The stars may be aligning for Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Alen Hanson to join the major league club next year.
Alen Hanson strolled onto the player’s Q&A stage at the 2015 Piratefest with a smile befitting his 23 years of age.
His body language rested comfortably somewhere between “happy to be here” and “I’m ready to be here.”
Which is probably exactly where the Pittsburgh Pirates want him.
After trading Neil Walker away, the team has serious questions in its infield. Presumably, Josh Harrison will man second. This, of course, assumes that Jung Ho Kang will be ready as the third baseman by the beginning of the season as he works his way back from an injury that ended his 2015 season.
What if Kang isn’t ready? If Kang can’t go by the season opener on April 3 against the Cardinals, fans may finally see what Alen Hanson can do at the big league level.
Surely he fits the bill. Hanson plays all infield positions save for first base but spends the vast bulk of his time at second. He has dazzling speed, with 35 stolen bases in 47 attempts at Triple-A Indianapolis in 2015. While his bat is not his best tool, it has kept pitchers honest.
Here are Hanson’s full stats over the past two years:
| Year | Age | Lev | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 21 | AA | 118 | 527 | 482 | 64 | 135 | 21 | 12 | 11 | 58 | 25 | 11 | 31 | 88 | .280 | .326 | .442 | .768 |
| 2015 | 22 | AAA | 117 | 529 | 475 | 66 | 125 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 43 | 35 | 12 | 37 | 91 | .263 | .313 | .387 | .701 |
| Minors (6 seasons) | Minors | 609 | 2695 | 2402 | 384 | 682 | 121 | 64 | 45 | 284 | 169 | 72 | 208 | 453 | .284 | .343 | .444 | .787 | |
Hanson’s performance will far from force General Manager Neal Huntington’s hand, just as it didn’t last year. Hanson was not among those reinforcements called up last September. Huntington has said previously that he prefers a position player to receive 500 plate appearances at the Triple-A level before even considering calling him up.
Hanson spent all of 2015 at Indianapolis, and reached that plateau.
Now, with a perfect storm of opportunity created by injury, Hanson may get a cup of coffee with the Pittsburgh Pirates, perhaps even straight out of spring training. He’s not going to take anyone’s job, but he is on the precipice of finding out if he can truly play in the major leagues.
Maybe that is why he can’t help but smile.
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