The first start of the season for the White Sox No. 4 prospect left plenty to be desired.
Alec Hansen was on the shelf for quite a while battling a forearm injury, and he finally made his 2018 debut Saturday at Double-A Birmingham. It did not go well, with Hansen tagged for six runs on nine hits and a walk in 4.2 innings of work. He struck out four batters and gave up a home run. He threw 78 pitches, 48 of which went for strikes.
This less-than-ideal outing from Hansen comes as the organization's top-ranked pitching prospect, Michael Kopech, continues to struggle at Triple-A Charlotte. Kopech surrendered five runs and walked eight opposing hitters in three innings in his most recent start, and he's got a 5.20 ERA on the season.
Hansen and Kopech were two of the top strikeout pitchers in minor league baseball a season ago, with Hansen punching out 191 hitters and Kopech fanning 172. As of right now, Hansen and Kopech are ranked the Nos. 46 and 8 prospects in the game.
None of this does much to dampen the excitement over these guys and all the other highly touted prospects in the White Sox loaded farm system. Both figure to be key pieces of the team's starting rotation on the next contending group of South Siders.
But these kinds of performances do well to remind that these prospects won't breeze through the minor leagues and reach the big leagues as superstars. Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito are reminding folks of that at the major league level. This is a developmental season at all levels of the organization, and development isn't always pretty.