By John Klima
August 25, 2009
Alex Hassan got his wish and then got it again. Growing up in Milton, Massachusetts, he aspired to be drafted, played at Boston College Prep High and was selected in the 20th round of the 2009 draft by the Boston Red Sox out of Duke University.
There was a catch. Hassan was drafted as a right-handed pitcher, not as an outfielder, as he had always envisioned himself to be. So Hassan waited until July to begin playing for Orleans in the Cape Cod League, mainly as an outfielder. Hassan showed well for himself offensively, hitting .289 in 30 games. He had five doubles, two triples, and one home run, which is a pretty nice extra-base hit output for a one-month look on the Cape.
Hassan drove in 20 runs, made the Cape Cod League All-Star team, and signed shortly after the game at Fenway Park. When he signed, Hassan went in as an outfielder rather than a pitcher. Red Sox scouting director Jason McLeod explained to Baseball Beginnings the organization’s thought process.
“We drafted him as a right-handed pitcher. He’s athletic and has the makings of three future average pitches,” McLeod told Baseball Beginnings. “He was a kid who performed pretty well offensively in the ACC, and although the power numbers weren’t there, Duke is one of the harder places to hit home runs in the ACC. He worked out for us at Fenway and put on a good show in BP and followed that up with a good showing at the plate in a prospect game.”
McLeod said that was where Hassan hit his way into a chance to play every day.
“When he went to the Cape our intention was still to sign him as a pitcher, but every time we saw him, he swung the bat well,” McLeod said. “We eventually determined he had a chance to make a bigger impact as an athletic right-handed hitting outfielder. If hitting doesn’t work, we will have the option to move him back to the mound.”
When Baseball Beginnings caught up with Hassan midway through the summer, he was a guy drafted as a pitcher who was carrying his bats to the field like pitching was for someone else. You can’t expect a drafted player to come out and say what they’d like to do most, especially in the 20th round where demands aren’t best made. What Hassan did over the summer was show with his performance what he could never say with his words.
He came to hit. And if that doesn’t work out in the future, there is always Plan B. (more…)
Category: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft |
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Tags: Alex Hassan, Boston Red Sox, Duke University
