Devern Hansack

From SoSH

Contents 1 The Age Dispute 2 Scouting Report 3 Overall Career 4 Moment in the Sun 5 About Hanasack 6 External Links

The Age Dispute

Sox prospects has him as 29. The Portland Press-Herald has him as 26. The Baseball Cube has him as just turning 24. The Boston Red Sox has his birthdate as February 5, 1978.

Scouting Report

scouting report, from soxprospects.com:

"Scouting Report: Decent strikeout pitcher who did not play pro ball in 2004-05. Showed some nice flashes in Winter League 05-06. There is some dispute as to Hansack's birthday, as some publications have it listed as August 5, 1982."

from the baseball cube http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/H/d...n-hansack.shtml

Overall Career

• Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Houston Astros in 1999.
• 2002: Tri-city, class A, NY-PL: 3-4, 3.60, 50 IP, 44 H, 6 HR, 17 BB, 37 K, 1.22
• 2003: Lexington, class A, SAL: 10-6, 4.52, 91.2 IP, 100 H, 10 HR, 32 BB, 76 K, 1.44
• 2004-05: Did Not Pitch in Professional Baseball.
• March 29, 2004: Hanasack was released by the Astros.
• Played Winter Ball in 2005 in Nicaragua, leading the league in strikeouts with 89.

• 2006, with AA Portland: 8-7, 3.26, 132.1 IP, 122 H, 14 HR, 124 K, 36 BB

Moment in the Sun

In his second career appearance in the major leagues, Hansack pitched a five-inning no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on October 1, 2006. The game was called while Hansack was warming up for the top of the 6th inning with the Red Sox leading, 9-0. Hansack is the one of two Red Sox pitchers to pitch a complete game no-hitter in less than 9 innings (Matt Young is the other).

About Hanasack

From Maine Today: http://sports.mainetoday.com/seadogs/thomas/060827dogs.shtml

"Hansack, 26, once pitched for the Houston Astros' organization but was released in 2003. Without another team showing interest, he returned to the small town of Pearl Lagoon in southeast Nicaragua. He seemed destined to remain, pitching in the country's growing professional league... The Astros signed Hansack in 1999. He played two years in the Venezuelan Summer League, then played two seasons of Class A ball. Despite going 10-6 for Lexington in 2003, Houston gave up on him.

"I didn't expect that they would release me," Hansack said. "I didn't have an agent so I went home to play in Nicaragua."

That might have ended his chance to play in the majors.

"Where I live so far (away), maybe no one comes around to see me," he said.

But Hansack played for the Nicaraguan national team in a tournament in Holland. There a Boston scout saw him, and Hansack signed last December. He arrived in Fort Myers, Fla., three months later.

"I didn't know anything about him," Claus said, "except that he had a good arm."

Hansack came to Portland in April and didn't complain about the weather.

"I was excited to hook up with a professional team," he said. "It was cold but I could handle it."

Claus soon learned to appreciate Hansack, especially as the pitching staff went through so many changes, with five starters promoted.

"He's given us a lot of innings and he's filled a lot of roles for us," Claus said. "It seems that every time he pitches, he keeps us in the ballgame."

(stats as of 8/27/06:) Hansack (6-7) has pitched in 29 games, 17 as a starter. He leads the team in innings (122) and strikeouts (112). Among starters he has the lowest ERA (3.53) and his seven quality starts is the best.

When he mixes his fastball and slider with his change-up and curve, he's dominant in Double-A, like when he shut out Binghamton for seven innings Tuesday night.

"He has some things to learn but I think he has major-league stuff," Claus said.

At 26, with only one season in Double-A, could he really make the majors?

Guys surface in the big leagues sometimes in their late 20's and early 30's," Claus said. "Guys who never got a chance before."

Hansack turned it on at the end of the 2006 season: he won the first and last Games of the Eastern League finals, retiring 21 of the 25 batters he faced in Game 1 and going 8 strong innings to clinch the championship in Game 5.

From the sea dogs site, after Game 1: "Hansack was brilliant in his second career post-season start, retiring 21 of the 25 batters he has faced, pitching around a leadoff double by Brian Barton in the second inning and a two-out double by Trevor Crowe in the third frame. Hansack fanned five and allowed only one runner past second base and two runners into scoring position in his seven innings of work."

from minorleaguebaseball.com: "With the solid outing, the right-hander from Nicaragua has not allowed a run in four of his last five outings."Hansack got ahead, pounded the zone with his fastball and kept them off balance," Portland manager Todd Claus said. "He was tremendous tonight. He probably had more in the tank, but he hasn't pitched into the eighth inning all season, and we may need him if we go to a Game 5.

In his previous playoff start, Hansack took a tough loss to Yankees uber-prospect Phillip Hughes: "The winning rally against starter Devern Hansack (0-1) began when No. 9 hitter J.T. Stotts drew a leadoff walk in the seventh. Stotts was erased on a fielder's choice by Brett Gardner, and Hansack was relieved by Barry Hertzler, who promptly walked Gabe Lopez.

Ruiz hit a hard bounding single up the middle to break the deadlock, and Matsui lined a single to right field to make it 3-1.

"We had faced this kid before," Trenton manager Bill Masse said. "He's tough on left-handers. I was saying this ain't no walk in the park for anybody. Hideki found that our real quick. Hansack was throwing him changeups and breaking balls. That's what you have to have to get your timing on, offspeed stuff and breaking balls. If guys throw him 95 mph fastballs, he's going to hit it."

The other run he allowed was cheap:

"The Thunder were able to answer against Hansack in the bottom of the fifth. The right-hander retired the first two batters before Gardner beat out a single when first baseman Luis Jimenez was a bit slow to field the ball. Gardner stole second and, after Lopez walked, Ruiz bounced a single up the middle.

When Hansack fell behind Matsui, who was hitting right-handers at a .389 clip when he was injured, Portland manager Todd Claus opted to walk the slugger. And most in the crowd of 5,114 booed loudly.

But the strategy worked as Shelley Duncan popped out to second base to end the inning."

For the game, he went 6.1, allowed 2 runs, walked 3 and struck out 3.

His last regular season start was August 31, against Binghamton on three days rest after a relief appearance. He went 7 shutout innings, allowed only one hit, struck out 12 and walked only one.

Before that, he came out of the bullpen on August 27th and threw three shutout innings, allowing 2 hits, while walking one and K-ing 1.

August 22: due to the rain and DiNardo's rehab start, he came out of the bullpen again and threw 7 IP against Binghamton, allowing no runs, no walks, 4 hits, with 7 Ks.

And he pitched 8 innings in Game 5 of the finals, allowing 3 runs.

In the last month of his season, including playoffs, he threw 38.1 innings and allowed 5 total runs.

The Portland Press Herald reported that Hansack was told by Theo Epstein that he will be promoted to the Red Sox for the end of the 2006 season, though it wasn't clear whether he would get a start or not.

External Links

• Devern Hansack - Minor League Information Courtesy of Sox Prospects

• Sea Dogs bio