no-hitter that season against Yale. The 26-year-old Massachusetts native enters the 2023 season with a career record of 18-16 and a 4.09 ERA in 354 innings pitched.
“He’s a really nice young man,” remarked Forney. “He has had a great career, he throws a ton of strikes and has a lot of pitchability. He’s just a guy that you can’t wait to spend time with during the baseball season.”
Hintzen, 26, will reunite with Zavolas as they were teammates from 2019-22 in the Brewers organization. Hintzen was drafted in the 10th round in the 2018 draft by Milwaukee. In 2019, he tied for third in appearances in the Carolina League, then tied for fifth in Double-A South appearances in 2021. In College at Florida Southern, Hintzen was a Recipient of the 2018 Perfect Game Brett Tomko Award as the college pitcher whose on-field performance is most outstanding at the Division II level, named after former York Revolution player and 100-game MLB winner Brett Tomko. That year, Hintzen went 14-0 with a 1.77 ERA and 2 saves in 32 outings (two starts) as a senior in 2018 (96.2 innings pitched, 62 hits given up, 23 runs, 19 earned runs, only 13 walks, and tallied 114 strikeouts). The Connecticut native has a career minor league line record of a 15-11, a 3.99 ERA, and 216.2 innings pitched in four seasons.
Forney commented, “He’s an intriguing right hander. His punch out numbers are really good in his career, averaging 10 strikeouts per nine innings. And I don’t care what level you are at, when you go 14-0 anywhere it’s impressive.”
Hull is entering his third year as a pro and first with the Revs. The 26-year-old Texan lefty spent his first two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, mostly as a reliever, totaling 88 strikeouts in 74.1 innings after he was drafted in the 28th round in 2019. In 2021, he pitched at three levels, concluding the season at Double-A Amarillo. In 2022, he returned to the role of starting pitcher and went on an impressive run with three consecutive scoreless starts totaling 13.1 innings pitched with just seven hits allowed to start the season for Southern Maryland in his first Atlantic League stint before finishing the season with Charleston, totaling 24 starts. Hull burst onto the Atlantic League scene, allowing just two earned runs in 24.1 innings over his first five starts, good for a 0.68 ERA, and held a spectacular 1.93 ERA through the end of May. Selected out of Creighton University, Hull led the Big East with 18 starts as a senior and ranked sixth in wins with five and ninth in innings pitched with 72.
Forney said of Hull, “He’s had a really good start to his career, he has really good upside, and he has age on his side. He has the ability to get swings and misses, and I like the versatility that he has been a starter and a reliever before in his career.”
The Revs now have 20 player signings announced for the 2023 season with Forney scheduled to announce more player signings on the next episode of Revs Hot Stove Weekly presented by Shipley Energy on Monday, April 10, at 6 p.m. live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, and The New WOYK app.