Associated Press
KISSIMMEE, Fla. ó When Tommy Hanson arrived for his first big league camp, he was assigned to a corner of the Atlanta Braves’ clubhouse with a bunch of other guys wearing football-like numbers.
The barely-out-of-high-schoolers. The journeymen. The guys who’ll spend their season in outposts such as Mississippi and Myrtle Beach.
In fact, Hanson only has half a locker. He must share his stall with another non-roster invitee, Kris Medlen.
But this inglorious, crowded spot is merely a stopping-off point for Hanson, a chance for him to get a sampling of life in the majors before he claims a more prominent position. This is the guy who’s supposed to restore the luster to the Braves’ rotation, the one who’ll provide a link to a glorious era when pitchers named Smoltz and Maddux and Glavine were in their prime.
“This kid is going to be a No. 1 starter in Atlanta soon,” Braves star Chipper Jones said. “There’s no holding him back. Even if I had to go to a six-man rotation, I would do it, just to get this kid some experience and get him on his way.”
Spring training is overrun with hyped-up prospects who’ll never spend a day in the big leagues, but it’s hard not to get excited about this laid-back, 6-foot-6 Californian with the dazzling right arm. The slider, said manager Bobby Cox, is a lot like the one thrown by John Smoltz. That’s a good comparison, said Jones, except Hanson has a wider repertoire than the only pitcher in baseball history to win 200 games and save 150 more.
The Braves might have acquired San Diego ace Jake Peavy during the offseason, if only they had been willing to give up a player who’s never pitched above Double-A.
They weren’t.
“I’d love to see him come down here and dazzle and make this club,” Jones said. “I think he can pay immediate dividends.”
Sitting on the far side of the clubhouse, a wall separating him from the more established members of the team, Hanson merely smiles when asked about all the hype.
“I’m not a flashy guy. I’m not a guy where that’s going to go to my head,” Hanson said.