As someone who covers prospects, and has covered Alen Hanson for five or six years now, I’d love nothing more than to see him come up and get three starts in the big leagues before going back down once Starling Marte is ready to return.
But taking an objective look at the Pirates, Hanson’s call-up is just another reminder of how difficult it is for position players to make this lineup.
The Pirates didn’t start Hanson tonight, instead going with Matt Joyce in right field, and Gregory Polanco moving over to left field. And how can you blame them? Joyce has been outstanding off the bench, with a .333/.480/.692 line in 50 plate appearances heading into the contest. That’s a small sample size, and there’s no reason to expect him to continue this pace. Even without that pace, Joyce has earned the starts right now, and I don’t think that Hanson would be a better option. (I wrote all of this earlier in the day, before Joyce had a monster game with his fifth homer of the year. Still the point stands.)
I like Hanson’s upside. I see him as a guy who can be a league average starter at second base, and possibly better, depending on how his speed and defense plays. But Starling Marte’s wife didn’t magically have their baby the day Hanson was ready for the big leagues (See how I turned that classic Super Two argument around?).
The reason Hanson is up now is because the Pirates needed a fill in for three days, and wanted to give him some experience of the big league atmosphere. This is an approach they took a few years ago with Jordy Mercer, calling him up a few times, but starting other players, with Mercer getting very little time. They took the same approach last year with Elias Diaz, calling him up just to get experience, but not to play much.
They’re taking the same approach now. The key difference between now and when Jordy Mercer was called up is that the Pirates have much better talent on the bench ready to step up. It’s not just Joyce in the outfield, but it’s Sean Rodriguez in the infield. David Freese can take the corner infield spots. The bench has been off to a great start, which means it’s going to be difficult for any hitting prospects to break in to the lineup for significant playing time this year.
Now if only the same could be said for the rotation…
**I got to see Chad Kuhl pitch tonight in Indianapolis, with the report below in the Prospect Watch. We just ran a feature on Kuhl, but I got enough information to run another feature this week, which I feel is warranted after tonight’s outing.
I was having a bit of fun looking at the top prospects list tonight, wondering if there was any way to get Kuhl in the top ten. In any other system, I think he’s a top ten prospect. A big reason for that isn’t just my opinion on him, but how much opposing scouts have talked him up in the last year. I couldn’t find a way to get him in the top ten of the current system.
You’d obviously have the current top seven in there (Glasnow, Meadows, Bell, Taillon, Hanson, Ramirez, McGuire), although possibly in a different order. I think Kevin Newman and Ke’Bryan Hayes (who we ranked 11th and 10th, respectively, in the pre-season) are there. The only reason Elias Diaz and/or Nick Kingham might fall out of the list is if you consider that their injuries allowed other guys to pass them. Mitch Keller definitely moves up to that group, and Cole Tucker is in consideration after a successful recovery with his shoulder. So the only way to get Kuhl in is to bump Diaz and Kingham, and ignore the tools for some guys like McGuire and Hanson. Either way, that’s a really strong system.
**At some point this year, the minor league system will take a hit, as prospects graduate to the big leagues. That’s not a big deal, as the talent doesn’t go anywhere just because they’re not prospect eligible. That’s when you look at the Under-25 talent in the system to see just how strong the organization is. The scary thing about this? Gregory Polanco is still in that Under-25 group. And if you extend it to 25 and under, you get Gerrit Cole in there as well. That’s a big reason why the Pirates look like they can contend for the long-term.
**Prospect Watch: Chad Kuhl Dominates One of the Best Offenses in the League. My live report on Kuhl, with a feature I’m looking forward to writing coming this week.
**Prospect Notes: Hanson’s Outfield Progress, Williams and Brault Injury Updates. Pre-game report from Indianapolis, looking at Alen Hanson’s work in the outfield, plus injury updates on Trevor Williams and Steven Brault.
**Top Performers: Newman, Hanson, Kuhl, Eppler and Keller Headline Last Week’s Best. Our weekly Top Performers article, with reports on 21 different players this week.
**Alen Hanson Recalled, Starling Marte Placed on Paternity List. Hanson will be up for a maximum of three games.
**Morning Report: Thoughts on Mitch Keller’s Start From Sunday. John Dreker expands more on his live viewing of Mitch Keller from Sunday.
