Austin Hansen - June 2019
Photo by Jayne Hansen
When asked what has clicked for him this season, Hansen told me, "I've just been able to not let one pitch ruin my outing. I know that in college and even sometimes last year, I'd let one bad call by the umpire or one hard hit ball kind of frustrate me so bad that it ruins the rest of my outing. It's like just being able to take it one pitch at a time and not really think too much and just go out there and have fun and not make it harder than it needs to be. We're playing a kid's game and sometimes you can make it way, way more serious and put more pressure on yourself than you really need to. I think it's just kind of keeping it fun, keeping it lighthearted this year."
On transitioning to the new level, Hansen said, "The hitters are definitely more mature here than in Quad Cities, but for me it's just trying to work on my slider and develop my slider more. That's the biggest thing right now. What I've been getting in trouble with is not being able to throw it for a strike and falling behind in counts and walking guys and then when I'm behind in counts, giving up hits. It's kind of just developing that slider and throw it for a strike and, like I said, take it one pitch at a time and not try to make it a bigger stage than I really need it to be."
Fans sometimes forget that the minor leagues are developmental leagues, after all, and sometimes wins take a back seat. "That's what a lot of people don't realize, that we're all working on stuff. We have pitches that can get guys out, but you have to be able to throw the pitches that you're working on in games to develop (them). Sometimes the numbers don't reflect how you're really doing because you're trying to develop a new pitch. Obviously, the first week you throw it, it's not going to be able to get hitters out (consistently)," said Hansen.
Fayetteville Manager Nate Shaver praised Hansen's success with Quad Cities and acknowledged that there will be adjustments to be made at the higher level. "Coming here and facing a little bit better hitters, he can't make as many mistakes. But he knows how efficient he needs to be to have success at this level and have a plan of attack for every single hitter and trust in his stuff," said Shaver. And Shaver went on to compliment Hansen's professionalism and work ethic.
Hansen throws a four-seam fastball, changeup, knuckle curve and slider, and considers either his low 90's fastball (which hits 95 or 96) or his curveball to be his best pitches. Aside from working to develop the slider, Hansen is also working on his delivery, "Just clean up my motion, like syncing up my upper half and lower half and hopefully that translates to a little more velocity so I can throw a little bit harder as a starter and kind of carry that into later innings. I think that's the biggest thing, just kind of clean up mechanics."
When I commented on the great pitching from the Astros draft class of 2018 in their first season, Hansen noted, "It's fun being around those guys every day. Last year we all kind of built a bond and it got so competitive that if someone went out and had a good outing (we would try to outdo one another). It's cool. When Brett (Conine) and (Shawn) Dubin got called up here (to Fayetteville), we'd all be watching to see how they were doing, texting them 'I'm going to strike out more than you now.' Even at different levels, we're still trying to compete. It's just so much fun to be around all these guys."
Hansen is particularly complementary of Conine as one who stands out (see interview link below), "He's just been so dominant all year. It's unbelievable to watch him pitch. He's just so talented and it's kind of funny that he's still flying under the radar. That's just kind of how Brett Conine rolls. He's always under the radar. This whole team, not a lot of top prospects, but a lot of really, really talented guys that will be able to play this game for a really long time."
Hansen started his season with Quad Cities which was surrounded by flood waters much of the spring, forcing the team to play most of their games on the road. Of the experience, Hansen said, "It was interesting because we didn't have a clubhouse for the first 40 games of the season so everyone had three pairs of cleats, turfs, three jerseys, two pair of pants all in their bag and we're lugging it around every place and we never had a home game. A lot of them were commuter so we'd get home at 2:00 in the morning a lot of nights. It was a lot of long days. But it was fun. We got closer. We started joking about how we were never going to play a home game. And it really seemed like we never were going to play a home game. Right before I left, we played three home games. We went on the road. We came back and the whole entire parking lot was flooded again so they had to move (another) series to Peoria."
Hansen offered a little advice for the new draft picks who just signed, "Listen to everything that the Astros are telling you because you see how the guys are doing it in the big leagues and just keep following their plan because they have a bigger plan for you than what you have for yourself. They have way more planned out for you than you can ever dream of."
In the offseason, when he isn't training, Hansen likes to hang out with friends and family back in Kansas, listen to country music or go fishing. He recently took up hunting and enjoys hunting with his dad. But the main thing for him is to decompress from the season. "I'm able to clear my mind a little bit and not have to think about baseball, just kind of go out there and relax. We play so many games. After the season, you don't really want to think about baseball as much even though you're training every day, you kind of need to keep your mind off of baseball for a little bit."
As a strength, Hansen cited his competitiveness, "I like to think I'm super competitive on the mound. I think that's one thing that I have an advantage of. As a closer in college I came in in some big situations and I know how to get myself out of them."
But I think another strength that will serve Hansen well going forward is his self-awareness. I can only conjecture that the loss of his best friend in 2016 which was discussed in this March 2019 interview and coming to terms with his grief over that loss helped Hansen to find a perspective and self-awareness that have grounded him. His demeanor is neither too high or too low. He is confident but in no way cocky. He is quick to praise his teammates. He is able to articulate his strengths and his weaknesses realistically and seems to know what he will need to do in order to ultimately succeed in a very tough business. His maturity in baseball and in life really shows.
Thank you for your time, Austin, and best of luck as your season continues to unfold.
Other Recent Interviews
Nivaldo Rodriguez (recently added to MLB Pipeline's Top 30 list for the Astros) and Enmanuel Valdez
Colton Shaver
Brett Conine
Jake Adams
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