Hunter Pence
From BR Bullpen
Hunter Andrew Pence
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 4", Weight 220 lb.
- Schools University of Texas - Arlington, Texarkana Community College
- High School Arlington (TX) High School
- Born April 13, 1983 in Arlington, TX USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Hunter Pence made his major league debut in 2007 after three years of being a top prospect for the Houston Astros.
Pence was chosen in the 40th round of the 2002 amateur draft by the Milwaukee Brewers but did not sign. Moving from junior college to the University of Texas branch in his hometown of Arlington, Pence batted .347/.406/.561 and was a Southland Conference All-Conference outfielder, the only sophomore on the All-Conference team that year. In 2004, he batted .395/.441/.616 and again was an All-Conference pick. He won the Player of the Year/Hitter of the Year award and led the Conference in batting average. The Houston Astros took him with their top pick, a 2nd-round choice, 64th overall, right ahead of Dustin Pedroia, and signed him for a $575,000 bonus.
Pence debuted professionally with the Tri-City Dust Devils, hitting .296/.369/.518. Baseball America rated him the 13th-best prospect in the New York-Penn League.
In 2005, Hunter was named the Astros Minor League Player of the Year. He tied Luke Scott for the lead among the club's minor leaguers with 31 homers and his 271 total bases were the most on the farm. He hit .338/.413/.652 with 25 HR in 80 games for the Lexington Legends and .305/.374/.490 in 41 games for the Salem Avalanche. Baseball America said that Pence was the best batting prospect and best power prospect in the South Atlantic League, the #18 prospect in the Carolina League and the #15 prospect in the SAL. Had he qualified, he would have ranked second in the SAL in average, behind Brian Horwitz, trailed Travis Denker by four points in BOP and led in slugging, 49 points ahead of Joe Koshansky. He did lead the league's outfielders with a .992 fielding percentage. He made the SAL All-Star outfield alongside Horwitz and Matt Miller and was named the Most Outstanding Prospect in the circuit.
Pence continued to hit in 2006, batting .283/.357/.533 for the Corpus Christi Hooks. He led Astros farmhands in runs (107), total bases (314), home runs (31), slugging and RBI (106) (including post-season stats) - and again was named the Minor League Player of the Year. He also stole 17 bases in 21 tries. His regular season totals were 97 runs, 28 HR and 95 RBI. He led the Texas League with six intentional walks and made the TL All-Star outfield alongside Billy Butler and Josh Anderson. He was rated the 8th-best prospect in the league by Baseball America, between John Danks and Juan Gutierrez, higher than RBI leader Koshansky. Baseball America also labeled him the Most Exciting Player in the Texas League that year. He was the starting right fielder for the USA in the 2006 Futures Game, going 1 for 3 with a run and RBI before being replaced by Nolan Reimold.
After leading the Astros in all three major hitting categories by hitting .571/.647/1.071 in Major League spring training, Pence began 2007 with the Round Rock Express and hit .341/.398/.588 in 22 games before getting called up to the 2007 Astros on April 27. He was 1 for 3 as the starting center fielder in his MLB debut against the Brewers, as the Astros snapped a 7-game losing streak with a 10-1 win. Pence recorded his first ML home run, a Grand Slam, in a May 5th game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He finished the season hitting .322 with 30 doubles and 17 home runs for the Astros.
Sources: 2003-2007 Baseball Almanacs, MILB.com, The Baseball Cube, Houston Chronicle
