Alen Hanson was signed at age 16 in 2009 for $90K, weeks after the Bucs lost out on Miguel Sano. The shortstop prospect may not have Sano's pedigree or hype, but has panned out to be a pretty strong Plan B fallback for the Bucs.
A native of La Romana in the Dominican Republic, he's now the top (and maybe only, other than then the hitting challenged Gift Ngoepe) SS prospect in the Pirate organization. After hitting .324 in the Dominican league in 2010, he came north in the following season. In the GCL rookie league, he batted .262 with a .352 OBP and got a cup of coffee with State College. He went to Sally League (Low Class A) West Virginia next as an 19 year old and had a breakout year in 2012.
Hansen hit .309 with a .909 OPS, and surprisingly banged out 16 homers and 33 doubles during the campaign. It was surprising because the switch hitter is all of 5' 11", 155 pounds with an offensive game based more on speed than power, as his 13 triples and 35 stolen bases showed.
He began 2013 at High A Bradenton, where he hit .281 in 92 games, with 23 doubles, eight triples, seven home runs and stole 23 bases. But it wasn't all roses and cream; he got off to to a dismal start both in the field and at the plate and earned a time-out (as Clint Hurdle likes to say, the Bucs hit his reset button). The break was to give him a rest mentally; he's never been a problem child, and is said to be one of the Buccos' hardest workers.
His head cleared, his glove and stickwork improved and earned him a promotion Altoona in July, where he hit .255 during his first taste of upper level pitching. The Bucs continued to push him, sending Hansen to the Arizona Fall league. After another slow start, he was named to the Fall Stars game, with a line of .253/.294/.329 and six stolen sacks.
Hanson should start 2014 at Altoona again as the Bucs look to polish his skill set. He was just outside the Top Fifty going into last season (#54 MLB.com; #61 Baseball America), but his future is still unsettled.
The biggest debate is whether he can develop into a pro SS; he's shown some problems with range and an average arm. The range could be countered with some coaching up on positioning and angles, as he's got the physical ability to cover some ground, but it's hard to hide a so-so arm from the hole. So the smart money has him shifting to second when he arrives, with some murmurs of moving him to the OF. Second seems much more likely; the Bucs are loaded in the pasture. But the brass will keep him at short for as long as possible, where he holds more value and the Pirates have greater need.
The switch hitter also needs work on his stick. He's never stolen fewer than 24 bases in a season during his pro career, even though he's still unpolished as a base larcenist, and the Pirates would love to plug him into the top of the order. But he's not terribly patient at the plate, and in his brief stay in the upper levels, his walk rate was 5.3% for the Curve and 4.7% with the AFL Scottsdale Scorpions, with respective OBP of .299 and .294, not the numbers associated with a lead off guy.
We wouldn't be too judgmental on those numbers yet; he's only had 236 plate appearances in AA and the AFL, hardly a fair sample size considering that he's now looking at quality off speed stuff. But he does need to sharpen his eye.
Another problem that may be on the horizon is his splits. Hansen was pretty neutral until this past season, when his splits began to widen; like Neil Walker, he's become much more a threat from the left side. His pro K rate is 17%+, but he hasn't faced much top level pitching yet, so we'll see how that trends as he moves up.
No prospect comes up without a red flag or two, and the Pirates have been moving him along at a fair pace, but not overly aggressively. He's a kid that's athletic, with plus speed, quick hands, a little pop and a solid work ethic who projects well as a MLB middle infielder.
At 21 next season, he'll be age appropriate for Altoona where he'll begin to polish his rough edges at the top levels. We don't expect Hanson to be a piece of the 2014 Pirate puzzle, but a Pittsburgh landing date of mid-2015 isn't a stretch.
Showing posts with label alen hanson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alen hanson. Show all posts
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Alen Hanson
Ya know, it was pretty depressing news when the Bucs missed out on signing Miguel Sano in 2009 thanks to some head-butting between Rene Gayo and Sano's agent, Rob Plummer. But Gayo didn't drop his head - or the ball. Two weeks later he announced a batch of Latino kids whom he inked for the Bucs.
One of them was 16 year old second baseman Alen Hanson from La Romana of the Dominican Republic, scouted by Ellis Pena. He came at the modest price tag of $90-100K, about three million less than it took to lure Sano to Minnesota. And while Hanson may not be quite at Sano's level, he's one heck of a Plan B.
He spent time at the Dominican Academy (Alen started picking up English from the Academy, teammates, and three years of Rosetta Stone, and is a fair speaker now) and played his first ball in the DSL in 2010. The 17 year old switch hitter put up a slash of .324/.383/.447 playing second, third, and the outfield. The Bucs decided to bring him stateside, and he started 2011 in the GCL.
Hanson was steady enough there, too. His slash was .263/.352/.429, though he was sometimes fooled by pitches. He flashed his plus speed with 24 steals in 30 attempts (80%) and made the transition to shortstop. The teen got to visit State College briefly, getting in three games and collecting a couple of hits and a walk.
The Dominican was raw but toolsy, and though an unheralded signing, began popping up on some radar screens. After the season, Baseball America rated him the 14th best prospect in the GCL and the #27 prospect in the Pittsburgh organization, while Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Propectus ranked him #17 in Pirate system.
The Pirates moved both him and Gregory Polanco straight to Low Class A ball at West Virginia in the Sally League, skipping the State College level, in 2012. Neither disappointed; Hanson's line was .309/.381/.528 with a sudden burst of power. He hit 16 homers, 13 triples and 33 doubles, driving in 62 runs and scoring 99 from his leadoff spot.
Hanson had a 10% walk rate, although his 19% whiff rate was a little on the high side for a top-of-the-order guy, but totally acceptable if his power repeats and he drops toward the middle of the lineup. All in all, it was a sharp enough performance to earn him the #40 spot of BA's Mid-Season Top Fifty MLB Prospects and the 6th best prospect in the South Atlantic League.
It wasn't all peaches and cream. He padded his average early in the season and crashed a bit in the second half, especially in July, and was hampered in August by recurring hip flexor problems. Hanson stole 35 bases for the Power, but was caught 19 times, a 65% success rate that needs some work considering his wheels.
The Pirates hope he can hang at SS, a premium position that doesn't feature many bats like Hanson's. He booted 40 balls at WV and barely cleared .900 in fielding percentage in 103 games at the spot. There are several schools of thought on that.
One is that his arm, while above average, is better suited to second or the outfield. Another is that the game hasn't slowed down enough for him yet (Hanson was only 19 at WV) and he rushes too many plays, a problem that repetition and some coaching should solve. Another is that he just doesn't focus in the field, ala Ronnie Cedeno, and that can be overcome, even if RC never quite figured it out.
Be assured of this - the value he brings to SS is pretty high, and the Pirates will keep tossing him there until he either masters the position or goes down trying, in which case a switch to 2B/OF will be in line. They'll find a spot for him because of the way his bat plays.
The Pirates need a disruptive leadoff guy, and Hanson is the best fit for the job currently in the Bucco system. He covers the plate well, has a good enough eye, even with the occasional flail, to have a career 10% walk rate, and is a line drive, contact hitter that uses the whole field. Hanson does the little things, too - he steals, bunts, and isn't afraid to work a count. The only drawback is that he whiffs a bit much for leadoff.
Oh, and that surprising power surge. Hanson is a little bigger than when he was signed, now maybe 5' 11" and 160 pounds in a driving rainstorm, but if he keeps pounding the horsehide like Cutch, he may find himself a little lower in the lineup. We'll see how that plays out as he moves along in the system.
And he's moving like a bullet. MLB.com ranks him as the #47 prospect in baseball and Scouting Book at #95. Scouting Book ranks him as the #3 Pirate prospect and Baseball Prospectus has him at #5. When BA comes out with their team ratings in mid-January and prospect list in February, we'd expect to see his name prominently displayed again.
But it will take some time to get him to Pittsburgh; 2015 looks like his ETA if all goes well.
One of them was 16 year old second baseman Alen Hanson from La Romana of the Dominican Republic, scouted by Ellis Pena. He came at the modest price tag of $90-100K, about three million less than it took to lure Sano to Minnesota. And while Hanson may not be quite at Sano's level, he's one heck of a Plan B.
He spent time at the Dominican Academy (Alen started picking up English from the Academy, teammates, and three years of Rosetta Stone, and is a fair speaker now) and played his first ball in the DSL in 2010. The 17 year old switch hitter put up a slash of .324/.383/.447 playing second, third, and the outfield. The Bucs decided to bring him stateside, and he started 2011 in the GCL.
Hanson was steady enough there, too. His slash was .263/.352/.429, though he was sometimes fooled by pitches. He flashed his plus speed with 24 steals in 30 attempts (80%) and made the transition to shortstop. The teen got to visit State College briefly, getting in three games and collecting a couple of hits and a walk.
The Dominican was raw but toolsy, and though an unheralded signing, began popping up on some radar screens. After the season, Baseball America rated him the 14th best prospect in the GCL and the #27 prospect in the Pittsburgh organization, while Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Propectus ranked him #17 in Pirate system.
The Pirates moved both him and Gregory Polanco straight to Low Class A ball at West Virginia in the Sally League, skipping the State College level, in 2012. Neither disappointed; Hanson's line was .309/.381/.528 with a sudden burst of power. He hit 16 homers, 13 triples and 33 doubles, driving in 62 runs and scoring 99 from his leadoff spot.
Hanson had a 10% walk rate, although his 19% whiff rate was a little on the high side for a top-of-the-order guy, but totally acceptable if his power repeats and he drops toward the middle of the lineup. All in all, it was a sharp enough performance to earn him the #40 spot of BA's Mid-Season Top Fifty MLB Prospects and the 6th best prospect in the South Atlantic League.
It wasn't all peaches and cream. He padded his average early in the season and crashed a bit in the second half, especially in July, and was hampered in August by recurring hip flexor problems. Hanson stole 35 bases for the Power, but was caught 19 times, a 65% success rate that needs some work considering his wheels.
The Pirates hope he can hang at SS, a premium position that doesn't feature many bats like Hanson's. He booted 40 balls at WV and barely cleared .900 in fielding percentage in 103 games at the spot. There are several schools of thought on that.
One is that his arm, while above average, is better suited to second or the outfield. Another is that the game hasn't slowed down enough for him yet (Hanson was only 19 at WV) and he rushes too many plays, a problem that repetition and some coaching should solve. Another is that he just doesn't focus in the field, ala Ronnie Cedeno, and that can be overcome, even if RC never quite figured it out.
Be assured of this - the value he brings to SS is pretty high, and the Pirates will keep tossing him there until he either masters the position or goes down trying, in which case a switch to 2B/OF will be in line. They'll find a spot for him because of the way his bat plays.
The Pirates need a disruptive leadoff guy, and Hanson is the best fit for the job currently in the Bucco system. He covers the plate well, has a good enough eye, even with the occasional flail, to have a career 10% walk rate, and is a line drive, contact hitter that uses the whole field. Hanson does the little things, too - he steals, bunts, and isn't afraid to work a count. The only drawback is that he whiffs a bit much for leadoff.
Oh, and that surprising power surge. Hanson is a little bigger than when he was signed, now maybe 5' 11" and 160 pounds in a driving rainstorm, but if he keeps pounding the horsehide like Cutch, he may find himself a little lower in the lineup. We'll see how that plays out as he moves along in the system.
And he's moving like a bullet. MLB.com ranks him as the #47 prospect in baseball and Scouting Book at #95. Scouting Book ranks him as the #3 Pirate prospect and Baseball Prospectus has him at #5. When BA comes out with their team ratings in mid-January and prospect list in February, we'd expect to see his name prominently displayed again.
But it will take some time to get him to Pittsburgh; 2015 looks like his ETA if all goes well.
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