White Sox's Discovery Of Standout Prospect Alec Hansen: Good Area Scout Work, Big Assist From Scouting Director's Wife

(CBS) White Sox pitching prospect Alec Hansen, a 22-year-old right-hander, has opened many observers' eyes in his first professional season out of Oklahoma.

In 22 starts across a pair of Class-A levels this season, Hansen has compiled a 2.64 ERA and 1.10 WHIP while striking out 166 batters in 126 innings. His campaign was highlighted by a dominating seven-inning outing in which he struck out 15 in late May, and Hansen has continued to make hitters look foolish all season, recording 11 or more strikeouts in three of his past four starts.

Hansen was a second-round pick of Chicago at No. 49 in the 2016 amateur draft, and the story of how the White Sox nabbed him at that spot still makes amateur scouting director Nick Hostetler shake his head in disbelief.

As Hostetler tells the story, then-area scout Clay Overcash tracked Hansen closely during his junior year with the Sooners. After Hansen struggled for some stretches early in the season -- perhaps causing some teams to drop him on their draft boards -- Overcash emphasized to Hostetler and scout Mike Shirley that they needed to be at an important start of Hansen's against Kansas State on May 8, which just so happened to be Mother's Day in 2016.

"I had stayed out on the road for three weeks just to make sure I was home for Mother's Day," Hostetler said in an interview with Barry Rozner on 670 The Score on Sunday.

While not exactly enthused, Hostetler's wife, Nicole, understood when he told her of this predicament, telling him to head to Norman, Okla. So Hostetler

"My wife was very good with it," Hostetler said. "She said, 'I understand, get out of here.' So we left, we got there and we watched him pitch."

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What Hostetler and Shirley saw was one of Hansen's finest outings, as he scattered two hits in six scoreless innings while striking out nine in his team's 12-0 win. From there, the White Sox were sold on Hansen.

"At that point, Mike and I were the only non-area scouts in the building," Hostetler said. "And he was dominant against Kansas State. He was awesome. We saw his best start of the year. And look, it took some convincing of Clay and Mike to get me there. This is what we've got to do sometimes. Our family is more important, but they push me to (do my best). They deserve a ton of credit with it.

"When we saw him at that point, we realized it was still there. It's just a matter of what we felt was a small little mechanical adjustment with some posture stuff and also where his hand went and then some confidence. You know in that game, and I'm not throwing those coaches under the bus, they're no longer there, but that game, as he started the game, there were two guys in the bullpen waiting (warmed up and ready to relieve him). So for a kid to have to deal with that, that's tough to do. He needed some confidence."

Hostetler then had a message for bosses Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn, because he didn't want to tip other teams off to the White Sox's interest. They White Sox held the No. 10 (Zack Collins) and No. 26 (Zack Burdi) picks before No. 49 in 2016 and considered Hansen at No. 26, Hostetler said.

"I told everybody to stay away at that point," Hostetler said. "I said, 'I don't want anybody else going in. We really like this guy.' Now, I didn't think he was going to get to us at 49. I thought he would go between 26 and 49 at some point."

Hostetler now praises Hansen's mental toughness, saying, "He's got the confidence he's needed." The end result of all this, besides another live, high-potential arm in the White Sox's farm system?

"He's my wife's favorite player," Hostetler said of Hansen.