Brenan Hanifee - RHP 2018 #10 Prospect

[Tony-OH]

http://www.orioleshangout.com/2018/11/06/brenan-hanifee-rhp-2018-10-prospect/

[Tony-OH]

Really surprised that there is no chatter over Hanifee. Guess everyone expected him here?

[ChuckS]

I thought he would be outside of the top 10:  11-13 range.  Lack of quality secondaries and only proven at low A ball being the main reasons I did not expect him in the top ten.  I would have expected McKenna and Akin ahead of him, but I like the upside if he can improve his slider and change.  

[Tony-OH]

30 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

I thought he would be outside of the top 10:  11-13 range.  Lack of quality secondaries and only proven at low A ball being the main reasons I did not expect him in the top ten.  I would have expected McKenna and Akin ahead of him, but I like the upside if he can improve his slider and change.  

Agree a bit with your thoughts on him, but the player development guys universally love him and think his aptitude and smarts will allow his secondaries to improve enough to be a starter. We see a guy who could be a impact setup guy even if his secondaries don't improve enough to be a starter. Love the heavy sink to the fastball and intelligence.

[Luke-OH]

2 hours ago, ChuckS said:

I thought he would be outside of the top 10:  11-13 range.  Lack of quality secondaries and only proven at low A ball being the main reasons I did not expect him in the top ten.  I would have expected McKenna and Akin ahead of him, but I like the upside if he can improve his slider and change.  

Regarding the slider, it’s a quality pitch, he just hasn’t figured out how to command it yet. It’ll show you plus at times but it almost always ends up right down the middle or as a waste pitch. The thing to remember with Hanifee is he’s very young and also younger than most his age in terms of pitching experience. But yet, he is already commanding his fastball very well and performing strongly against older competition. Even if the changeup doesn’t develop, it’s easy to project him as a 60 FB, 60 SL, 60 command guy out of the pen. That’s an excellent reliever, plus this was his first year throwing the change extensively in games, so I think it will improve.

[ScGO's]

There's more projection with Hanifee than there is with McKenna, Akin, or Tate so I validate the ranking.  I'm actually more surprised Lowther is in front of Hanifee.

[Cumberbundy]

 

Quote

 

Will RHP Brenan Hanifee start missing more bats in 2019?

I often forget that RHP Brenan Hanifee has yet to turn 21 years old and he’s not done developing physically. That’s a scary thought for opposing hitters. Arguably the most athletic pitcher in the Orioles’ system, Hanifee has had a fantastic start to his pro career, going 15-9 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.09 WHIP across 200 innings between short-season Aberdeen and full-season Delmarva.

A groundball artist, Hanifee has worked groundball rates of 58% and 54.5% in his first two seasons, with an even more impressive 4% walk rate in his career...

 

https://birdswatcher.com/2019/01/15/baltimore-orioles-prospects-key-seasons/

[hoosiers]

Some key prospects who could pan out and make the release of Rajisch appear to be a big mistake.  We will see.  Nice potential for Hanifee, Lowther and McKenna.

[Luke-OH]

13 minutes ago, hoosiers said:

Some key prospects who could pan out and make the release of Rajisch appear to be a big mistake.  We will see.  Nice potential for Hanifee, Lowther and McKenna.

I think Rajisch did well, but it may just be a matter of the Elias team wanting to draft players that fit their player development scheme. That's why Elias is taking the lead and I assume will eventually put someone in that role who will facilitate that.