Ryan Hanigan: stats and notes

[mbgrayson]

Ryan Hanigan #65
Catcher Cincinnati Reds
Height: 6-0 Weight: 195
Bats: R Throws: R
Born: Aug 16, 1980 - Washington, DC
College: Rollins
Draft: None

2008 line in Louisville: .324/.392/.419 for an OPS of .811 in 272 ABs.
2007 line in Lousiville: .252/.333/.315 for an OPS of .648 in 150 PAs.

Never rated within Reds top 30 prospects by Baseball America.

Baseball Prospectus notes:
2006
Hanigan improved offensively in his first action in Double-A last year, making himself into a marginal prospect. That`s faint praise considering that the Reds` stockpile of catching prospects is something like the nuclear arsenal of Belarus--impressive on paper but functionally unusable.

2008
Hanigan has a good batting eye and fine defensive skills (he was near the top of his leagues in throwing out runners), but at 27 he’s fated to be a backup. Unfortunately for him, the Reds have David Ross and Javier Valentin under contract for 2008, so advancement will require a trade or an injury. Projected VORP=5.9

MILB.com notes:
Spent the minor league season at Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville...in hisMajor League debut made five appearances for the Reds, including two starts...in his starts Reds pitchers went 2-0 and posted a 4.05era...began the season at Chattanooga...at the time of his 6/28 promotion to Louisville ranked fourth in the Southern League in on-base percentage (.420) and had reached base safely in 40 of his last 42gfor the Lookouts...was selected to play in the Southern League All-Star Game...threw out 39 percent of SL baserunners attempting to steal, third-best in the league, and for the Bats threw out 48 percent of the runners attempting to steal...had three four-hit games for the Lookouts...was recalled after Louisville's season ended...on 9/9 vs Mil made his Major League debut, pinch hit and on the first pitch doubled off Ben Sheets...started behind the plate on 9/14 at Mil (0-3, 1bb) and in the season finale on 9/30 vs Chi (2-4, 2rbi, 2r)...in that game vs. the Cubs produced his first career two-hit game and his first-career RBI on a run-scoring single off Ted Lilly....was a non-roster invitee to spring training camp...following the season played for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League (17g, .200, 1hr, 3rbi).

[camisadelgolf]

He went to the same college as Jim Bowden, who was the GM when Hanigan was signed. Hanigan was over-looked by scouts because a catcher with higher seniority got most of the playing time.

[WVRedsFan]

I liked what I saw today. He made some good defensive plays (some that Ross or Bako would have not made) and went 2-4 at the plate.

Someone commented to me the other day that a monkey could catch as well as our three catchers. Hannigan proved to be better than the monkey or the caveman (sorry, evil GEICO). Good move by the Reds...so far.

[Blitz Dorsey]

Scouts did a lot of swinging-and-missing when it came to Hanigan. Stuff like that is often a snowball effect; guys read the reports of fellow scouts and they already have an idea of what kind of player a guy is before they even see him.

But I don't care what the scouts thought about him. Hanigan looks very good behind the dish to me and I LOVE his energy. He's a late-bloomer at the age of 28, but it's not too late for him. He can be a decent catcher for the Reds (i.e. overall upgrade of Ross/LaRue era from past 8-9 years) because he's good defensively and he puts the bat on the ball.

[marcshoe]

I'm momentarily taken aback by the reminder that Belarus has a nuclear arsenal. Sorry; I'll catch up in a minute.

[Blitz Dorsey]

I'm momentarily taken aback by the reminder that Belarus has a nuclear arsenal. Sorry; I'll catch up in a minute.

And are we absolutely sure that it's unusable? This warrants further investigation. I think we need to send Lance Berkman over there to check things out.

[OnBaseMachine]

Undrafted Hanigan makes Reds debut

By Hal McCoy

Staff Writer

Monday, August 11, 2008

CINCINNATI — Ryan Hanigan is one of those longshots — undrafted out of Rollins College but signed by the Cincinnati Reds out of the summer college Cape Cod League.

He is 27 and it is now his time. Shine or fail.

Catcher David Ross was designated for assignment Sunday and Hanigan was not only called up from Class AAA Louisville, he was installed in the starting lineup.

Hanigan hit .324 in 75 games for the Bats, including .486 over his last 10 games.

"Hanigan was playing well and I always liked him," said manager Dusty Baker. "I like Ross, he did a good job for us, I have nothing to say bad about him. We had him on trade waivers and nobody claimed him.

"Right now, we're not heading north and lately we've been headed south," Baker added. "There are things we have to find out about other guys. Hanigan has a chance to be in our future and we need to learn if he can be a regular or if he can be a No. 2 next year."

Said Hanigan: "I was having fun playing at Louisville. It's an honor to be up here, but Louisville was winning games and it was a fun team to be on. Now I shift gears, try to learn the pitchers, see how things go."

Hanigan's debut was as good as the Reds were bad — two hits, including a two-run home run in the ninth, his first in the majors.

"I don't ever think I'm a home run hitter," he said. "I just try to put good swings on the ball. I'm a catcher and I'm here for the pitchers. But hopefully I can add some offense, too."

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/con...redsnotes.html

[BCubb2003]

Said Hanigan: "I was having fun playing at Louisville. It's an honor to be up here, but Louisville was winning games and it was a fun team to be on. Now I shift gears, try to learn the pitchers, see how things go."

Heh. He sounds bummed that he was sent from a first-place team to a last-place team.

[KronoRed]

Heh. He sounds bummed that he was sent from a first-place team to a last-place team.

I like him more now

[Team Clark]

Scouts did a lot of swinging-and-missing when it came to Hanigan. Stuff like that is often a snowball effect; guys read the reports of fellow scouts and they already have an idea of what kind of player a guy is before they even see him.

But I don't care what the scouts thought about him. Hanigan looks very good behind the dish to me and I LOVE his energy. He's a late-bloomer at the age of 28, but it's not too late for him. He can be a decent catcher for the Reds (i.e. overall upgrade of Ross/LaRue era from past 8-9 years) because he's good defensively and he puts the bat on the ball.

I agree. I have seen him sparingly but I did like what I saw. Serviceable catcher. Not a bad hitter. I like his game management. Reminds me in many ways of a young Kelly Stinnett. Not the old broken down one.

Following along with what you were saying, I had several people "feed" me their interpretation of Hanigan only to find out they had never seen him. Amazing but not uncommon.

[LincolnparkRed]

I like him more now

Sad thing is that the manager is better down there as well.

[RedlegJake]

Sad thing is that the manager is better down there as well.

Careful. People said that about Dave Miley, too and look where it got us.