The Pirates put Starling Marte on the paternity leave list this afternoon and called up Alen Hanson to fill his roster spot. Hanson has spent the last week or so starting in left field for Indianapolis, and obviously both Marte and the Pirates knew that this situation was approaching, so my presumption is that they’ve called Hanson up to give him a chance to play a little. The Braves are starting three righties against the Pirates, so Matt Joyce could in theory play every day, but even in that case there should be ample opportunity to get Hanson at-bats through pinch-hitting, double switches, or even leaving Joyce on the bench to keep a viable late-game pinch-hitting option.
This is an exceptionally well-timed event for the Pirates, as the Braves are really terrible this year (they are almost as terrible as the Cubs are good), and it really behooves them to get Hanson some Major League at-bats this year as they’re likely going to be faced with a decision about his future this summer. Hanson came through the early minors with Gregory Polanco and actually had his breakout a year earlier. In the summer of 2012, he hit .309/.381/.528 with 33 doubles, 13 triples, and 16 homers in 124 games as a 19-year old in West Virginia and was the player to watch in Bradenton in 2013 before Polanco exploded onto the scene. He never quite matched that level of performance again, though, putting up similar .281/.339/.444 and .280/.326/.442 lines in Bradenton and Altoona in back to back years in 2013 and 2014 before foundering a bit in Triple-A, hitting .268/.313/.390 there across 2015 and 2016. He’s fast enough with enough pop (at least in terms of gap power) in his bat to remain interesting, but he fell off of most prospect lists after 2014 and his stock has been further diminished by his move off of shortstop last year after years of questions about his ability to stay at short.
Because the Pirates put him on the 40-man roster in 2014, though, this is his final option year. Given his toolset, I’d have to imagine someone else would be willing to give him a home if he hits the waiver wire next spring. That means that the Pirates are currently in the process of deciding if Hanson is a future utility player in the Rodriguez mold, if he’s Josh Harrison’s ultimate successor at second base, or if he’s trade bait at the deadline this year. Calling him up now both lets them get a closer look at him, and possibly showcases him a bit for other teams.
The Pirates obviously can’t force-feed him playing time given their current situation, but it makes sense to try and get him on the field in this situation to try and facilitate some decision-making further down the line.
Anyway, Jon Niese starts tonight. If he can’t get Braves out, I don’t know who he can get out. The Braves are hitting .228/.292/.294 as a team and have only scored 109 runs in 36 games. They are a very bad baseball team, and the Pirates are a good team in search of some wins after playing the Cubs six times in an 11-game stretch. Williams Perez starts for the Braves. I don’t know much about him, but he’s got 10 strikeouts and eight walks in 20 1/3 innings this year. That’s the sort of pitching the Pirates should be able to do something with. First pitch is at 7:05.
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