Today we preview/predict the guy everyone wants to tab as the next great Atlanta Braves ace. Tommy Hanson had a great year last year by some metrics, but he also hit a bit of a sophomore slump. His strikeout rate went down, his hit rate increased, though overall he allowed fewer baserunners because his walk rate dropped dramatically. All of this culminated in a losing record of 10-and-11. Though that isn't really a fair record, or an accurate portrayal of how good he was.
Hanson had the most blown wins on the team, and the second-most blown wins in the National League -- these are games in which he was in a position to win when he left the game, but the bullpen blew the lead. There were five such games like that. Add those to his win-loss total, even a couple of them, and his season suddenly looks a lot better to the average fan. Hanson was also tied for the NL lead in no decisions with 13, four more than any other Braves starting pitcher.
I guess it's a good thing we're not trying to predict wins and losses this year.
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Tommy Hanson's Baseball Reference comparable players by age (1000 equals most comparable). Kind of underwhelming, and there's Scott Sanderson again, for the second day in a row.
John Denny (984)
Joel Pineiro (982)
Matt Morris (979)
Joe Sparma (979)
Jack Sharrott (979)
Josh Beckett (976)
Dave Righetti (974)
Scott Sanderson (973)
Bruce Kison (973)
Steve Kline (972)
Tommy Hanson trivia fact: Both Tommy Hanson and Bobby Cox were born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and both went to high school in California.