
For many young baseball players, from T-ball through little league and beyond, the ultimate fantasy is to eventually suit up and play in Major League Baseball. For 2024 Lynnwood High School graduate Jace Hampson, that fantasy became a little more reachable this month.
On July 17, Hampson was an 18th-round selection in the 2024 MLB draft by the New York Mets; four days later the 18-year-old signed a rookie contract with the Mets organization and began his life as a professional baseball player.
“It was a super surreal moment and I felt like I was on top of the world,” Hampson said when he learned that a major league organization had drafted him. “It’s been a dream my entire life and a feeling like no other.”
Hampson enjoyed a stellar high school career playing for the Royals over the past four years. The right-handed pitcher and infielder was a four-year letterman at Lynnwood and was selected four times as an All-Wesco League First Team member.
Hampson was consistently ranked among the top-10 prep baseball players in Washington state by numerous scouting websites during his senior year at Lynnwood.

As a Royal, Hampson also caught the eye of numerous major league organizations.
“I knew that there were a few teams looking at me,” Hampson said. “On day two of the draft I was notified that I might get a call from a couple.”
“We knew that the Mets liked me because their area scout had come to most of my high school games,” Hampson added.
It’s Hampson’s strong right arm that seems to interest MLB scouts the most. His fastball has been clocked at above 90 miles per hour; he also throws a curveball and a splitter.
Despite all the attention, Hampson was never really sure if one of the 30 major league teams would draft him. Hampson had earlier made a commitment to play college baseball at the University of Oregon and then changed his plans to begin his collegiate career locally and attend Everett Community College starting in September.
In early July, Hampson joined the Wenatchee Applesox, a summer amateur baseball league team to help keep his skills sharp in preparation for his time in the collegiate ranks.
But everything changed last week when he was the 533rd overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft. He packed up his summer gear, headed home to Mill Creek for some final goodbyes with friends and family, then flew to Florida for two days of physicals with Mets trainers and the eventual signing of his rookie contract.
Now Hampson is at the Mets spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida, for draft camp with other rookies and free agents. He doesn’t know which one of the Mets’ minor league affiliates he will eventually be assigned to; for now, he said, he is “just getting used to the life and grind.”
Following draft camp, Hampson will likely land initially with one of the two Mets’ minor league teams who call Port St. Lucie home: the single-A St. Lucie Mets or the Rookie League FCL Mets.
No matter what minor league uniform he wears, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Hampson — who turns 19 on Aug. 4 — says he is ready to put in the work to impress Met coaches and to, hopefully, rise in the organization.
“My short-term goals right now are to get physically mature and put on weight in order to keep my arm and body healthy,” Hampson said.
“I have no timeline, really, of how I want to move up (in the Mets’ minor league pipeline),” Hampson insisted. “I have the full trust in this organization to get me ready for each level and I will work my hardest to make it a little easier on them.”
— By Doug Petrowski
Such a fine young man , it was a pleasure umpiring his games .