With three HR and several fine defensive plays last night, Hanley saved Drew Pomeranz's opening-night bacon and raised his fWAR by 0.5, providing (depending on who you ask) roughly $3.5M to $4M of value to the team in one nine-inning stretch.
So far this year Hanley has been a footnote. It's been nice to see him provide quietly respectable play on both sides of the ball after last year's fiasco, but he's still been a below-average player overall. Will he push his way to the front of the line in the second half, and become a stretch-run god? His career shows a subtle but definite pattern of getting better with each month after May, with his best offense coming in September (.918).
What should be our hopes? Our fears? And if Hanley pours it on in the second half, what does that imply beyond 2016?
So far this year Hanley has been a footnote. It's been nice to see him provide quietly respectable play on both sides of the ball after last year's fiasco, but he's still been a below-average player overall. Will he push his way to the front of the line in the second half, and become a stretch-run god? His career shows a subtle but definite pattern of getting better with each month after May, with his best offense coming in September (.918).
What should be our hopes? Our fears? And if Hanley pours it on in the second half, what does that imply beyond 2016?