The Rockaway Wave
Originally Published August 15, 2025
As May began, Dakota Hawkins was a member of the Brooklyn Cyclones.
On May 2nd, Hawkins was assigned to Triple-A Syracuse from High-A Brooklyn. Hawkins drives himself from affiliate to affiliate, so he hopped in the car to complete the approximately 270-mile journey from Maimonides Park in Brooklyn to NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse.
He didn’t appear in a game for Syracuse, and on May 4, was assigned to Double-A Binghamton. The Rumble Ponies were in Erie, Pennsylvania, playing the Erie SeaWolves, so Hawkins was on the road again for an approximately 240-mile trek.
Hawkins started Game 2 of a doubleheader that began at 2:30 p.m., throwing 1 and 1⁄3 innings, and was promptly sent back to Brooklyn. By 7 a.m. the following morning, Hawkins was back in Brooklyn — an approximately 420-mile drive — in time to catch the Cyclones’ flight to North Carolina to play the Asheville Tourists.
“It’s tough,” Cyclones manager Gilbert Gómez said. “Not everybody’s built up for it, not everybody’s ready for it. And I think that’s the one thing that we have identified as an organization, is that he’s the kind of guy that will do it. And not necessarily that we’re thankful in terms of like, he’s a good guy, but it’s just the ability to, regardless of the scenario that he’s been put in, he’s going to be ready to perform. And I feel like that’s something that you really want to value.”
Hawkins has been sent to Syracuse two more times this season. One time, his family was in town, so they drove down together. He threw three innings, picked up his first Triple-A win, and was back on the mound in Brooklyn five days later.
Gómez commended Hawkins for handling being moved up and down the system with a high level of professionalism. It hasn’t been easy, but Hawkins said he’s found a routine that works for him over the three years he’s played professional baseball.
Hawkins also said the experience has been crazy. He’d get told he’s needed in Syracuse, drive up to pitch, and then drive back down to Brooklyn shortly after.
“For the most part, I know, I have a feeling I’m coming back,” Hawkins said. “But it’s always nice, and I’ll keep the speculation that I’m gonna stay up there for another week.”
His performance this season should have earned him a permanent opportunity to move up to the next level. Hawkins has appeared in 17 games for the Cyclones, posting a 2.48 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 38 strikeouts in 32 and 2⁄3 innings.
After starting 11 games and otherwise primarily being used as bulk relief last season, he has been shortened up in 2025. While he’s still capable of providing multiple innings of work if called upon, he’s thrown four innings in just one appearance for Brooklyn. He’s thrown two or fewer innings in 12 of 17 games.
Hawkins said he doesn’t know why the decision was made to shorten his outings, and he doesn’t approach it any differently from when he starts games.
“It’s all just kind of the same,” Hawkins said. “Just go out, and if I got one inning, great. If I got five, great. Just going out, putting as much as I can out there, and working as hard as I can for the team.”
He works with a five pitch mix: 4-seam fastball, changeup, curveball, splitter and slider.
His changeup, which he throws with a circle-change grip, is his most-used pitch. His dad taught him the pitch early in his baseball career and encouraged him to throw it as much as possible.
“Didn’t really use it a whole lot through high school, and then once I got to junior college, it was once pitch that came along a lot,” Hawkins said. “Kinda just always thinking my dad saying ‘throw it, always throw it, throw it.’”
He also throws a splitter, which is a similar pitch to a changeup. Usually, pitchers don’t throw both. Hawkins uses them in different situations: The changeup to throw for strikes and to get back into a count, and the splitter to get hitters to chase.
He’ll also throw his curveball and slider, usually depending on the situation, the scouting report on the opposing hitter and watching the hitter’s previous at-bats. The slider is the pitch he said he has the most confidence in right now.
He pounds the zone, throws a lot of strikes, and mixes his pitches effectively. Gómez said he tunnels his pitches well, getting his breaking and offspeed pitches to play off his heater.
“I get to a point sometimes, you try to be too cute, try to baby it too much, and I mean, that works sometimes, but most of the time it’s gonna come back to hurt you,” Hawkins said. “So I kind of just try to throw the ball as hard as I can over the middle of the plate, let the ball work.”
He’s been one of Gómez’s more reliable arms all season. He controls the running game well and has, on numerous occasions, saved the bullpen with a multi-inning outing.
“He’s a dog, man,” Gómez said. “He’s a very high-character guy and a very good clubhouse guy, and I feel like those guys, they tend to last a long time in this game, and I know that he’s gonna be able to pitch for a long time.”
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