Craig Hansen promoted to AAA

Just as it seemed that Craig Hansen was starting to make progress on his change up, he was called up to AAA Pawtucket yesterday. Craig pitched in relief every four games, and pitched two innings each game. However, in Hansen's last outing, Craig pitched three innings, where he allowed his lone run so far this season. Hansen finished his AA Portland stint, Pitching 11 innings, striking out 12, walking 4 and allowing just 1 run.

On April 15, I was able to take an account of an inning of Hansen's outing up in Portland. Here are my notes from the game:

2nd Inning of work:
1st Batter: 93 mph strike , 92 mph strike, 88 mph ball , 87 mph strike out
2nd Batter: 93 mph fouled off behind the plate, 93 mph ball , 85 mph flyout to right
3rd Batter: 93 mph broken bat double

4th Batter: 95 mph fouled behind the plate, 94 mph, thought it hit the batter (B-Mets bench cleared)
5th battter: 90 mph ball, 92 mph strike, 92 mph strike, ball, 89 mph fouled off to the left 84 mph strike out

One of the biggest reasons why Hansen was sent down to AA Portland to start the year was to develop his change up. The Red Sox calling him up to Pawtucket may mean that he is major league ready. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how long he stays in Pawtucket. With the exception of Papelbon and Foulke, the Red Sox major league bullpen has struggled thus far. If the major league bullpen continues to struggle, it may only be a matter of time before we see Hansen pitching in Fenway again.

Photo Taken by: Nick Sosnowski

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