New Studs on the Block takes a look at players ready to make the leap from "possibly productive fantasy player" to "must-have fantasy stud." This is not a "you've never heard of this dude, but ... " series -- these should be names you already know.Back in April, fantasy baseball fanatics and Atlanta Braves fans alike pined over the eventual promotion of uber-prospect Tommy Hanson. On June 7, the 22-year-old phenom from Tulsa, Oklahoma finally got his shot and was knocked around. After that first bad outing, though, Hanson rattled off five consecutive dominant starts. The question on the minds of every educated baseball fan, though, was whether or not he could continue the success once teams had ample chances to scout him and make adjustments.
We've now seen 14 starts, which is a decent sample upon which to judge how he's reacting to the adjustments teams are making. The results are pretty staggering. Hanson is 9-2 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. He's struck out 69 and walked 32 in 86 2/3 innings.
After a July in which he won only one of five starts and posted a 3.94 ERA, he's won all four of his August starts. During that time, his ERA is 2.81. Better still is his rising strikeout rate -- he's struck out 28 in 25 2/3 innings of work this month. Walks seemed to be his only weakness during his June and July starts, but his command is now tightening, as he's walked only seven in his last five starts.
Judging from Hanson's track record in minor leagues, in addition to his physical gifts and make up, we're witnessing the arrival of an ace -- both in real life and fantasy baseball. The last time we saw a big-time pitching prospect arrive on the scene so quickly and not suffer any drastic growing pains was when Tim Lincecum came up in 2007. Lincecum was 5-2 with a 3.96 ERA and 1.18 WHIP during his first 14 starts. So, yeah, Hanson is doing quite a number on the rest of the majors right now.
As with all young pitchers, it's entirely possible he'll suffer the occasional bad outing. Then again, we saw Josh Beckett get lit up like a Christmas tree last week. No one is going out and giving a quality start every single outing.
As things stand, Tommy Hanson is currently among the best pitchers in baseball, and things won't be changing anytime soon. He's this week's New Stud on the Block, and he should be started in all fantasy formats -- probably for the next 15 years.
