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Padres Minors: Justin Hancock Wins AAA Debut

By Daryll Dorman|

With Colin Rea now in the majors and already a victory under his belt, the San Diego Padres recently promoted starter Justin Hancock to AAA to take Rea’s place in the rotation. Like Rea, he had no problem and picked up a victory in his debut by going 5 2/3 innings and allowing just one run in a 7-1 victory.

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The offense certainly helped him out in this one, with catcher Rocky Gale and Alex Dickerson each driving in two runs for the El Paso Chihuahua’s as reported by Jeff Sanders of the San Diego UT. Hancock had started the season in AA San Antonio and in 22 starts had compiled a 7-6 record with a 3.59 ERA. He walked three and struck out three on the evening to go along with 7 hits but managed to pitch out of trouble before turning it over to the bullpen in the 6th inning.

Hancock was drafted by the Padres in the 9th round of the 2011 First Year Player Draft and struggled in his initial Arizona Fall League, seeing his ERA end at an unsightly 7.09 ERA in 11 games (8 starts).

He turned a corner the following season though with Short Season A affiliate Eugene where he went 5-2 with a 1.61 ERA and allowing only 3 home runs in over 70 innings.

He continued his crawl up the minor league season with 2013 spent mostly in high A-Ball, 2014 in AA and now seeing a late season promotion to AAA here in 2015. The 6’4″ 185 pound right-hander could prove to be a reliable middle of the rotation or bullpen member for the Padres as soon as mid-2016 depending on how the rest of this season and start of next season goes as he proves he can pitch to advanced hitters and keep the ball in the park.

A win in your debut is always a good start- but we will continue to keep you updated on all Padres prospects here at FriarsOnBase now and throughout the off-season.

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