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Blue Jays prospect Hagen Danner progresses on mound after hitting struggles

Published

1 year ago

November 26, 2021

TORONTO – Late in the summer of 2019, the cumulative effect of relentless failure at the plate started getting to Hagen Danner. Drafted as a catcher in the second round by the Toronto Blue Jays a couple of years earlier, the Huntington Beach, Calif., native came out of the gates slow at low-A Lansing, buried himself during a six-hit, 24-strikeout May, recovered with a solid June but then cratered again immediately after.

As the 0-fers piled up, the game he loved stopped being fun, his anxieties spiked and he headed to the batter’s box hoping for a hit, rather than believing he was going to get one. A feeling that “hitting really isn’t what I was meant to be doing,” became stronger as the finish line neared.

“It threw me over the edge,” he says, “and I just really didn’t want to have to deal with all that anymore.”

Unlike other position players in a similar spot, Danner had shown enough on the mound during high school to make pitching a potential fallback option. And it’s during that period of tumult the 23-year-old right-handed reliever took the first steps toward the position switch that’s revitalized his career, recently landing him a coveted spot on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster.

“Being a relief pitcher is just the best feeling ever,” says Danner, who went from striking out in 31.3 per cent of his plate appearances with Lansing to striking out 29.4 per cent of the batters he faced with high-A Vancouver this past season. “I’m not hoping to not fail anymore. That’s what my mind was getting me to as a hitter. Now, I’m sitting in the bullpen waiting for an opportunity, dying to get in the game. That, to me, is so much different.”

Danner’s recent showing at the Blue Jays’ fall instructional camp – when he sat 98-99 m.p.h. with his fastball and touched 100 for the first time – helped cement his spot on the 40-man roster, an indicator of near-term big-league potential. Perhaps more important than the velocity jump is that he spent time inside the Blue Jays’ pitching lab at the Dunedin complex and worked with staff there to develop a slider “that’s probably going to be my favourite pitch.”

Always believe… not even close to being done working https://t.co/C9qiIdo5Eq
— HagyD™ (@HagenDanner) November 19, 2021

This past season with the Canadians, his first in the pros as a pitcher, he posted a 2.02 ERA in 35.2 innings over 25 games, with 12 walks, 42 strikeouts and two homers allowed while mainly throwing his fastball and a “slider thing that wasn’t very good, honestly.”

“When I got to instructs, things really took off,” says Danner.

The relatively rapid turnaround in his trajectory wouldn’t have been possible without the heartache he endured during that difficult season in Lansing.

Danner had been a two-way prospect in high school, showing enough with a fastball that sat 92-94 and touched 96 to be ranked as the 26th best righty available in the 2017 draft by Baseball America. His bat, though, carried him up the draft board further, where the Blue Jays picked him 61st overall and gave him a $1.5 million bonus.

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That didn’t make his entrance to pro ball smooth, as he posted a .455 OPS in 34 games of Gulf Coast League rookie-ball in 2017. He rebounded with a .841 OPS at rookie-ball Bluefield in 2018, but even amid the success there, the anxiety at the plate that would really impact him at Lansing began to set in.

That stress snowballed with the Lugnuts, when even the success of his one decent month was largely concentrated in a seven-game hit streak. He finished the year batting .170/.254/.369 with 12 homers in 80 games.

“All the failure, the thing you’re working so dang hard for and it’s just not coming to you, it didn’t work for me all season,” says Danner. “I was hitting a home run every few games, but that was my one hit. It wasn’t fun at all.”

Complicating things is that even when he was drafted as a catcher, he felt that he had more promise as a pitcher. As he struggled at the plate, he started thinking more and more about getting back up on the mound, but feared how the Blue Jays would react, so he kept quiet.

Back home that fall, he threw a few bullpens with his agent, Lenny Strelitz, and they were intrigued enough by how the ball was coming out that they decided to test things out in some live batting practice. Some of the most helpful feedback came from Nick Pratto, the highly touted Kansas City Royals prospect who happens to be Danner’s best friend.

“He was a real hitter up there seeing my stuff and telling me, ‘Hey, dude, this is where you need to be. This is going to play. This is what’s going to get you to the big-leagues,’” Danner recalls. “I was like, this is my best friend telling me this. He’s not just going to blow it up my butt, he’s going to tell me what he really thinks.”

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At that point, Danner decided to make the switch, he and Strelitz talked it over with the Blue Jays and the club was fully supportive of the change.

Though he still did some hitting at spring training in 2020, his focus was on the mound and there were no regrets. Then came the pandemic shutdown, which ended up working in Danner’s favour. He returned home, focused on weight training and postural exercises former San Diego Padres reliever Jacob Nix put him onto as a way to better ready his body for pitching, and continued to build his arm strength for the grind to come.

Danner arrived at camp a full-go this year, was pleasantly surprised by the challenge assignment of advanced-A, and save for a lat strain that briefly sidelined him, showed impressive consistency for a pitching rookie.

“I loved it. I loved being in the competitive atmosphere, you’re the man on the hill, everybody’s watching you and the team’s on your back. I loved to get hitters out because I was getting out my entire career, you know?” he says with a laugh. “That helped me a lot, just having the fun aspect of competitiveness again. That was the most excited I’ve ever been in in my professional career so far.”

As the 40-man roster deadline approached Nov. 19, Danner wasn’t sure if the Blue Jays planned to add him and his mind played out all sorts of possibilities until Cory Popham, the club’s pitching development co-ordinator, called him with the news.

Now, his mind is locked in on more specific goals as he works through the off-season program the club provided.

“I want to help the big-league team next year,” says Danner. “I mean, we have the best lineup in baseball. The hitters are unbelievable to watch and they have a serious chance to win it next year and I just want to be up there so bad. Wherever they start me, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m just going to keep doing me, stay with my confidence and keep throwing the rock.”

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Maple Leafs take tough loss despite strong start against Hurricanes

Published

41 seconds ago

March 26, 2023

nigemord@gmail.com

RALEIGH, N.C. — Sebastian Aho scored his team-leading 32nd goal of the season with 2:26 remaining to rescue the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

Aho’s goal came 32 seconds after Auston Matthews’ second goal for Toronto tied the game. Teuvo Teravainen added an empty-net goal.

Brent Burns, Jordan Staal and Stefan Noesen also scored for Carolina, which won for the fourth time in its last eight games to maintain in first place in Metropolitan Division. Jesper Fast and Martin Necas both two assists.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 41 saves for his first victory in his last three outings.

Calle Jarnkrok had Toronto’s first goal. Matt Murray made 23 saves. Matthews has 36 goals this season, including eight in the last nine games.

Jarnkrok and Matthews scored eight minutes apart in the second period as Toronto erased a 2-0 deficit.

Jarnkrok notched his 18th goal, including six this month. Matthews’ unassisted tally at 12:41 of the second period gave him his 35th goal of the season.

NOTES: Matthews registered nine shots on goal in the second period and 12 total entering the third period. He finished with 15 shots, tying the franchise single-game record. … Through two periods, Carolina had no player with more than three shots. … Toronto had 33 shots through two periods, marking the most for any Carolina opponent in a full game in the last 15 games.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: At Nashville on Sunday.

Hurricanes: Host Boston on Sunday.

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Harvey-Pinard nets three, Canadiens crush Blue Jackets

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5 mins ago

March 26, 2023

nigemord@gmail.com

Rafael Harvey-Pinard electrified the Bell Centre with his first career hat trick as the Montreal Canadiens routed the Columbus Blue Jackets 8-2 on Saturday.

Nick Suzuki had one goal and three assists while Mike Hoffman scored one goal and added two assists. Jesse Ylonen and Brendan Gallagher both picked up one goal and one assist. Alex Belzile also scored for Montreal while Mike Matheson collected three helpers.

Sam Montembeault made 20 saves as the Canadiens (29-38-6) recorded back-to-back home wins.

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Lane Pederson and Kirill Marchenko scored for the Blue Jackets (23-42-7), who failed to record their first three-game win streak of the season.

Elvis Merzlikins made 16 saves before leaving the game with an injury with 2:58 remaining in the second period. In relief, Michael Hutchinson made five saves.

The Blue Jackets took only 1:32 to score the game’s first goal. Kent Johnson located Pederson in front of the net with a backhand pass and the forward completed the one-timer.

The Canadiens responded just over two minutes later. Hoffman, sporting a full-face visor after receiving a cross-check to the face from A.J. Greer in Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins, beat Merzlikins with a wrist shot.

Montreal took its first lead of the game at 9:43 of the first. Ylonen took advantage of Brendan Gallagher’s screen in front of the net to send a wrist shot from atop the left faceoff circle.

Marchenko took a shot from a tight angle over Montembeault’s shoulder to tie the game but the net was knocked loose in the process. After video review, it was determined that the puck had crossed the goal line before the net was dislodged and the goal was allowed.

Harvey-Pinard helped Montreal regain their lead with a second-period hat trick.

Immediately after the opening faceoff, Matheson rushed along the boards and drove to the net. Merzlikins made the save but Harvey-Pinard zoomed into the crease to tap in Montreal’s third goal.

Harvey-Pinard then bagged his second goal of the night with a wrister from the left faceoff circle.

Gallagher gave Montreal a 5-3 lead by finding his way in the slot amongst the five Jackets skaters. He accepted Ylonen’s pass from behind the net to notch the one-timer.

Harvey-Pinard completed his hat trick before the end of the second. The winger redirected Hoffman’s pass past Merzlikins and the hats rained on the ice for the Saguenay, Que., native’s first hat trick.

Montreal added a seventh goal in the final frame when Belzile’s pass for Chris Tierney on the rush deflected off Columbus defenceman Andrew Peeke and into the net.

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Suzuki completed his four-point night by piercing through Columbus’ zone and beating Hutchinson with a wrist shot from the slot.

INJURY REPORT

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins left the game with an injury in the second period. The Latvian appeared to have suffered the injury while attempting to make a save on the play resulting in Rafael Harvey-Pinard’s hat trick goal. Micheal Hutchinson took over in relief.

EMERGENCY RECALL

The Columbus Blue Jackets made two emergency recalls before Saturday’s game. Forward Trey Fix-Wolansky and defenceman Jake Christiansen were tapped in to replace the injured Mathieu Olivier and Erik Gudbranson, respectively. Fix-Wolansky played in his 11th NHL game while Christiansen skated in the 27th of his young career.

UP NEXT

The Canadiens head to Buffalo to play the Sabres on Monday.

The Blue Jackets visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday.

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Flames pushing hard to sign Harvard product Coronato, Canadiens hoping to ink Farrell

Published

9 mins ago

March 26, 2023

nigemord@gmail.com

The Calgary Flames are pushing hard to sign 2021 first-rounder Matt Coronato, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

“The full-court press is on from the Flames,” Friedman said during Saturday’s 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night in Canada. “They have indicated very clearly that they want Coronato to join them.”

Calgary selected the right winger 13th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. He has spent the past two seasons playing for Harvard University, where he’s totalled 38 goals and 72 points over 68 games.

The 20-year-old native of Greenlawn, New York, tallied four goals and seven points while representing the United States at the 2022 world juniors.

“There still has to be a bit more conversation,” said Friedman. “The player has to make his choice but there is no doubt the Flames have let Coronato know that they are ready for him to come.”

Harvard was eliminated from the NCAA tournament following an 8-1 loss to Ohio State on Friday. With that, Coronato’s college teammate Sean Farrell is also garnering attention.

The defenceman, who was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the fourth round (124th overall) of the 2020 draft, is “strongly considering turning pro and joining the Canadiens, but nothing official at this time,” according to Friedman.

The 21-year-old Farrell potted 30 goals and 81 points across 58 games during his two seasons at Harvard.