Continued from here
Unless otherwise noted, the “stuff” information gathered
comes from listening to the MiLB.tv broadcasters as I dug up old highlights.
The player to be named later (PTBNL) from the Neil Walker
trade
RHP Eric Hanhold, 23 until 11/1
2017 with the Carolina Mudcats: 64 IP, 71 H, 33 R (28 ER), 9
2B, 4 3B, 3 HR, 97 TB, 21 BB, 60 K (52 K/Sw), 5 HBP, 10 GIDP, 109 GB: 24 FB: 41
LD: 10 PU, 954 Pitches (598 Strikes), 135 Swinging, 119 Called, 14.2% SwStr,
28.2% Whiff/Swing, 14.9 Pitches/IP, 276 BF
3.94 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 21.7 K%: 7.6 BB%, 59.2 GB%: 13 FB%: 22.3
LD%: 5.4 PU%, .364 BABIP, .386/.354/.391 (.745 OPS) allowed, Runners went 2-5
on stolen base attempts + BB-Ref has him with 2 pickoffs (See the GIF section
for three pickoffs)
The path to the Mets:
Eric Hanhold has been on scout’s radars since (at least) 2011, when he was
started to stand out on the mound for the East Lake High School baseball team
in Florida. He was named to the Rawlings/Perfect Game
Florida Region Second team prior to his senior season, and then dominated
(1.14 ERA) as he led East Lake to the Class 8A District Championship in 2012.
Hanhold’s strong season earned him a chance to pitch at Tropicana Field that summer,
in a Tampa Bay HS All-Star Classic.
He committed to the University of
Florida, and he made clear
his intention to get the college experience while pitching for one of the
biggest college baseball programs in the country, so he wasn’t high on draft
boards coming out of high school. Still, the Phillies thought enough of him to
take him… with their last pick, which was the
last pick of the 2012 draft.
Hanhold’s stats didn’t exactly
stand out over 53 appearances – 15 starts – in 3 seasons with the Gators, but his stuff
still got the attention of scouts. He also garnered attention while pitching in
the Northwoods League during the summer of 2013 (ranked
#2 in the league by BA) and then in the Cape Cod league during the summer
of 2014 (ranked
#15 by BA).
The Milwaukee Brewers saw enough
potential in Hanhold to select him as a junior in the 6th round of
the 2015 draft, which was a big improvement from his previous
draft spot. Given his light workload as a senior (25.1 IP), the Brewers had
no problem letting him make 11 appearances (8 starts, 36.1 IP) that year, most
of which came in A-ball. Despite his struggles in 2015 (combined 7.43 ERA, 51 H
allowed), the Brewers sent him to the FSL in 2016, where he struggled some more
over 19 starts (4.81 ERA, 120 H allowed in 101 IP).
Hanhold was sent back to Advanced-A
ball this year, although this time he was pitching for the Carolina Mudcats of
the Carolina league because of an offseason
affiliation change for the Brewers. He started 2017 alternating piggyback
starts with other Mudcats pitchers for 6 outings before hitting the DL in early
May. He spent 11 days on the DL and was then exclusively used as a reliever
after that, although he was still more of a long man working with regular rest
initially.
When he hit the DL, Hanhold had a
9.14 ERA over 21.2 IP, with 37 H allowed for a .974 OPS. He was used across
multiple innings in 10 of his first 11 appearances coming off the DL and he
dominated: 1.52 ERA over 23.2 IP, 22 H allowed for a .658 OPS, and 26 K: 6 BB
(98 BF). His usage by the Mudcats changed a little starting in mid-July, as 7
of his final 15 appearances lasted just 1 inning, and he was given less rest
between appearances, although he still dominated: 0.96 ERA over his final 18.2
IP, 12 H allowed for a .528 OPS, and 16 K: 7 BB (73 BF). The usage change is
especially notable after 8/12, when the Mets officially traded Neil Walker for
a PTBNL, as his final four appearances lasted just one inning.
As for the rest aspect, Hanhold
never pitched on fewer than 2 days rest until the end of July, then he pitched with
just one day’s rest twice over the final five weeks (7/25 & 7/27, then 8/24
& 8/26), and he also pitched with zero day’s rest at the end of the season
(8/30-31). Put another way, Hanhold averaged 5.25 appearances/month over the
first four months and then made 6 appearances over 20 days after the trade.
Maybe that was the Brewers plan all
along, or maybe the Mets wanted to see how well he bounced back on short rest
before they chose him as the PTBNL.
The stuff: If you
know anything about the other 6 relievers the Mets acquired at the deadline,
you could have probably guessed that Eric Hanhold is a righty who sits mid-90’s
and throws a slider. He also mixes in a changeup, which shows potential as a
usable pitch, but it lags behind the other two right now, and he appeared to
throw it less from the pen.
Since
Hanhold was traded at the end of the MiLB season, I have had more time to go
back and compare pre-DL/piggyback starter Eric Hanhold with post-DL/reliever
Eric Hanhold. The most noticeable change was in his fastball, as he threw it
more often and threw it harder after his DL stint. I never heard a reason for
the DL stint, but it seems like they skipped over him once to make a few
adjustments in approach and (probably) pitch mechanics. Per the post-trade Baseball
America report, he’s throwing his slider 87-88 MPH, so it’s likely that got
a post-DL velocity boost too.
As usual, I don’t have constant
velocity information from watching on MiLB.tv, but the Mudcats announcer Gregory Young Jr. would call out
fastball velocities or say low/mid/upper 90’s occasionally. He called Hanhold up
to 96/97 a few times as a starter, but it sounded like he was more low-90’s
(89-93 MPH) pre-DL. Young was initially surprised when Hanhold was sitting more
mid/upper 90’s after his DL stint, but that became the norm. Young had Hanhold
hitting the upper 90’s with some regularity down the stretch, and said the
stadium gun even had him up to 102 MPH once, although Young didn’t believe that
to be accurate.
It’s
not just the velocity on Hanhold’s fastball that makes it impressive, but the good
sinking action, which produces a lot of groundballs. He posted a
groundball-rate near 60% for the season and a fly ball-rate under 15%. He also
throws it hard enough that he can go up in the zone to blow it by hitters, and
the pitch will show arm-side run at times. Check out the pitch that was
questionably on the board at 102 MPH – it shows that good late life.
Hanhold’s
slider showed improvement throughout the season too, and it flashes the
potential to be a plus pitch. Early on in the season, he was using the pitch in
any count, but he wasn’t controlling it well, and it could get a bit slurvy.
After the DL stint, the slurve showed up less often and the pitch had a tighter break, sometimes even a nice two-plane break. It didn’t always have the plus movement, but it
was at minimum a weapon against righties.
The secondaries: The
Mets paid a little extra to acquire Hanhold, which is something they didn’t do
in the other midseason trades, and that could pay off nicely down the line. Had
Hanhold been drafted directly into the Mets system, he would’ve been on a
slower path, and he likely would’ve spent this season as a starter in the St.
Lucie rotation. Given the injuries to pitchers throughout the system, the Mets
may even want him to make some starts next year. But unless the extra heat
returns with him to the rotation, his future role is as a reliever.
That said, his heater and his ability
to miss bats, get groundballs, and avoid walks suggests his upside is as a high-leverage reliever
for the New York Mets. Among Carolina League pitchers who threw at least 60 IP
this year, Hanhold’s swinging strike rate was top-15, his groundball rate led
the pack, and across 3 years he’s walked just 7% of 882 batters faced (62 BB).
I expect him to start the 2018
season with Binghamton as a reliever, but I wouldn’t be surprised if
circumstances force him to make some spot starts. If the Mets commit to him as
a reliever-only, I think he could reach Triple-A in 2018, although it should be
tough to crack the 51s bullpen next year.
As a 2015 draft pick, Hanhold won’t
need 40-man protection until after next season.
I noticed the song “Eleanor Rigby”
by The Beatles was often playing on MiLB.tv as Hanhold finished warming up at
home. I love The Beatles, but that seems like an odd choice for warmup music,
so maybe he didn’t have a say. Or maybe he just enjoys thinking about all of
the lonely base runners he’s stranded, and all the lonely base runners yet to
be stranded.
Mets-Florida Gators
connection: Eric Hanhold played with several current Mets prospects while
on the Florida Gators: Johnny Magliozzi in 2013, Peter Alonso in 2014-15, and
Jeremy Vasquez in 2015. O, and the Mets signed this Tim
Tebull, I mean Tim Tebow guy last year, and you may have heard of his Gator
roots. We’ll see how it works out, but Hanhold could be reunited with Magliozzi
and Alonso, AND joined by Tebow in Binghamton next year. Rumble Gators nation!
The GIFs:
I initially just covered the end of
Hanhold’s season, so there’s a lot of coverage of his final 8 appearances (on
MiLB.tv) and I only added a few highlights as I went back to watch earlier
appearances from this season. The strikeout GIF’s and most of the GIF’s
starting on 7/27 are full AB’s, but there are also a lot of partial AB’s and a
few GIF’s with just a swinging strike from the AB.
With Mudcats
-
Wilkerson reached on a throwing error (E6/G)
-
Morgan doubled to LF (D7/L)
-
Chuck Moorman hit a comebacker (13/G)
-
Michael O’Neill hit a check-swing RBI single to
RF (S9/G)
 |
| 97 MPH |
-
Moorman struck out swinging (K/Sw)
-
Steve Wilkerson lined a single into CF (S8/L)
-
Austin Hays walked (BB)
-
Eduard Pinto struck out swinging (K/Sw)
-
Luis La O walked (BB)
-
Andruw Monaserio lined out to CF (8/L)
-
Eddy Martinez struck out looking (K/Lo)
-
Eddy Martinez hit a groundout to third (53/G)
 |
| 97 MPH |
-
Tyler Alamo hit a groundout to third (53/G)
-
Zack hit reached on a run-scoring infield
single/E6 (S6/G) -> E6
-
Trent Giambrone struck out swinging (K/Sw)
 |
| First pitch at 95 MPH |
-
Sicnarf Loopstok struck out swinging (K/Sw)
-
Martin Cervenka walked (BB)
-
Jodd Carter hit a double play grounder to third
(543/G)
-
Drew Turbin hit a comebacker (31/G)
-
Jay Gonzaled walked (BB)
-
Randolph Gassaway hit a groundout to second
(43/G)
-
P.J. Higgins hit a groundout to second (43/G)
-
Daneil Gonzalez hit a groundout to third (53/G)
-
Bryant Flete walked (BB)
-
Toby Thomas struck out swinging (K/Sw)
-
Sam Dexter struck out swinging (K/Sw)
-
Bryant Flete reached on an E3 (E3/G)
-
Jameson Fisher reached on a bunt single (S5/G)
-
Seby Zavala struck out swinging (K/Sw)
-
P.J. Higgins struck out looking (K/Lo)
-
Vimael Machin lined a single into LF (S7/L)
-
Tyler Alamo hit a double play grounder to third
(53/G)
Discovery of the closest binary supermassive #blackhole system yet - less than one light year apart! https://t.co/PZVC2iORHL pic.twitter.com/X9npU5yXTY— LIGO (@LIGO) September 19, 2017
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