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Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Former Pelicans Shortstop Hanser Alberto Promoted to Majors

May 29, 2015 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


Former Myrtle Beach Pelicans Shortstop Hanser Alberto
Former Myrtle Beach Pelicans Shortstop Hanser Alberto
(Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

ZEBULON, N.C. (MAY 29, 2015) -- Just prior to their homestand opener against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, the Texas Rangers recalled infielder Hanser Alberto from Triple-A Round Rock. Alberto played parts of the last three seasons for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, primarily as a shortstop, during the four-year Rangers-era. He looks to make his Major League debut and is the 129th Pelicans player to make the Major Leagues after playing in Myrtle Beach in the 17 years of the franchise.

Alberto, 22, has logged six seasons in the minors, all with Texas. Prior to this year, Alberto had never been up at Triple-A, where he had spent all of this season with the Round Rock Express. In 42 games, Alberto hit .303 with six doubles, three triples, and two homers, scoring 19 runs, driving in 13, and stealing four bases. He is recently coming off a 16-game hitting streak and hit safely in 17 of his final 19 games with the Express before the promotion.

Starting the 2012 season, his third professional season, with Class-A Hickory, Alberto was promoted on June 22 to Myrtle Beach for the first time, playing the final 66 games of his season for the Birds. He spent parts of both 2013 and 2014 in Myrtle Beach and Double-A Frisco.

Alberto suited up for the Pelicans more often than any other minor league team. In three seasons with the Pelicans, across 165 games, the 22-year-old Alberto hit .266 with 31 doubles, five triples, and nine home runs.

The San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic, native was on the Pelicans Opening Day roster last season. In his final stint with the Pelicans, the right-handed hitter batted .271 in 70 games, smacking 15 doubles, three triples, and five homers, logging time at shortstop and third base. Alberto was promoted to Double-A on July 4, where he finished the year with the Frisco RoughRiders. He hit .275 for Frisco in 50 games with nine extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs.

In 2012, Alberto posted at least one RBI in eight straight ballgames, tied for the third longest stretch by any hitter in team history. On June 19, 2014, the sixth-year professional clubbed his first career grand slam, launching a go-ahead, bases-loaded homer off of Wilmington's Luis Santos, putting the Pelicans ahead 5-2 in an eventual 8-2 victory.

The Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Alberto as the 15th-best prospect in the Rangers' organization in the spring of 2013 and the 30th-best prospect in the Texas system prior to this season. Alberto was signed as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2009 by Rodolfo Rosario, Willy Espinal, and Mike Daly

The Texas Rangers placed Alberto on the club's 40-man roster this past November, protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft.

Alberto was recalled by Texas in a pair of moves that sent former Pelicans right-hander Phil Klein back to Triple-A. Klein, who pitched for the Pelicans for part of the 2012 and 2013 campaigns, had made two starts for the Rangers in his second stint with the club this season.

In his first day in a Rangers uniform on Thursday, Alberto did not make it into the game. The Rangers next play on Friday at 8:05 p.m. ET against the Rex Sox at Globe Life Park in Arlington.

Alberto is the fourth former Pelicans player to make big leagues for the first time this season, joining Keone Kela (with Pelicans in 2014, debuted with Rangers), Odubel Herrera (2012-2014, Phillies), and Wilfredo Boscan (2011, Pirates).

The Pelicans continue their road trip with a 7:00 p.m. ET meeting with the Carolina Mudcats in Zebulon, North Carolina, looking for a three-game sweep.

The 2015 season marks the 17th season for the Pelicans franchise and first as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2015, please call (843) 918-6000, e-mail info@myrtlebeachpelicans.com, or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.

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Former Myrtle Beach Pelicans Shortstop Hanser Alberto
Former Myrtle Beach Pelicans Shortstop Hanser Alberto
   

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Carolina League Stories from May 29, 2015


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