DEL.ICIO.USATLANTA BRAVES OFFSEASON
Braves’ Tommy Hanson nearly unhittable, definitely untouchable
22-year-old pitcher creating a stir with dominating outings in Arizona Fall League
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Mesa, Ariz. — He hasn’t thrown a pitch above Class AA in the minor leagues. However, he’s judged to have such extraordinary talent, the Braves flatly refuse to trade him.
In any deal.
Bill Mitchell/Four Seam Images
From Class AA to the Arizona Fall League, RHP Tommy Hanson has drawn rave reviews for his talent.
Even one for San Diego ace Jake Peavy.
Here is Tommy Hanson, 22-year-old ascendant prospect who looms very large in the Braves’ future, literally and figuratively. If you’ve been waiting for the next homegrown Braves pitching star, the organization believes he’s the one.
At 6 feet 6, the Oklahoma right-hander could be the highest-touted pitching prospect to come through the organization in a decade. He threw a 14-strikeout no-hitter after a May promotion to Class AA Mississippi. His off-the-charts work in the Arizona Fall League could make him the AFL MVP, rare for a pitcher.
“I mean, he’s totally dominated out here,” said Rocket Wheeler, Hanson’s manager with the Mesa Solar Sox in the fall league and his manager in parts of the past two seasons at Class A Myrtle Beach. “He’s been tremendous.”
In a hitter-friendly AFL that’s lined with major league prospects, Hanson has dominated, posting a 4-0 record and 0.76 ERA. He’s allowed nine hits, two runs and five walks while piling up a league-high 39 strikeouts in 23-2/3 innings.
All this after he went 11-5 with a 2.41 ERA in 138 innings this season between Myrtle Beach and Mississippi, totaling 163 strikeouts and 52 walks in 138 innings and leading all minor league starters with a .175 opponents’ average.
“I expected to come out here and do well [in Arizona], but I never would have expected to do this well,” said Hanson, whose modesty belies his relentless determination and confidence. “Basically I just wanted to come out here and work on my changeup, like I’ve said before. But when I got out here, everything kind of carried over from the season.
“The consistency has been there with all my pitches, so it’s been good. It’s been a good experience out here.”
Well, yeah.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Mississippi and Mesa teammate Stephen Marek, a right-hander who went to the Braves from the Los Angeles Angels in the Mark Teixeira trade. Marek went to big-league spring training with the Angels last year and watched closer Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez and others, but none impressed him more than Hanson has.
“I remember when I got over there [to Mississippi], I saw him throw a [bullpen session] and I’m like, ‘Gee, whiz.’ ” Marek said. “I saw him pitch and I think he struck out 12 in five innings. OK, that’s pretty good.”
Braves catching prospect Tyler Flowers has caught Hanson for parts of three seasons in the minor leagues and this fall with the Solar Sox.
“He’s something special,” said Flowers, who was in big-league camp with the Braves last spring and said he didn’t see anyone with better stuff. “He’s something I’ve never seen before. Just from my experience last spring training, catching guys like Tim Hudson, John Smoltz — he’s right there with them, in my opinion.”
There’s an unspoken belief in the Braves organization that Hanson can help return luster to an erstwhile perennial contender once known for pitching.
“We have been impressed with his competitiveness since we signed him,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said of the former 22nd-round draft pick out of Riverside (Calif.) Community College. “And he has grown leaps and bounds as a pitcher over the last two years.
“He has turned into an outstanding young pitcher that is getting close to competing for a job at the major league level.”
Expectations have become exceedingly high, for obvious reasons.
“Oh, he’s been impressive,” said Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg, the former Chicago Cubs second baseman who’s a Solar Sox coach. “He’s really kind of separated himself from this league from a pitching standpoint. He just has a good look about him out there, being tall, the downward plane, spots his fastballs, three quality pitches … yeah, he’s looked real sharp.”
Hanson has pinpoint control of a 93-95 mph fastball, a devastating slider, and a curveball with a downward break.
“This is Double-A, Triple-A [caliber], a lot of these guys are a step away [from the majors],” Sandberg said. “And for the most part, I think it’s been somewhat of a hitters’ league, with high-scoring games. That being said, with the conditions, thin air, the fields a little bit firm favoring hitters, he’s kept hitters in-check pretty much the whole time.”
“He looks like a guy who’s right there, knocking at the door.”
The season began auspiciously, Hanson striking out 13 in five no-hit innings on Myrtle Beach’s opening day. He had an 0.90 ERA in 40 innings before being promoted. After some rough outings at Mississippi, he pitched a June 25 no-hitter against Birmingham, employing his slider for the first time in two years after working to hone the pitch.
“With all my pitches I feel like I can throw them for strikes when I need to,” Hanson said. “Last year I wasn’t real consistent. I’d say when it comes to that, I’ve come a long ways. Now all I’m really working on is my changeup, trying to get that down and just keep doing what I’m doing.”
“I feel closer [to the majors]. Just a couple of little things I want to work on. I feel closer, so I’m ready to just keep working hard and hopefully it happens soon.”
Wren was in Arizona last week to see Hanson pitch, and took him aside to tell him he wouldn’t be traded.
“It’s definitely a good feeling, him telling me that,” Hanson said. “I signed with the Braves, and I want to stay with the Braves. So it was definitely good to hear that.”
He will be brought to major league spring training and could compete for a rotation spot. Braves officials believe he would probably benefit from more seasoning in the minors, but Hanson could make the decision difficult.
“I was with the Blue Jays when [Roy] Halladay came up,” Wheeler said, “and to me there are a lot of comparisons.”
Halladay, another 6-6 right-hander, has two 20-win seasons and a Cy Young Award. Wheeler was asked whether it was Hanson’s pitches — his “stuff” — or mental approach that were similar to Halladay, the famously focused Toronto ace.
“Exactly — all of it,” Wheeler said. “[Hanson] is a horse. And at 22 years old, he knows what he’s got to do on the mound.”
Wheeler saw first-hand the progress since 2007, when Hanson went 3-3 with a 4.20 ERA at Myrtle Beach after a promotion from low-Class A Rome.
“When he came up to Myrtle Beach in ‘07, he had a lot of confidence,” Wheeler said. “Of course he dominated in that league [for Rome], and he got up to Myrtle Beach and he got hit a little bit. I’m not going to say he lost his confidence, it’s just the uncertainty of ‘Wow, OK, what do I got to do?’
“When he came back this year, he knew what he had to do. His demeanor on the mound was tremendous. I mean, his focus … it’s right there. ‘I know what I’ve got to do, I know what I’m gonna do, to get this guy out. Here I go.’ “
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