From premier prospect to Pittsburgh Pirate: Examining Craig Hansen’s struggles through Pitchf/x
August 12, 2008 – 11:22 amCraig Hansen looks like a dominant reliever. A hulking 6-6, 240 pound righthander with excellent arm strength and a slider that can make grown men weep on occasion, Hansen was ticketed for near-immediate success following his selection in the first round of the 2005 amateur draft. The Boston Red Sox popped Hansen with the 26th overall pick, dishing out a $4.4M major league contract on the premise that the St. John’s star would be ready to shoulder a high-leverage role in the bullpen in short order.
Suffice it to say, Hansen has not lived up to those expectations in his professional career. Hansen missed a good deal of bats in the minors (8.28 K/9) and posted a superficially impressive 2.62 ERA, but his inability to throw consistent strikes led to inflated walk totals (4.32 BB/9). In 76.1 career major league innings, Hansen has struck out just 6.84 batters per 9 innings, a tepid number for a reliever thought to possess dominant stuff, while dishing out 5.3 walks/9. The Red Sox, not exactly teeming with quality bullpen arms, were nonetheless willing to ship out Hansen as part of a much larger deal that netted Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay.
Now in Pittsburgh, Hansen’s chances to play a significant part in the ‘pen have increased exponentially. With Matt Capps (shoulder) on the rehab trail and Damaso Marte now pitching in the Bronx, the esrtwhile top prospect can work his way into a prominent role, should Hansen’s performance merit a chance at late-inning heroics.
What, exactly, has led to the discord between Hansen’s scouting reports (high-90’s gas, wicked slider) and his performance (1.29 K/BB, 76 ERA+)? To find out, I am going to delve into Hansen’s Pitchf/x data, searching for a reason why the man ticketed to become Boston’s closer is instead pitching mop-up innings for Pittsburgh.
