Pete Hansen

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #28 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 40/High
  
  Track Record: Hansen was a rock in the Texas rotation for three years and earned all-Big 12 first team honors as a redshirt sophomore. The Cardinals selected Hansen in the third round of the 2022 draft and signed him for $629,800. Hansen debuted in the spring of 2023 with Low-A Palm Beach and made 23 starts. He received a late-season promotion to Triple-A where he made one appearance.
  
  Scouting Report: A soft-tossing lefty with a feel for a trio of secondaries and above-average command, Hansen mixes four pitches and can land all of them for strikes. His fastball sits 89-91 mph with some cut and is a below-average swing-and-miss pitch. His primary secondary is a sweeper slider in the low 80s that generates an above-average whiff rate. His mid-80s changeup is an average pitch that generates whiffs and is effective against righthanded hitters. Hansen will show a mid-70s curveball with two-plane break a few times a start. He has above-average command of his entire arsenal that allows him to maximize his fairly pedestrian pure stuff.
  
  The Future: Hansen is an up-and-down starter with the upside of a back-of-the-rotation innings eater.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 40 | Curveball: 40 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #15 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Hansen was one of baseball's most reliable college starters at Texas, going 22-4 over two-plus seasons in the Longhorns rotation and emerging as their de facto ace. The Cardinals selected him in the third round, No. 97, and signed him for $629,800, making him the third of three college lefthanders the clubs selected with its top three picks. The Cardinals chose to rest Hansen due to his heavy college workload and did not send him out to an affiliate after signing.
  
  Scouting Report: Hansen is a soft-tossing lefthander whose sum is greater than his parts. His fastball sits 88-91 mph and scrapes 94 with only average life. His secondaries consist of an above-average low-80s slider with two-plane break, an average changeup and a low-70s curveball that acts as an early count strike-stealer. Hansen's arsenal lacks velocity across the board, but everything plays up with his plus-plus control and advanced feel for sequencing. He executes at a high level consistently and keeps hitters guessing and off-balance, yielding results on par with a pitcher who has much louder stuff.
  
  The Future: College pitchers historically add a few ticks of velocity upon entering professional ball. If Hansen can do that to add power to his deep arsenal of pitches, he has a chance to be a back-of-the rotation starter.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 40. Curveball: 40. Slider 55. Changeup 50. Control: 70.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #91 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Texas Committed/Drafted: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 22
  BA Grade: 45/High
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 45 | Curveball: 40 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Cutter: | Control: 65
  In a draft sorely lacking in college starting pitchers with a lengthy track record of success, Hansen is an outlier. Coming into the College World Series, Hansen had made 30 starts over the past two seasons, going 22-3, 2.47 with only 151 hits allowed in 194.1 innings. He struck out 195 while walking 42. Performance-wise, there’s nothing to critique. He worked five or more innings in 15 of 16 starts as Texas’ ace. But Hansen’s somewhat pedestrian stuff keeps him from climbing into first round consideration. Hansen did throw harder in 2022 than he did in 2021, but that only got his fastball into the 87-91 mph range with sporadic flashes of 92-95. Hansen’s fastball is at this moment a fringe-average pitch at best. In addition to its below-average velocity, it lacks exceptional movement. But he spots it with pinpoint, plus command. His above-average low-80s slider is effective because he never catches the heart of the plate with it. It lives just on that edge of the zone down and in to righties and low and away to lefties. He also has pinpoint control of his average changeup, and he’ll mix in a slower mid-70s below-average curveball as an early count surprise strike. Hansen’s lack of velocity could derail him in pro ball, but if he can add more, his plus command, advanced feel and durability could make him a valuable back-of-the-rotation starter.
• Ranked #336 prospect in 2021 draft
  Hansen came into the year expected to be one of the best pitchers in Texas. After a slow start and a dead arm period, he earned a spot in the weekend rotation. He went 9-1, 1.84 and was one of the big reasons Texas returned to Omaha. But that didn’t keep scouts from being somewhat disappointed in what they saw. Evaluators were hoping to see Hansen take a step forward with his velocity to pitch in the low 90s. Instead, he pitched effectively against Big 12 hitters while sitting 86-88 mph and rarely topping 90. Hansen spots that below-average fastball precisely and he throws his average mid-70s slider in any count. Hansen’s plus command and control are assets, but it’s hard to find MLB pitchers who have success with Hansen’s pitch profile. He turns 21 after the draft and has three years of eligibility remaining. Most likely, the second-year freshman will get to be a key part of Texas’ rotation again in 2022 while pro teams hope his velocity catches up to his ability to pitch.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Hansen was one of baseball's most reliable college starters at Texas, going 22-4 over two-plus seasons in the Longhorns rotation and emerging as their de facto ace. The Cardinals selected him in the third round, No. 97, and signed him for $629,800, making him the third of three college lefthanders the clubs selected with its top three picks. The Cardinals chose to rest Hansen due to his heavy college workload and did not send him out to an affiliate after signing.
  
  Scouting Report: Hansen is a soft-tossing lefthander whose sum is greater than his parts. His fastball sits 88-91 mph and scrapes 94 with only average life. His secondaries consist of an above-average low-80s slider with two-plane break, an average changeup and a low-70s curveball that acts as an early count strike-stealer. Hansen's arsenal lacks velocity across the board, but everything plays up with his plus-plus control and advanced feel for sequencing. He executes at a high level consistently and keeps hitters guessing and off-balance, yielding results on par with a pitcher who has much louder stuff.
  
  The Future: College pitchers historically add a few ticks of velocity upon entering professional ball. If Hansen can do that to add power to his deep arsenal of pitches, he has a chance to be a back-of-the rotation starter.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 40. Curveball: 40. Slider 55. Changeup 50. Control: 70.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Hansen was one of baseball's most reliable college starters at Texas, going 22-4 over two-plus seasons in the Longhorns rotation and emerging as their de facto ace. The Cardinals selected him in the third round, No. 97, and signed him for $629,800, making him the third of three college lefthanders the clubs selected with its top three picks. The Cardinals chose to rest Hansen due to his heavy college workload and did not send him out to an affiliate after signing.
  
  Scouting Report: Hansen is a soft-tossing lefthander whose sum is greater than his parts. His fastball sits 88-91 mph and scrapes 94 with only average life. His secondaries consist of an above-average low-80s slider with two-plane break, an average changeup and a low-70s curveball that acts as an early count strike-stealer. Hansen's arsenal lacks velocity across the board, but everything plays up with his plus-plus control and advanced feel for sequencing. He executes at a high level consistently and keeps hitters guessing and off-balance, yielding results on par with a pitcher who has much louder stuff.
  
  The Future: College pitchers historically add a few ticks of velocity upon entering professional ball. If Hansen can do that to add power to his deep arsenal of pitches, he has a chance to be a back-of-the rotation starter.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 40. Curveball: 40. Slider 55. Changeup 50. Control: 70.
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 45/High
  
  August Update: In a draft sorely lacking in college starting pitchers with a lengthy track record of success, Hansen is an outlier. Coming into the College World Series, Hansen had made 30 starts over the past two seasons, going 22-3, 2.47 with only 151 hits allowed in 194.1 innings. He struck out 195 while walking 42. Performance-wise, there&#39s nothing to critique. He worked five or more innings in 15 of 16 starts as Texas&#39 ace. But Hansen&#39s somewhat pedestrian stuff keeps him from climbing into first round consideration. Hansen did throw harder in 2022 than he did in 2021, but that only got his fastball into the 87-91 mph range with sporadic flashes of 92-95. Hansen&#39s fastball is at this moment a fringe-average pitch at best. In addition to its below-average velocity, it lacks exceptional movement. But he spots it with pinpoint, plus command. His above-average low-80s slider is effective because he never catches the heart of the plate with it. It lives just on that edge of the zone down and in to righties and low and away to lefties. He also has pinpoint control of his average changeup, and he&#39ll mix in a slower mid-70s below-average curveball as an early count surprise strike. Hansen&#39s lack of velocity could derail him in pro ball, but if he can add more, his plus command, advanced feel and durability could make him a valuable back-of-the-rotation starter.