Once you’ve heard the truth, like a freight train running through you.
Here we are. Though I started in mid-2016, making this my 10th season writing at Lookout Landing after years as a reader, my first offseason was prior to 2017. My favorite player, Mitch Haniger, a newly acquired outfielder on the cutting edge of adjustments players were making to emphasize elevating the ball on contact to maximize power. Haniger had been a highly regarded pick whose progression stalled in the high minors. Injuries and underperformance had him desperate to improve, and that necessity made him receptive to innovations embraced by AJ Pollock and other choice individuals.
It’s that innovative inclination that made Hanny a star, but he has never been able to outrun his stars. Injuries of the mostly freakish and occasionally just crushing variety have tracked Haniger like a public WiFi network. At 34, he can try any and every contrary pathway to success, the outcome is still likely the same: the end of the road.
My favorite player of my adult life may not play another game here, or he may bounce on and off the IL for a bit longer. I hope there is more, however, for a player whose determination to make the most of himself has been stymied by nature often enough to drive someone mad. Mitch lacks a clear role on this team, which would welcome the 2021-2022 version who was an increasingly one-dimensional slugger but fit the bench bat mold the club now needs. Instead, by health and performance, he’s looking upwards at Austin Shenton, Dominic Canzone, and Rowdy Tellez for a roster spot. I don’t see the happy ending, Mitch, I don’t know which door it lies behind.
Projections:
FGDC: 406 PA, 97 wRC+, 0.2 fWAR, .219/.292/.375
PECOTA: 411 PA, 84 DRC+, 0.1 WARP, .208/.278/.350
Overs/Unders:
Zach: Under
I understand why the projections expect some positive mean-reversion. That’s what projections are supposed to do. But with all due respect to my computer overlords, I cannot unsee what Mitch Haniger looked like out there last year. He is, ironically for someone who’s like half-a-step away from being a raw-fooder, cooked.
Eric: Under
Like spotting a chem-trail in the sky, seeing Mitch Haniger strike out while nearly breaking his ankle and falling to a knee will be an all-too-common sight until he’s released by the team in early May. Thank you for your service, Mitch.
Ezra: Under
Way under, like below the ice caves in Spelunky. Why they traded back for him who can say, maybe the Giants have dirt on Jerry Dipoto, regardless we are stuck with a conspiracy theorist taking at-bats from people who can actually hit and run worth a damn. Put him out to pasture with his remaining shreds of dignity.
Max: Under
I loved watching Mitch during his prime, but we’re quickly approaching a decade from him debuting with the team and it hasn’t been all that great in several years. I’d love to be wrong, but I just don’t think he’s got it in him.