Prospect Retro: Kent Hrbek

Prospect Retro: Kent Hrbek
The post about Cal Ripken got me thinking about Kent Hrbek, runner up in the '82 ROY voting. He's a good candidate for a prospect retro, so here goes.
Kent Hrbek was drafted in the 17th round in 1978, out of high school in Minneapolis. A Twins fan as a kid, he could see the lights of Metropolitan Stadium from his bedroom window. He was a very successful local high school player, but wasn't considered a hot prospect. He played just 17 games in rookie ball in 1979, hitting .203 with a .288 SLG for Elizabethton. The sample was too small to be meaningful, but given his draft status he'd rate as barely a Grade C prospect. . .just a guy who might develop someday but didn't have a lot of expectations.
Moved up to the Midwest League in 1980, he hit .267/.365/.442 with 19 homers, 61 walks, and just 54 strikeouts in 419 at-bats. The combination of power, walks, and a strong contact rate was impressive, and he was also developing a reputation as a good fielder. Nowadays, I'd likely rate a similar player as a Grade C+ or B- prospect, with a "sleeper" notation if I wrote a book comment for him.
The sleeper woke up in 1981, hitting .379/.452/.630 with 27 homers, 111 RBI, 59 walks, and 59 strikeouts in 462 at-bats for Visalia in the California League. . .stunning performance. He hit .239/.301/.358 in 24 games for the Twins late in the year, but given that he was jumping directly from Class A at age 21, he held his own. The Twins went with a full-bore youth movement in 1982 and Hrbek was the centerpiece, hitting .301/.363/.485 with 23 homers in 140 games. He finished second in the ROY voting to Ripken.
His best year was probably 1984, when he hit .311/.383/.522 with 27 homers and 107 RBI, coming in second in the MVP voting. He also had a strong season for the 1987 World Champtions, hitting .285/.389/.545 with 34 homers. Injuries and excess weight eventually dragged his defense down, but Hrbek was an excellent gloveman early in his career in addition to being a fine hitter.
His final career numbers: .282/.367/.481, with 838 walks against just 798 strikeouts in 6192 at-bats. His numbers don't look that great compared to the high octane offenses of the post 1994 strike years, but within the context of his time he was a very effective hitter, with an OPS + of 127 for his career.
Was this predictable based on his minor league record? He never played Double-A or Triple-A, making reliable MLE comparisons problematic, so all we really have to go on are the Midwest League and California League numbers. They show him as a hitter with above average power, strong plate discipline, and a very low strikeout rate for a power hitter. And that's exactly what he became.
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Thank You John
by Terry Ryan Jr on Jan 15, 2007 2:16 PM EST 0 recs
Grazie
by avehoward on Jan 15, 2007 2:40 PM EST 0 recs
Okay, it's been 15 years....
by Boxkutter on Jan 15, 2007 3:37 PM EST 0 recs
Yes
by gatling on
Jan 15, 2007 3:41 PM EST
up
0 recs
subject
by cooper7d7 on
Jan 16, 2007 11:50 AM EST
up
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Hrbek
by BenB on
Jan 17, 2007 1:25 PM EST
up
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Poster child for old player skills
We wuz robbed!
by alexwithclass on Jan 16, 2007 12:58 PM EST 0 recs
anyway you could do
by realityconquest on Jan 16, 2007 4:25 PM EST 0 recs
Glove
As for the Gant play, I'm pretty sure Herbie was just screwing around and he was as shocked as anybody that the umpire called Gant out. Revisionist historians think that was the turning point in the series or something. The fact is it was the second out at first base. Assuming he was called safe, the Braves still had to drive Gant in from first for the play to mean anything, which was by no means certain. Will you also be pissed at Chuck Knoblauch and Greg Gagne for deeking Lonnie Smith into thinking his sure double was a grounder to short?
by cmathewson on Jan 18, 2007 12:42 PM EST 0 recs



