Prospect Watch: Tommy Hanson

SCOTTSDALE-The Arizona Fall League came to a close today as Mesa Solar Sox faced the Phoenix Desert Dogs, with the Desert Dogs prevailing 10-4. 6 of the 9 starters for Mesa were prospects from either the Tigers or Braves organization, with Matt Young and Van Pope representing the Braves in the field. Starting and catching today were two of the organization's most heralded prospects--slugging catcher Tyler Flowers and Tommy Hanson, who has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the minors this year.


Hanson has logged 28 2/3 innings coming into the championship game today and lead the AFL in wins (5), ERA (0.63), and K's (49). Today's loss to Phoenix had nothing to do with Hanson's performance, as he wrapped up his surreal AFL season by going 5 innings while yielding only 1 BB, 3 hits, and 1 ER, while striking out 8. Hanson surrendered only one extra base hit, a triple high off the CF wall in his last inning of work. Hanson used his fastball, which generally sits between 92 and 95 MPH, to blow away hitter after hitter and made liberal use of a hammer curve, using it on three consecutive pitches to strike out Michael McKenry in the fourth.

Hanson's dominance in the AFL builds upon a minor league season in which he went 11-5 in 25 starts split between Class A Myrtle Beach and AA Mississippi, while posting a solid 163 K's and 2.41 ERA in 138 innings.

Tommy Hanson's numbers for the year:

TM	LG	G	GS	W	L	ERA	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	AVG
MB	CAR	7	7	3	1	0.90	0	0	40.0	15	6	4	0	11	49	.116
MIS	SOU	18	18	8	4	3.03	1	1	138.0	85	45	37	9	52	163	.175
MSS	AFL	8	8	5	0	0.80	0	0	33.7	13	3	3	1	8	57	.115
TOT	N/A	33	33	16	5	1.87	1	1	211.7	113	54	44	10	71	269	.168

Given his utter dominance on the mound this season, Tommy Hanson should be vying for a rotation spot in spring training. Given the current situation with the rotation, he should slide nicely into the 4 or 5 spot depending on what Frank Wren decides to do over the offseason. He has outstanding stuff, advanced control for his age, and a knowledge of pitching beyond his years. He has very little left to work on at the minor league level, other than the cultivation of his less-than-stellar mustache.