Can we ignore wins and losses now? Hanson pitched very well in 2010, putting up a 3.33 ERA (though he allowed 11 unearned runs, for a 3.82 run average, after allowing just one unearned run in 2009) but finished 10-11 due to preposterously low run support in the second half. After the break, his ERA was 2.51… and he went 2-6. He actually pitched better than that 2.51 ERA; his slash line allowed was .205/.256/.311, but he wasn’t getting a lot of defensive help either, and the hits tended to bunch.
It seemed, also, that (particularly in the first half of the season) Hanson was having trouble finishing off batters, getting ahead of them but not able to get them with his fastball, and unable to throw his curve for strikes. Hanson finished tenth in the league in strikeout/walk ratio, but still had periodic bouts of wildness, and led the league with 14 hit batsmen. It was a fine year, but was this close to something special.
Not a good hitter, rare on this staff, hitting .097 last year and .081 for his career, with no extra-base hits, in 119 PA now.
I’ll look up whether the finishing off argument is correct and let you know. Hanson pitched very well last season, just as he had the season previous and just as he will in the upcoming season barring injuries. The foreseeable problem is the defense still being very bad, which will hurt him and the rest of the starters’ numbers.
I am a big Tommy Hanson fan, but I am afraid that he may need to go through what JJ went through last year.
kc, I agree injury-wise. His delivery looks injury-prone, though I read somewhere that people who apparently know much more about this than I do think his delivery is just fine.
Adding to Mac’s analysis, it should be mentioned that Hanson can’t hold runners (though I don’t care much, since Maddux couldn’t either). Still, he is the best pitcher on our staff (no offense to Huddy, it’s close).
I decided recently to disregard expert analysis of whether or not a pitcher is injury prone due to his delivery. Guys that throw a ball overhand as hard as they can one hundred times every fifth day are going to develop elbow and shoulder problems. I realize that some are likelier injury candidates than others, but I think it’s safe to say that arm problems are a legitimate, yet unavoidable issue for all pitcher.
I’m not a pitching mechanics expert and I guess that one shouldn’t change a good thing, but on the contrary, Tommy’s delivery is very long and his grips seem quite exposed. Does Roger try to alter his delivery or does he just let it be?
I think he needs to work on a good strikeout pitch more than he needs to work on his delievery.
I alos think hold runners would help him out too. I know Maddux let a lot of guys run, but there usually weren’t a lot of guys on base. Until Tommy has Maddux like control, the base runners are going to be an issue.
Hanson sucks, trade him now Wren! He doesn’t know how to win by getting his team to play good defense. I know this because of listening to Joe Morgan.
He just doesn’t know how to pitch to the score.
The comment at 6 is really funny.
That said, he does bring up a good point. How is this team going to catch the ball? We moved Prado to LF and brought in Uggla to play 2b, and to put it nicely, his reputation as a defender is not stellar. The defense scares me.
The lineup lacks some athletism, but has some pop and some good eyes. The only thing I am afraid of is the braves are going to have to string 3 and 4 hits/walks an inning to score, and that could get frustrating at times playing it base to base so much.
Prado, AAG, McLouth and Heyward all have decent speed. If they are on base, they can score pretty easy.
Smitty, that’s a pretty big if with a couple of those guys.
That is true. I wish we had some more speed guys. I think MLB went from over ratting speed to under ratting speed. I think the Braves would be at near the top of that list. We went from having speed guys like Nixon, Sanders, Gant, Kelly, Furcal to what we have now. Hell, there was even a time with Chipper was 20-25 SB threat.
I think we need to find some middle ground on fast guys.
Are HBPs bad for a pitcher. Pitching inside works. Any Sabre stats on HBP?
Getting rid of Glaus and donut guy in center may help speed.
@12,
I see what you are saying, and I agree, it may not be a terrible thing.
@13
Glaus was slow, but he was a great base runner. His season was really over when he scored from first on a play right before the all star break.
as for UNC people getting “bent”, Nick, I contend that your inferiority complex (in all things athletic AND athletic) is astounding.
This is a sentence chock-full of fail, and I love every word of it. chrisbeingchris.
It seemed like when the Braves scored runs, Hanson had a bad game and when he pitched well the Braves couldn’t score. I’m too lazy to do the stats, but I would bet if you took out 3 or 4 of his starts, his ERA would have been in the mid 2s. Hopefully things will work the other way for Tommy this year.
@15 – Do you think we should tell him I’m not a South Carolina fan, or would that be too much for him?
Also, not to restart the whole thing from last year, but Hudson was the best pitcher on the team, not Hanson. Hanson is obviously destined for that moniker sooner rather than later, and if this is the year that it happens, we will be in excellent shape in the pitching department.
@15
UNC fans: Giving North Carolinians a bad name since 1795.
My feelings about Hanson may be tainted by the fact that I bought tickets to watch his, well, petulant is the word that comes to mind, performance against the Tigers.
He got squeezed on a call or two and then just layed them down the middle until Bobby pulled him.
Just seems to not have the killer instinct. Yet. Hoping for great things as he matures.
I’ve always thought that the Hudson / Hanson compare / contrast was instructive. If Hudson had Hanson’s physical gifts, he’d be the best pitcher in Braves history. (Not named Maddux.)
@19,
I think he is just missing a killer out pitch. He really needs to work on his curve, which at times, is worse than mine.
I think we also have to remember that he’s only been in the majors for a year-and-a-half. His improvement toward the end of the year is a good sign that he was starting to figure it out, I think.
Td, in 29 of Hanson’s 34 starts, he gave up 4 runs or fewer. In 25 of his 34 starts, he gave up 3 or fewer. 19 Quality Starts overall.
If the worst problem the Braves have is Tommy Hanson, I think they will be in pretty good shape.
@15
I’m glad you brought that back up. That post is hilarious. I mean, how hard is it to get the wording and grammar right when you’re calling someone stupid and uneducated? This, to me, would have to be a prerequisite.
Sadly, the worst problem the Braves have is not Tommy Hanson.
Fangraphs – what lies ahead for the Braves
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/a-look-ahead-the-braves-and-free-agency/
It should be a felony to have your headphones turned up so loud that I can hear the words to your music while you’re in the ****ing library.
Or it should be a case where vigilante justice is allowed, because I really want to throw this guy out of a window right now.
#19
I attended that game, too. We were going for the sweep, but it was Hanson/Verlander—and it was blazing hot, brutally humid.
Hanson gave up about 19 straight singles in the 4th inning. A pal & I ended up watching the rest of the debacle on TV inside the air-conditioned casino level.
Hanson has his moments, but he sure was good down the stretch last year. He’s a big asset, glad to have him.
Re: Misery in Metland
This isn’t the first time the Mets owners have been connected with a fraudulent financial scheme.
http://tinyurl.com/4f4tumw
Ububba, I missed that story, thanks so much for linking. God, I am so happy that the Wilpons own that team. They manage to link shadiness with incompetence in a way that’s a sheer joy to root against.
It appears that Rob Neyer is leaving ESPN. Actually, his post wasn’t that clear.
Good for ESPN.
Personally, I was disappointed when Neyer’s stuff went behind the Insider wall, and since it resurfaced it hasn’t been the same. I’ll be interested to see what he does next. Here’s a link to Calcaterra’s post about it.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/31/rob-neyer-says-goodbye-to-espn/
As someone who posted on the initial comment thread of ESPN’s Rob Neyer Message Board back in ’99 (about Otis’s catch IIRC), this news tugs at me a tiny bit. There was a good little stathead community there for a couple of years, many of whom moved over to BBTN after the board format changed. Yours truly cast about in the wilderness for a year or so before landing here.
I’ll cry briefly, then get on with the day.
Like many of us, I basically learned about sabermetrics from Rob Neyer. He was the first person who taught me about advanced baseball analysis. Then, like many of us, I got increasingly disappointed in his blog as he seemed to abandon intelligent analysis and instead just tossed off half-baked assertions while linking to Craig Calcaterra and The Common Man (and, occasionally, me). I think it’s time for him to move on. I wish him all the best, and I hope that whatever he does next, he’ll have an opportunity to be intelligent again.
I can’t believe this player summary didn’t mention that Hanson is a cyborg.
I seem to recall mentioning last year that it looked to me like Tommy was “showing” the ball in his hand way early in his delivery instead of hiding the ball behind his body/head. I looked at footage from the previous year and it seemed to be a new thing that had crept in last year. Later in the season it looked like he finally went back to hiding the ball better. And then one night when watching the game on TV one of the announcers (I think Joe Simpson) mentioned that Roger had been working with Hanson to hide the ball better in his delivery. In my opinion that had something to do with his better numbers in the second half and I hope Roger continues to keep an eye on that part of Tommy’s delivery.
@35, Ditto.
Braves just signed Rodrigo Lopez to a minor league deal
I just threw up in my mouth.
Vanderbilt football recruiting is on fire. By Vanderbilt football standards.
Some of the Braves (Chipper, Moylan, etc.) went to the Delta terminal at Hartsfield today to welcome passengers aboard their flights.
Here’s a video of Chipper sending folks to LGA.
http://tinyurl.com/4vea7mg
Pretty cool send-off & it seems like he accomplished the task without hurting himself.
I don’t think there is any serious harm in signing Lopez–but thinking about him pitching at AAA does make me come back to the question: did the Braves really have to leave Scott Diamond unprotected?
I guess Wags is going to stay on our roster for a long time….
Neyer had a post a little while back saying he didn’t really care about the Royals anymore after all these years of ineptness. I guess it’s had an effect on his blogging also.
I echo the thoughts on Rob Neyer. At his best he is informative, knowledgeable and funny. I was truly bummed when ESPN wanted folks to pay to read his work. I hope that wherever he lands he gets back to what made him so good in the beginning.
@ 43- i think i read that Wags finally filed his retirement papers a week or 2 ago, so he shouldnt be on the roster anymore.
John Sickels is doing an All Questions Answered thread over at his site.
I see you got yours in already – I like your humble handle.
AAR, with class.
That’s me.
Rob Neyer joined SB Nation? Interesting.
Neyer made the right move. Have you guys read those comments on his articles he got on the ESPN page? It’s time for a change and more of a niche market.
New post.