2080 baseball

[beautox]

Has anyone had checked out their spotlight series on some of the sox top prospects?

 

Alec Hansen

Prospect Spotlight

Hansen entered this spring at the University of Oklahoma on a short list of players being eyed-up for top ten selection in the 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft. His control and effectiveness abandoned him, however, and Hansen was relegated to relief work for a chunk of the regular season, with his draft stock slipping accordingly. The White Sox rolled the dice on the Sooner’s electric right arm and grabbed him in the second round, easing him into pro life with 10 short starts between the Rookie Arizona League and the Rookie Pioneer League before promoting him to Class A Kannapolis last week.

 

In his first two starts in full-season ball, Hansen has challenged hitters with a mid-90s fastball that comes with impressive run that is particularly effective as a backdoor offering to same-side bats when he hits his spots. He pairs with the heater a hard slider that flashes plus with solid tilt and hard bite and a softer breaker in the upper-70s with 11-to-5 action and some depth. He rounds out the arsenal with a quality changeup that can show sharp fade when he turns it over and hits his release.

 

While a slightly toned-down set of mechanics have helped to solve some of the significant control issues Hansen struggled with earlier in 2016, there is still some occasional falloff and inconsistency in his finish and command continues to be a question mark for the imposing righty. The fastball can work too loosely in the zone, particularly against left-side bats with the ball running to the barrel. Conversely, Hansen has been able to get away with less surgical implementation of the fastball to righties with the pitch effectively boring to the hands and drawing soft groundball contact.

 

The raw numbers thus far look great: 48.2 IP, 18 H, 8 ER, 18 BB, 76 SO, .114 AVG, 0.74 WHIP. It would be dangerous to read too much into the dominant stat line Hansen has produced over a mere 48-plus innings of work – 36 of which came against Rookie level competition – and the same it would be foolish to ignore the improved consistency in execution and frequency with which Hansen has been able to find the zone with each of his four offerings. If he can maintain the developmental momentum he’s built to this point and continue to work to replicate his release pitch-to-pitch and start-to-start, there’s potential for a dominant starter profile to emerge. At minimum even a rudimentary level of consistency over short spurts, when combined with the raw stuff, would make Hansen a quality high-leverage arm out of the pen.

 

Zack Burdi

Prospect Spotlight

The hard-throwing righty notched two perfect one-inning outings this past week, including his first at the Triple-A level, extending his no-hit streak to 9.2 innings – his last hit allowed coming back on July 23rd off the bat of Kean Wong (2B, Rays, Double-A Montgomery, Southern League). The former Louisville closer has big league swing-and-miss stuff, averaging almost two strikeouts per inning, and has recently upped his game by limiting base runners, having yet to allow a base runner in the month of August.

 

Burdi’s fastball can reach triple digits, routinely working in the upper 90s and flashing quality life – particularly down in the zone. His slider is a true plus offering at present, showing impressive bite and depth. He’s improved his command over the pitch in 2016, and is showing a high degree of comfort working it both in and out of the zone. His changeup is a third above-average offering, flashing swing-and-miss dive, and while clearly his tertiary option, it has the potential to emerge as a true weapon with minimal refinement.

 

Burdi has the making of a dominant late-inning arm thanks to electric stuff and an improving ability to wield that stuff with confidence and authority. It would not be a surprise to see him break camp with the White Sox next spring, and a September call-up seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. If you have a chance to catch him in Charlotte, don’t delay. It doesn’t look like his stay in the Queen City will be a long one.

 

Basabe

 

Tilson

 

Moncada

 

Kopech

 

Fulmer

 

Giolito

 

 

[BlackSox13]

Good reads and thanks for posting this.

 

As good as Hansen is, just imagine how much more effective he would be if he learned to throw a cutter to help keep the ball off the barrel of left handed hitters.

 

Good grief, lol. Giolito @ 6'6"/ Hansen @ 6'7" and then the possibility of adding Glasnow @ 6'8".

[Donaldo]

As good as Hansen is, just imagine how much more effective he would be if he learned to throw a cutter to help keep the ball off the barrel of left handed hitters.

 

Don Cooper will certainly take care of that before long.