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Consistency Standing in the Way of Alen Hanson Arriving in the Majors

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BRADENTON, Fl. – There is a long-term opening at second base for the Pirates, and while there are several prospect options in Triple-A who could battle for that role, the lead option is Alen Hanson.

Hanson has been a top prospect in the system since his breakout year in West Virginia in 2012. He was on the radar as a guy to watch before that, impressing scouts in 2011 when he was in the GCL. He originally came up as a shortstop, but moved to second base full-time last year to speed his path up to the majors. And right now, the only thing standing between him and the majors is consistency.

Neal Huntington and Clint Hurdle both echoed these thoughts yesterday, talking about the type of player Hanson could become if he adds that consistency.

“He’s faced the challenges that a young player faces,” Huntington said. “How do you take those incredible abilities that he has and get them to play on a more consistent basis? Live up to expectations? Sometimes realistic, sometimes unfair. You’ve seen it already in Spring Training here, the things he can do on a baseball field. If we can get those to play more consistently, we’ve got a really good player on our hands.”

Hanson has impressed so far in Spring Training, showing off a lot of his abilities. He has a ton of speed, with the ability to steal 30+ bases a year in the majors, and with that speed helping him beat out infield singles, or stretch for extra base hits. He’s a switch hitter who needs to improve from the right side, but is a solid option from the left side, showing off some power from the middle infield spot. So far his hitting and speed have shown up in his limited experience this spring, and his defense has been good, with a lot of range displayed.

“He can ignite the top of the lineup,” Hurdle said. “There’s real speed. He’s a base stealer. The fact that he can go up to both sides of the plate, move things around offensively. He can put the ball on the ground. He’s got some barrel. He [hit] a ball out to the left-center field corner [Monday]. Defensively there’s some range, there’s some rhythm. There’s some things he’s still working on. He’s an exciting player.”

While Max Moroff and Adam Frazier — two other converted shortstops — are playing multiple positions this spring, the Pirates felt it was best for Hanson to only stick at second base. This will allow him to focus on one thing on the field, and allow him more time to focus on consistency on both sides of the ball.

“Defensive consistency is one thing he’s working on everyday,” Hurdle said. “That’s one of the things, and offensive consistency. More often than not, that’s the challenge for these guys when they get close. That’s why you call them prospects. That’s why you grade tools. The overall game comes together, that’s when they get to the big leagues and that’s when they stay. The one thing that’s out of their control when they’re down is when they get called up, or opportunity. They’ve got to go down and play, show some consistency on both sides of the ball.”

When it comes to consistency on the defensive side of the ball, Hanson always had problems at shortstop, although they weren’t what you’d expect. He made the difficult plays look easy, and often his problems would come on routine plays where he would either boot the grounder, or make a low effort throw that went wild to first base. Those issues weren’t as frequent at second base, but still existed.

The offensive consistency is easier to document by the numbers. He struggled in April last year in Indianapolis, hitting for a .549 OPS. This matches a trend of the last few years, where he has been slow out of the gate and at a new level. The difference last year was that he struggled throughout the year as well, with a sub-.600 OPS in June and August. Part of this might have been him trying to press and get a promotion to the Majors after a big rebound in May. It might also have reflected his age, as it’s easy to forget he was one of the youngest players in Triple-A.

Huntington mentioned that Hanson fits into their plans and their system due to his tools and abilities, but acknowledged he hasn’t always been consistent with those tools.

“He absolutely fits with the athleticism and the tools and the development of the skills,” Huntington said. “The ability is there. Was he where we needed him to be all the time? No. And that’s part of the challenges of maturing. Part of the challenge of the expectations of our development system. And part of that will come through just maturation, part of it will come through a focused consistency, and a consistent ability to lock in and make the routine play routine. Because he can make the spectacular play.”

It may be tempting to think that Max Moroff or Adam Frazier are better options than Hanson. They’re both coming off better offensive seasons, although this comes with the disclaimer that they did it at lower levels, with Frazier actually being a year older than Hanson. But when you look at the tools, Hanson beats both of them out. He’s faster than both, and more of a threat on the bases. His defensive skills are better, with the ability to provide strong defensive value from second base, along with the offense needed from the position. Moroff and Frazier will probably do better at getting on base, but Hanson has more power and a better chance of being an electrifying player in the lineup.

The Pirates see Hanson as a leadoff guy, which doesn’t really match up when you consider his main offensive weakness is a lack of walks and a low OBP. However, this didn’t stop them from putting Starling Marte at leadoff for a few years. Hanson’s speed could be dynamic at the top of the lineup, and while he won’t walk as much, his speed will allow him to get on base through some extra singles. He won’t have the OBP that a top leadoff guy should have, but his speed will give him respectable numbers from the spot.

“It’s a dynamic that plays,” Hurdle said of his speed. “It can impact a game. Pure speed is exciting to watch. You need to get speed on base though. There’s got to be some consistency with getting on base. The pure leadoff hitters that we have in the system, he would be a guy that would probably profile as one of the top.”

There’s a chance that Hanson could make the club out of camp, although that would probably require Jung-ho Kang to miss Opening Day. If Kang is ready, then I could see Cole Figueroa getting a final bench spot over Hanson, with the Pirates sending the second base prospect down to Indianapolis to continue working on his consistency at the position and at the plate. Hanson should arrive as depth at some point in 2016, and it might be best for him to arrive as a bench option first, in order to provide a better adjustment to the majors.

Long-term, he has the upside of a starting second baseman and a leadoff hitter for the Pirates, which would give this team a ton of speed at the top of their lineup when added to the outfield trio of Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Gregory Polanco. But first, he needs to show some consistency on defense, and more importantly, at the plate.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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