Hansen announced his retirement Thursday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
Hansen was a second-round pick by the White Sox in 2016 and failed to appear in the majors during his career. He appeared in Double-A games across four seasons and posted a 5.83 ERA and 2.05 WHIP in 108 innings.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Promoted to Double-A
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Hansen was promoted to Double-A Birmingham on Saturday, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.
Hansen has tried his hand at Double-A in both of the last two seasons, struggling to a 6.07 ERA in 11 starts. He'll be back there as a reliever this time around after recording a 2.13 ERA and a 44.7 percent strikeout rate in 12.2 innings of relief for High-A Winston Salem.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Working out of bullpen
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Hansen will be used out of the bullpen at High-A Winston Salem to begin the season, Scot Gregor of the Chicago Daily Herald reports.
Since being nabbed by the White Sox in the second round of the 2016 first-year player draft, Hansen has endured multiple health setbacks while often displaying shaky control, despite racking up some gaudy strikeout totals along the way. It's unclear if Chicago has abandoned developing him as a starter just yet, but a permanent move to the bullpen would likely dampen his outlook in dynasty formats. On the positive side, working in relief would likely accelerate Hansen's arrival to the big leagues, and he possesses the skill set to potentially dominate in a late-inning role.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Healthy following shoulder woes
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Hansen dealt with right shoulder soreness over the offseason but is feeling better now, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.
It's unclear if this issue cropped up during the season or not, but if it did, it could help explain why the pitching prospect put up a 6.31 ERA between High-A and Double-A last season after leading the minor leagues in strikeouts in 2017. Regardless, Hansen appears to be fully healthy now and will look to bounce back in 2019, presumably with Double-A Birmingham.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Makes first appearance at Kannapolis
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Hansen allowed one hit and two walks while striking out one over two scoreless innings for High-A Kannapolis.
This was Hansen's first start following his demotion from Double-A Birmingham. Hansen, who led the minor leagues in strikeouts in 2017, hit a developmental road block this year, starting with a right forearm injury in spring training. The 23-year-old right-hander didn't start pitching in game conditions until June and by that time, was all out of rhythm. The White Sox hope Hansen can build off his two-inning outing and finish the season with some positives.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Roughed up in 2018 debut
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Hansen (forearm) was tagged for six runs on nine hits and a walk across 4.2 innings in his season debut for Double-A Birmingham on Saturday. He struck out four during the outing.
Hansen wasn't especially sharp in his season debut, which was delayed after he experienced right forearm tightness during spring training. Assuming Hansen regains velocity in his subsequent outings and shows improved command, he should still be viewed as one of the higher-upside pitching prospects in the White Sox's system. Hansen racked up 191 strikeouts across stops at three different affiliates in 2017 to lead all minor-league pitchers.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Maiden start scheduled
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Hansen (forearm) will make his first start of the season this weekend for Double-A Birmingham, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Hansen, the organization's second-round pick in 2016, has been working in extended spring training after he was shut down in March with soreness in his forearm. The right-hander breezed through A-ball in 2017 before making a two-start cameo with the Barons to finish up the season.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Progressing from forearm injury
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Hansen (forearm) will continue to gradually build his arm back up to speed after throwing a bullpen session earlier this week, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
Hansen has been sidelined since early March due to forearm soreness but was able to resume a throwing program in April and appears to be nearing a return to game action. It's expected that Hansen will toss a few more bullpen sessions in the coming days, and may require a couple games in extended spring training before joining Double-A Birmingham.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Scheduled for bullpen session
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Hansen (forearm) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session early next week, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
The forearm soreness that has plagued Hansen since the start of March has finally subsided, clearing the way for him to throw his first bullpen session since being shut down from throwing. He's expected to report to extended spring training once he works through a throwing program. Hansen will report to Double-A Birmingham once healthy.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Dealing with forearm tightness
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General manager Rick Hahn said Hansen is dealing with forearm soreness, but an MRI came back "100 percent clear," Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
While forearm issues can often be a precursor to Tommy John surgery, Hansen received encouraging news from his test results, and it appears the big righty avoided a potentially more serious injury. The White Sox will still likely proceed cautiously with the highly-regarded prospect, though they fully expect him to enter the season with no restrictions. After leading the minors with 191 strikeouts in 2017, the 23-year-old will report to Double-A Birmingham to begin the season. He should spend most, if not all of the season between Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Makes big jump in 2017
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Hansen finished off his 2017 season with two starts at Double-A Birmingham, giving up five runs on 15 hits and three walks while striking out 17 over 10.1 innings, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports. "Having Hansen already in Double A is a huge step forward in terms of where he was a year ago when we drafted him," general manager Rick Hahn said. "It's a great tribute to him and our player development people."
Hansen, who fell out of the first round in the 2016 draft after a rough junior year at the University of Oklahoma, has righted himself since joining the White Sox's organization. He pitched at three different levels in 2017 and was the minor-league strikeout king with 191. He also benefited from an improving changeup. The 22-year-old right-hander's goal for 2018, which is expected to begin at Birmingham, is to work on throwing his breaking balls -- slider, curve -- for strikes more consistently.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Moves up to Double-A
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Hansen was promoted to Double-A Birmingham and will make his debut Monday, Gerard Gilberto of MiLB.com reports.
It's the second promotion of the season for the 22-year-old, who has accumulated a minors-best 174 strikeouts across 24 starts with High-A Winston-Salem and Low-A Kannapolis. Hansen has gotten by mostly on a fastball-changeup combination to put batters away, but he may need to develop a quality third offering in order to replicate that success against hitters in the upper level of the minors and speed up his arrival to the big leagues.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Back-to-back 12 strikeout games
Rotowire
Hansen, 22, has fanned 12 batters in each of his last two starts for High-A Winston-Salem.
Hansen's last two outings have pushed his K:BB to 58:17 in 41.2 innings at this level, while lowering his ERA to 2.38. Hansen has been overpowering this season, and he should start the 2018 campaign at Double-A Birmingham.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: Handling promotion to High-A
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Hansen has allowed one run on eight hits and three walks while striking out 10 over 10 innings in his two starts for High-A Winston-Salem.
Hansen made quick work of the Low-A South Atlantic League, posting a 2.48 ERA while striking out 92 over 72.2 innings (13 starts) for Kannapolis before he was promoted to the Carolina League. The White Sox have a lot of promising arms in the organization and that includes Hansen, whose high-90s fastball is enough for him to dominate the lower levels of the minors. As he advances, Hansen will need to refine his repertoire.
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White Sox's Alec Hansen: In development at Low-A
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Hansen has a 3.56 ERA with 27 hits allowed, 12 walks and 31 strikeouts over 30.1 innings this season, spanning six starts for Low-A Kannapolis, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports.
Hansen fell to the White Sox in the second round of the 2016 draft after stumbling during his junior year at the University of Oklahoma. He was a first-round talent but put too much pressure on himself to live up to the hype. In the low-pressure environment of the Low-A South Atlantic League, the 6-foot-7 right-hander has added a fourth viable pitch -- introducing a changeup to his mid-90s fastball, curveball and slider -- that showed great improvement from the first time he flashed it in 2016. Kannapolis pitching coach Matt Zaleski said they still have to stay on top of the mental side with Hansen, who is prone to putting pressure on himself. The hope is that as Hansen matures and reaches advanced levels, he'll be able to handle the pressure.
