The "Kouz" is playing well

by bodyiq on Apr 12, 2008 9:52 AM EDT

I've been reserving judgement for some time now, but I think Kevin Kouzmanoff is ready for a breakout season.

We all know the story from last year. He got off to a horrible start but then picked it up from May on to finish strong. This year, he's starting off with a bang and I think he can keep it up all year long. If you look at his short MLB career, he's only had one bad month. His minor league numbers suggest that he will hit for average along with decent power (25+hr?). Of course, PETCO will keep his numbers down a little but A.Gonzalez managed to bang out 3oHR last year.

Are there any red flags here that I may be overlooking?

What do you guys think?

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I was hoping

I was hoping that early last season while the "Kouz" was still slumping and it was obvious that the Padres were a contender and the Giants weren't, that the Giants could somehow pry Kevin away with a package starting with Pedro Feliz.

Of course the Padres were too smart for such a thing, and the Giants were probably too dumb anyway. But, yeah, I really like the guy as a hitter. And he seems to be a better fielder than I was led to believe.

by sharksrog on Apr 12, 2008 7:09 PM EDT reply actions

the red flag ...

is don't mess with Kevin Towers. The acquisitions of each Kouzmanoff and Gonzalez were steals.

It is really quite brilliant the way the Pads handled Kouzmanoff. They recognized a hard-headed ballplayer that could get up to speed at the big-league level, even despite early troubles. Considering the timing, with something of a deficiency of big-league third basemen, it was a justifiable risk.

by StickRat on Apr 12, 2008 7:10 PM EDT reply actions