2008 Player Predictions

[Cocos Disciples]

2 days away from Opening Day, thought I would start this up. Doesn't have to be exact numbers, just ballpark (no pun intended) estimates of how each Sox player will do. Here's mine:

 

Varitek: .260/.350/.420 12 HR, 60 RBI

Youkilis: .275/.380/.460 18 HR, 80 RBI

Pedroia: .300/.360/.430 10 HR, 65 RBI

Lugo: .270/.330/.380 5 HR, 50 RBI, 25 SB

Lowell: .290/.350/.440 15 HR, 85 RBI

Ramirez: .280/.380/.490 25 HR, 95 RBI

Ellsbury: .290/.350/.400 5 HR, 60 RBI, 35 SB

Drew: .280/.380/.450 20 HR, 80 RBI

Ortiz: .285/.410/.550 35 HR, 120 RBI

 

Beckett: 18-7, 3.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 180 K

Matsuzaka: 17-8, 3.80 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 175 K

Lester: 13-9, 4.40 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 120 K

Wakefield: 12-8, 4.70 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 110 K

Buchholz: 14-7, 4.00 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 150 K

[BSN07]

2 days away from Opening Day, thought I would start this up. Doesn't have to be exact numbers, just ballpark (no pun intended) estimates of how each Sox player will do. Here's mine:

 

Varitek: .260/.350/.420 12 HR, 60 RBI

Youkilis: .275/.380/.460 18 HR, 80 RBI

Pedroia: .300/.360/.430 10 HR, 65 RBI

Lugo: .270/.330/.380 5 HR, 50 RBI, 25 SB

Lowell: .290/.350/.440 15 HR, 85 RBI

Ramirez: .280/.380/.490 25 HR, 95 RBI

Ellsbury: .290/.350/.400 5 HR, 60 RBI, 35 SB

Drew: .280/.380/.450 20 HR, 80 RBI

Ortiz: .285/.410/.550 35 HR, 120 RBI

 

Beckett: 18-7, 3.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 180 K

Matsuzaka: 17-8, 3.80 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 175 K

Lester: 13-9, 4.40 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 120 K

Wakefield: 12-8, 4.70 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 110 K

Buchholz: 14-7, 4.00 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 150 K

 

 

 

 

 

Varitek: .260/.360/.410 15HR, 65 RBI

Youk: .280/.390/.460 19HR, 75 RBI

Pedroia: .295/.375/.450 9 HR 65 RBI

Lugo: .265/.340/.360 7 HR 55 RBI

Lowell: .285/.370/.400 17 HR 90 RBI

Manny: .305/.390/.490 33 HR 110 RBI

Ellsbury: .300/.350/.420 15 HR 60 RBI

Drew: .285/.380/.415 15 HR 80 RBI

Ortiz: .295/.420/.530 42 HR 130 RBI

 

Beckett: 19-5, 3.45 ERA, 1.15 whip, 180K

Matsuzaka: 17-7, 3.95 ERA, 1.30 whip, 170K

Lester: 15-10, 4.25 ERA, 1.40 whip, 140K

Wakefield: 14-12, 4.6 ERA 1.40 qhip, 120K

Buchholz: 12-7, 4.00 ERA, 1.20 whip, 130K

[ORS]

Do you guys really think about these numbers? Manny had an IsoP last year of about .200 with only 20 HR. Now he'll have a .185 with 33 HR? Ellsbury, with his speed, will only manage a .120 with 15 HRs? While Drew will get a .130 with the same amount of round trippers. Just think about it a sec, guys.

[Cocos Disciples]

Well, no, I'm not really thinking about it based on that.

[BSN07]

Ellsbury has more pop then people give him credit for. Manny in a contract yr is def do to have a bounce back year. Drew had a down yr so if he gets back up around his avg. then he will be close. Besides there only predicitions. I don't claim to be Nostrodomus.

[ORS]

I'm not questioning the numbers you pulled out of thin air. You have your reasons for them, and I'm not trying to argue that. What I question is how much thought you put into the non-counting stats. When Ellsbury and Drew hit for the same amount of OOTP power, it's a very safe bet that Ellsbury's IsoP will be higher due to his vastly superior speed. Manny's year will be what it will be, but when he hits 13 more HRs, I anticipate his IsoP will go up, not down. Do you not see the inconsistencies?

[SCM33]

Varitek: .255/.360 12HR, 65 RBI

Youk: .280/.400/ 19HR, 85 RBI

Pedroia: .270/.340/ 12 HR 60 RBI

Lugo: .270/.330/ 15 HR 60 RBI

Lowell: .280/.340/ 18 HR 85 RBI

Manny: .295/.390/ 30 HR 105 RBI

Ellsbury: .285/.350/ 10 HR 60 RBI

Drew: .285/.380/ 20 HR 85 RBI

Ortiz: .295/.400/ 35 HR 120 RBI

Team average of .280

OB% of .366

Team HR of 171 for starters

Team RBIS for starters: 725

 

 

Beckett: 21-5, 3.33 ERA, 1.15 whip, 200K, 30 starts

Matsuzaka: 18-8, 3.75 ERA, 1.25 whip, 200K, 32 starts

Lester: 12-8, 4.45 ERA, 1.35 whip, 130K, 26 starts

Wakefield: 14-12, 4.75 ERA 1.40 qhip, 125K, 29 starts

Buchholz: 13-8, 4.20 ERA, 1.30 whip, 140K, 25 starts

Colon: 4-3, 4.76 ERA, 1.40 whip, 65K 10 starts

Tavarez: 2-1, 4.80 ERA, 1.50 whip, 45K 6 starts

158 total starts, someone will plug in 4 more

84-45 record from starters

Last season we won 19 games in the bullpen, a bit high, ill say we win maybe 13 games in the pen for a total record of 97-65.

 

Varitek will continue to decline.

Youks power numbers continue to improve.

Pedroia on a decline, I think he tops out at about .290, I think he had his career year. Power inproves.

Lugo improves drastically to career norms.

Lowell a slight decline.

Manny returns to a little behind his averages.

Ellsbury puts up solid numbers.

Drew returns to career norms in second season.

Ortiz avg. comes down, power numbers stay around the same.

 

Beckett has another career year. Wins Cy young.

DiceK improves in second year with new throwing program.

Lester has pack average year, but solid nonetheless.

Wakefield typical around .500, mid to high 4 ERA.

Bucholz has a good rookie year, 13 wins will be nice.

Colon will get a look. With the uncertainty of Wake, Lester and Bucholz I think he can get 10 starts.

Tavarez is another plug in option, may be a reach to get 6 starts.

[Cocos Disciples]

I'm not questioning the numbers you pulled out of thin air. You have your reasons for them' date=' and I'm not trying to argue that. What I question is how much thought you put into the non-counting stats. When Ellsbury and Drew hit for the same amount of OOTP power, it's a very safe bet that Ellsbury's IsoP will be higher due to his vastly superior speed. Manny's year will be what it will be, but when he hits 13 more HRs, I anticipate his IsoP will go up, not down. Do you not see the inconsistencies?[/quote']

 

I'm not gonna lie, I basically did pull them out of thin air. I do see where you're coming from though, good points all around.

[rician blast]

Chin:

 

My hunch on Drew is 15 HRs...that's 3 more than I predicted for him last year. I'm hoping the soft-shell hyperbaric chamber will result in a few xtra dingers this year.

[Jayhawk Bill]

I'm not gonna lie' date=' I basically did pull them out of thin air. I do see where you're coming from though, good points all around.[/quote']

 

Not that it matters, cuz I'm still pretty much a newbie, but your stock just went up with that candid response.

 

When I grow up, I wanna be just like you. :thumbsup:

[sportsman885]

Chin:

 

My hunch on Drew is 15 HRs...that's 3 more than I predicted for him last year. I'm hoping the soft-shell hyperbaric chamber will result in a few xtra dingers this year.

 

I'm thinking Drew bounces back this year.

 

I can't say for sure what the reason for his power drop was last year, but it's interesting how his peripherals look almost exactly the same as in 2006, which would lead me to believe he just had a down year power-wise instead of him being in an overall decline.

[ksushi]

I'm not going to bother predicting the whole team because there is no way I'll be right. Here are a few guys I think will have either an up or down year.

 

Drew - If drew is on the field, I think he is going to have a big year with the bat. To the tune of: .285 25 115. With Pedroia, Youk, Ortiz and Manny in front of him I might even being willing to predict more RBI out of him.

 

Lester - People forget, hes actually younger than Buchholz. With a good deal of ML experience under his belt, and a healthy offseason I expect his first full year to be pretty big. 17 - 9 3.77 180K in 190 IP.

 

Dice-K - I think his control struggles last year were related in part to adjusting to throwing a bigger ball. I think if he made that adjustment, I wouldn't be surprised to see him struggle like he did today throwing the smaller ball. Just an observation. I still expect that Dice will be able to better maintain his stamina over the full 162. 19 - 10 3.45 212K in 200+ IP.

 

Manny - I think more than anything that agitated him about last year and is motivating him this year, the fact that he did not get the 500 mark that everyone considered a lock last year, will drive him this year more than anything. .320 37 120

[YAZMAN]

Prediction: Manny will hit at least three more balls that he watches at the plate and almost gets thrown out at second. If one of the throws is actually on the bag, he will have one of the longest singles in MLB history after he gets thrown out.

[ORS]

Prediction: Manny will hit at least three more balls that he watches at the plate and almost gets thrown out at second. If one of the throws is actually on the bag' date=' he will have one of the longest singles in MLB history after he gets thrown out.[/quote']

Follow up:

 

For each one, the following three things will happen. The Red-Headed Poodle with write an attack article about his character, the baseball talking heads on TV will be full of indignation for about 45 seconds until one of them ends the discussion with "Manny being Manny", Yankee fans will rock themselves to sleep content in the notion of their team's uber-classiness relative to the Sox. Wash, rinse, repeat.

[BSN07]

I'm not going to bother predicting the whole team because there is no way I'll be right. Here are a few guys I think will have either an up or down year.

 

Drew - If drew is on the field, I think he is going to have a big year with the bat. To the tune of: .285 25 115. With Pedroia, Youk, Ortiz and Manny in front of him I might even being willing to predict more RBI out of him.

 

Lester - People forget, hes actually younger than Buchholz. With a good deal of ML experience under his belt, and a healthy offseason I expect his first full year to be pretty big. 17 - 9 3.77 180K in 190 IP.

 

Dice-K - I think his control struggles last year were related in part to adjusting to throwing a bigger ball. I think if he made that adjustment, I wouldn't be surprised to see him struggle like he did today throwing the smaller ball. Just an observation. I still expect that Dice will be able to better maintain his stamina over the full 162. 19 - 10 3.45 212K in 200+ IP.

 

Manny - I think more than anything that agitated him about last year and is motivating him this year, the fact that he did not get the 500 mark that everyone considered a lock last year, will drive him this year more than anything. .320 37 120

 

Not to nit pick, but isn't Lester 24 and Buchholz 23?

[SCM33]

Lester - People forget, hes actually younger than Buchholz. With a good deal of ML experience under his belt, and a healthy offseason I expect his first full year to be pretty big. 17 - 9 3.77 180K in 190 IP.

 

When I look at Lester, I think of a poor mans Andy Pettite, much like Trot was a poor mans Paul O'Neil (although Oneil was the better player by a very wide margain, and besides intensity I never saw the comparison).

 

That being said, Pettite himself has only put up those types of numbers 2.....maybe three times in his whole career (he was also 23 when he came up). Even in his prime, I see maybe 15-10 record with a low 4 ERA. Throws way too many pitches thus far, and walks way too many batters to have consistent success.

 

Pettite has been one of the best LH's in baseball for over 10 years. If nothing else, hes one of the more consistent, you know exactly what you will get, and there are not many other big game pitchers like him.

Pettites average season is 17-9 3.83

I predicted 12-8, 4.45 ERA, 1.35 whip, 130K, 26 starts.

I think his career averages will be about 14-15 wins, 4.50 ERA.

[ksushi]

I see where you're coming from, and thus far, what we've seen at the major leagues indicates just that. A borderline pitcher with decent to good stuff who is young and has room to improve into a more or less league average pitcher. The facet of his game most likely to be improved upon with time is his pitch count and WHIP, which will let him get deeper into games, logging more innings collecting more wins. He allows far too many baserunners because of his intense nibbling. From what we've seen with the big club thats more or less his story.

 

I've been a big Lester fan since 2003 when he was with augusta. I saw him pitch in '05 in portland two times and again at pawtucket multiple times in 06. I've seen video of more than a few starts at portland when he was eastern league pitcher of the year. The quality of his stuff was not vastly different, but his approach has been. He's always had good stuff at the major league level, just bad results because of a tendency to try to pitch way around guys. At this stage in his career it looks to me like he has Billy Beane syndrome. Dominant in the minor leagues, taking a bulldog approach and attacking hitters from 0-0 and on down into every count. Throwing strikes, being aggressive. Since he has been under the lights in the majors, that hasn't been the story. He looks tentative. Trying to aim the ball to the black, or off of it, afraid of getting punished. When you do that, you run yourself into trouble, someone with lesters quality stuff needs to be putting the ball inside the black - toward the plate. He has the stuff to get away with getting a little too much of it.

 

Location is partly repeating your delivery, and partly mentality and confidence. When you aim, do you aim to your spot and toward the plate, or off of your spot away to not get hit? When you have Jon Lester caliber stuff, you can afford to miss spots here and there, its just where you miss them. Missed spot for an obvious ball and an easy take, or missed spot for strike that makes the batter have to swing?

 

Its like when a hitter struts out with a great BP swing, but can't take that stroke into the games and changes his approach at the plate. Lester changes his approach on the mound and he pays for it. He loads up the bases once every four innings, and when you put yourself in those situations, you're gonna pay for it no matter how good you are. He's been a wizard in escaping these jams though, because when the pressure is on to put the ball over the plate, he does and his stuff does the rest. When he masters that consistent bulldog approach up in the bigs, he will begin to come into his own. I think this will be the year he settles down long enough to do just that. After a shaky April and maybe may, I think we'll start to get some big performances out of him and people will start to see what he can do when hes attacking hitters. I think it will happen, it might not, time will tell.

[SCM33]

I see where you're coming from, and thus far, what we've seen at the major leagues indicates just that. A borderline pitcher with decent to good stuff who is young and has room to improve into a more or less league average pitcher. The facet of his game most likely to be improved upon with time is his pitch count and WHIP, which will let him get deeper into games, logging more innings collecting more wins. He allows far too many baserunners because of his intense nibbling. From what we've seen with the big club thats more or less his story.

 

I've been a big Lester fan since 2003 when he was with augusta. I saw him pitch in '05 in portland two times and again at pawtucket multiple times in 06. I've seen video of more than a few starts at portland when he was eastern league pitcher of the year. The quality of his stuff was not vastly different, but his approach has been. He's always had good stuff at the major league level, just bad results because of a tendency to try to pitch way around guys. At this stage in his career it looks to me like he has Billy Beane syndrome. Dominant in the minor leagues, taking a bulldog approach and attacking hitters from 0-0 and on down into every count. Throwing strikes, being aggressive. Since he has been under the lights in the majors, that hasn't been the story. He looks tentative. Trying to aim the ball to the black, or off of it, afraid of getting punished. When you do that, you run yourself into trouble, someone with lesters quality stuff needs to be putting the ball inside the black - toward the plate. He has the stuff to get away with getting a little too much of it.

 

Location is partly repeating your delivery, and partly mentality and confidence. When you aim, do you aim to your spot and toward the plate, or off of your spot away to not get hit? When you have Jon Lester caliber stuff, you can afford to miss spots here and there, its just where you miss them. Missed spot for an obvious ball and an easy take, or missed spot for strike that makes the batter have to swing?

 

Its like when a hitter struts out with a great BP swing, but can't take that stroke into the games and changes his approach at the plate. Lester changes his approach on the mound and he pays for it. He loads up the bases once every four innings, and when you put yourself in those situations, you're gonna pay for it no matter how good you are. He's been a wizard in escaping these jams though, because when the pressure is on to put the ball over the plate, he does and his stuff does the rest. When he masters that consistent bulldog approach up in the bigs, he will begin to come into his own. I think this will be the year he settles down long enough to do just that. After a shaky April and maybe may, I think we'll start to get some big performances out of him and people will start to see what he can do when hes attacking hitters. I think it will happen, it might not, time will tell.

 

I agree, alot of what you described is actually DiceK as well, however, DiceK can get away because he has A+ stuff.

 

You said Lester has average to a little above average, I disagree with that.....he has very very good stuff, but throwing strikes is a problem. If he can ever learn how to harness his stuff, he has the chance to be very good. Whenever I am watching Lester, or DiceK, or Lowe, or Clement....its so frustrating, just throw strikes!!!!!Trust your stuff!!!!

 

Clement had some of the best movement I ever saw, but he could never harness it. Nobody made the ball move like him but Maddux.

 

Lester does have the chance to be a very good pitcher, but until then, he will continue to leave games in the 5th ad 6th innings due to pitch counts.

[ksushi]

 

You said Lester has average to a little above average, I disagree with that.....he has very very good stuff, but throwing strikes is a problem. If he can ever learn how to harness his stuff, he has the chance to be very good. Whenever I am watching Lester, or DiceK, or Lowe, or Clement....its so frustrating, just throw strikes!!!!!Trust your stuff!!!!

 

Decent to good stuff. The cutter is decent, the fastball is solid, the curve is very very good. I don't think its a matter of harnessing the stuff so much as trusting it. Trusting your stuff is the key. Not neccesarily trusting your stuff to get you strike outs, but trusting that if you are hit, and you do knick a little too much of the plate, that the 7 guys behind you will be able to help you out and you won't get hit hard. Generally, Lester rarely gets hit hard. He does most of his damage to himself. Like this morning, walking kurt suzuki on four or five pitches with two outs and not giving him a chance to end the inning is what hurt him in the 2nd. The next batter loops one into right center and a run scores. Maybe if he sees some closer pitches, kurt suzuki pounds one into the ground and inning over.

[BudLight]

I think the jury is still out on DiceK and his transition to American professional baseball. There are great differences between pitching philosophies in Japan and those in America. In Japan pitchers have no problem working the count full when starting out ahead in the count. They are less likely to serve up heat down the middle with less than a full count. They tend to get ahead in the count and throw off-speed stuff trying to get a hitter to chase. As a result their pitch counts (which do not appear to be important in Japan) tend to be higher. They also get 5 days rest, pitching every 6th day in Japan. That one extra day of rest can make a big difference. They tailor their off-days throwing regiments to fit that rest schedule. In Japan the umps tend to give the high strike more so than the low strike. As a pitcher tires he tends to leave the ball up in the zone. In Japan that can lead to a lot of high fastball strikeouts, in the U.S. that can lead to a lot of 450 foot homers. The class of hitters here in the U.S. is much better than that in Japan.

 

In the U.S. pitchers have more of a tendency to attack hitters early in the count and put them away with hard stuff earlier in the count. Dice-K and Varitek are still getting to know each others tendencies and I believe they will be a better combination this year (another reason that Tek, regardless of how he is hitting will stay the front-line catcher for Boston). The best scenario for Dice-K would be to have an extra days rest between starts with a 6 man rotation in Boston. With the injuries to Schilling, and Beckett's current back issues that does not appear to be an option right now. If Dice-K has to go every 5th day, he may tire again towards the end of the season. A tired Dice-K in Japan is still better than most starting pitchers there who are rested and fresh. In other words, he could get away with weaker stuff late in a game in Japan that will get mashed here in the U.S.

[jacksonianmarch]

I dunno BudLight. He started last yr on fire, attacking the zone and being very accurate. But he finished the yr afraid of the zone it seemed. I dont think it was much in the way he attacked the hitters. I think it was the patience and the quality that kinda set him back a bit.

[BudLight]

I dunno BudLight. He started last yr on fire' date=' attacking the zone and being very accurate. But he finished the yr afraid of the zone it seemed. I dont think it was much in the way he attacked the hitters. I think it was the patience and the quality that kinda set him back a bit.[/quote']

 

 

Me thinks, he thinks to much instead of just attacking the zone. Again, trying to finesse the batter instead of just attacking with his stuff.

[Jayhawk Bill]

I dunno BudLight. He started last yr on fire' date=' attacking the zone and being very accurate. But he finished the yr afraid of the zone it seemed. I dont think it was much in the way he attacked the hitters. I think it was the patience and the quality that kinda set him back a bit.[/quote']

 

Dunno, jm. My perception, largely supported by Pitchf/x when available, was that umpires were screwing Matsuzaka. He lived on the corners in Japan--he tries to live on the corners in MLB--but that's impossible when the opposition batters are getting the benefit of 4-6 inches on the outside corner that Red Sox batters aren't getting.

 

As a contributing factor, Matsuzaka led MLB in pitcher abuse last year--he probably didn't have his best stuff left by late summertime.

 

There's no Pitchf/x in the Tokyo Dome. Let's see how things look back in North America.

[ksushi]

Matsuzaka led MLB in pitcher abuse last year--he probably didn't have his best stuff left by late summertime.

 

Pitcher abuse? What is this, sir?

[ORS]

http://baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?mode=viewstat&stat=123

[ManRam24]

just thought id share my predictions:

 

Varitek: .266/.352/.419 14 HR, 63 RBI

Youkilis: .293/.394/.464 17 HR, 84 RBI

Pedroia: .302/.381/.430 7 HR, 62 RBI

Lugo: .269/.333/.380 8 HR, 64 RBI, 23 SB

Lowell: .286/.370/.454 21 HR, 96 RBI

Ramirez: .295/.386/.501 33 HR, 111 RBI

Ellsbury: .283/.357/.412 14 HR, 68 RBI, 31 SB

Drew: .281/.380/.450 23 HR, 85 RBI

Ortiz: .296/.413/.558 39 HR, 136 RBI

 

Beckett: 18-6, 3.33 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 193 K

Matsuzaka: 17-9, 4.04 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 174 K

Lester: 13-7, 4.55 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 97 K

Wakefield: 14-8, 4.66 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 108 K

Buchholz: 14-5, 4.01 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 167 K

 

Aardsma 4.54

Corey 4.40

Delcarmen 2.94

Lopez 3.12

Okajima 2.26

Snyder 4.34

Tavarez 4.70

 

team ERA: 3.90

team average: .285

[ManRam24]

just thought id share my predictions:

 

Varitek: .266/.352/.419 14 HR, 63 RBI

Youkilis: .293/.394/.464 17 HR, 84 RBI

Pedroia: .302/.381/.430 7 HR, 62 RBI

Lugo: .269/.333/.380 8 HR, 64 RBI, 23 SB

Lowell: .286/.370/.454 21 HR, 96 RBI

Ramirez: .295/.386/.501 33 HR, 111 RBI

Ellsbury: .283/.357/.412 14 HR, 68 RBI, 31 SB

Drew: .281/.380/.450 23 HR, 85 RBI

Ortiz: .296/.413/.558 39 HR, 136 RBI

 

Beckett: 18-6, 3.33 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 193 K

Matsuzaka: 17-9, 4.04 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 174 K

Lester: 13-7, 4.55 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 97 K

Wakefield: 14-8, 4.66 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 108 K

Buchholz: 14-5, 4.01 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 167 K

 

Aardsma 4.54

Corey 4.40

Delcarmen 2.94

Lopez 3.12

Okajima 2.26

Snyder 4.34

Tavarez 4.70

 

team ERA: 3.90

team average: .285

[ANiMAL]

I'll make a ballsy prediction and say that Craig Hansen resurrects his career this year and will pitch for the Red Sox later this year and put up some decent numbers. Sleeping problems could have plagued Hansen in the past, but now he can become a different pitcher.

[SCM33]

I'll make a ballsy prediction and say that Craig Hansen resurrects his career this year and will pitch for the Red Sox later this year and put up some decent numbers. Sleeping problems could have plagued Hansen in the past' date=' but now he can become a different pitcher.[/quote']

 

I say Craig Hansen never has sucess in a Sox uniform again, and I dont see him throwing in more than 50 big league games for the the rest his redsox career. Hes toast here.

 

Some of the people who have been around here when I started some 3 years ago already know this.........Ive hated Hansen from day one, so im biased I guess. Nothing that guy does impresses me. His stuff sucks, he cant throw strikes. All hes got is a fastball.......and almost every pitcher has at least that (sorry Wake). Dont argue his slider either.....Ive seen it here, and at Mccoy.....and it sucks. Sucks sucks sucks....go to hell Hansen you overpriced, overrated mopup AA pitcher.

 

In addition, I was way off with my Lugo predictions, god he sucks.....I was really hoping for a turnaround, but he looks exactly the same, if not worse.

[ORS]

I'm about | | (distance between fingers) close to agreeing with you SCM33. Hansen has been a huge disappointment thus far, but I'm not all the way ready to write him completely off. He gets one more shot with the big club from me. Provided he can maintain his good start to this year, he should earn it within a month or so as other options in the current 'pen continue to struggle and/or someone gets hurt.

 

When/if he gets that shot, he needs to set them down right quick or I think he's done for good. He appears to be especially sensitive to the biggest stage (MDC too). No swagger. Another failure and I think he's wrecked between the ears.