Portland Sea Dogs’ Alex Hassan of Milton, Mass., Latest to Transition From Pitching to Playing the Field

When attempting to break into the major leagues, it takes a tremendous amount of time and practice honing your skills and abilities. If you spend your entire life trying to become a pitcher, then you're going to spend countless hours working on delivery technique, arm angles and the rest of the necessities that come along with gracing a professional rubber.

After being drafted as a pitcher by the Red Sox in the 20th round out of Duke, the Milton, Mass., native was soon turned into an outfielder, with his bat doing most of the talking, although he thought it would be much different while he was still a Blue Devil.

"[In college] I was initially a pitcher," Hassan said. "I was told I would be pitching in pro ball but that was before the draft and after the draft things changed. I realized I would be an outfielder.

"They told me I'd make a bigger impact in the outfield. I came off a good summer of hitting. I was definitely excited. A little surprised but excited."

Hassan is the latest member of the Sox organization to have his try in the field after a stint on the mound. Everyone knows about Babe Ruth's iconic switch to belting home runs rather than preventing them, but the lesser-known tale is of Ted Williams’ stint trying to get hitters out, rather than becoming the greatest hitter of all-time. Williams pitched as a high schooler out of Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego and signed as a pitcher-outfielder with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League.

After admittedly getting knocked around in his first couple appearances, the Splendid Splinter stuck to what he did best. (Other notable pitchers-turned-hitters: Mark McGwire converted while at USC, Stan Musial won 33 games in the minor leagues before hurting his arm and sticking to the outfield and Rick Ankiel suffered an infamous playoff meltdown before becoming a capable big league outfielder.)

Hassan has finalized his switch to the field, saying there is no chance of him returning to the mound. Growing up, after all, it was never an issue as to whether Hassan was a pitcher or a fielder. He was a ballplayer.

"Growing up I didn't really know," Hassan said. "It wasn't until my junior year until I thought I realized my future was on the mound. I was drafted as a pitcher. It wasn't until the summer after my junior year that I was told I would be an outfielder."

Another tool growing up that will surely help him during the Futures game at Fenway and hopefully in a future stint at the major league levels was the replica Fenway that he and his family had in their backyard in Milton.

"We had a Green Monster with the scoreboard painted on it, the [Pesky] Pole. We had the Dunkin [Donuts] and Citgo sign. We used to play wiffle ball a lot, so we hit the monster."

There's a good chance Hassan could repeat that childhood performance today, as he has excelled at the plate in Portland this year, leading the team in on-base percentage at .402 and second in batting average at .298. Over the last 10 games, Hassan has hit safely in all but one of them, posting a .417 average in those contests while driving in nine runs.

One would think that a former pitcher may have an advantage at the plate, knowing the ins and outs of what goes on while on the mound, but Hassan doesn't think so.

"I would like to say it has but I don't think it has. There are a million different things that have shaped me as a baseball player. I could give you an example at every level that has helped me.

"I'm sure a certain amount of it is innate. [Getting on base] is something I'm good at – or pretty good at it. A lot of it is understanding what I need to do at the plate. I think that comes from the Red Sox philosophies. Some of it is just being coachable."