Career Profile: Kyle Blanks

by John Sickels on Feb 12, 2026 11:01 AM EST

Kyle Blanks of the San Diego Padres hits a two run double against the Atlanta Braves on April 12, 2010.(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Career Profile: Kyle Blanks:

Per reader request, here is a Career Profile for Kyle Blanks of the San Diego Padres. His career hasn't really got going yet, but he is an interesting topic.

Kyle Blanks was drafted by the Padres in the 42^nd round in 2004, from high school in Edgewood, New Mexico, population 1,893. Not well-known to scouts, he didn't sign right away and went to Yavapai Junior College in the spring of '05. He had a terrific spring and led the Arizona Community College league in hitting. As a draft-and-follow, the Padres retained his rights and signed him for $250,000 before he re-entered the draft pool for '05. Sent to the Arizona Rookie League, he hit .299/.420/.500, showing strong power potential and decent plate discipline, though he struck out a lot. He was huge at 6-6, 270, but showed good mobility and athleticism for his size. I gave him a Grade C in the '06 book, noting that we needed to see him at higher levels but that he had impressive upside.

Moved up to Fort Wayne in the Midwest League for 2006, Blanks hit .292/.382/.455 with 10 homers, 20 doubles, 36 walks, and 79 strikeouts in 308 at-bats. He was limited to 86 games by a leg infection, but I saw him play and was impressed with his mobility. I saw him and thought his swing looked a bit long, but that he worked the count well. I gave him a Grade C+ in the '07 book, warning people to "keep an eye on this guy" and that "a breakthrough is possible."

Lake Elsinore and the California League was a good environment for him in 2007: he hit .301/.380/.540 with 24 homers, 100 RBI, 44 walks, and 98 strikeouts in 465 at-bats. Although scouts identified some weaknesses against breaking stuff and wondered if the batting average would hold up against better competition, it was still a fine season at age 20 in High-A. I gave him a Grade B in the '08 book, though he didn't quite make the Top 50.

Blanks had few problems adapting to Double-A, hitting .325/.404/.514 with 20 homers, 107 RBI, 51 walks, and 90 strikeouts in 492 at-bats for San Antonio in 2008, posting a +21 percent OPS, and keep in mind the tough hitting environment at San Antonio. I got to see him again and his swing was shorter than when I saw him in '06. I moved him up to a Grade B+ and ranked him at Number 32 on the Top 50 hitting list, noting that he wasn't going to be a Seven Skill player, but that he should be a very good hitter.

Blanks split 2009 between Triple-A Portland (.283/.393/.485 in 233 at-bats) and San Diego (.250/.355/.514 with 10 homers in 148 at-bats), exhausting his rookie eligibility. He struck out once per game in the majors, but the power was impressive, and I was excited about him heading into 2010. Alas, he hit just .157/.283/.324 in 33 games last year before going down with an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery.

His career line is now .212/.325/.436 in 87 games, 250 at-bats, with 33 walks and 101 strikeouts. I know he looked awful last year, but given the injury, given the totality of his track record in the minor leagues, and what I've seen him do in person when he's healthy, I still think he's going to be a fine power hitter. He just needs to get healthy and work the rust off. Don't expect him to hit .300, but he's not a .157 hitter, either. He's only 24, and if his age curve is anything close to typical, he could have some really nice seasons coming up...maybe not in '11, but in '12-15.

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his status

IF he is going to be healthy enough to begin the season I can not understand why the Padres signed Hawpe to play 1B. I hope Blanks gets the 1B job as soon as he proves that he is healthy and I expect big things for him sooner rather than later

by JJACK on Feb 12, 2026 7:17 PM EST reply actions

Hmmm...

“Lake Elsinore and the California League was a good environment for him in 2007…”

John, I don’t want to be accusational. And you didn’t say that Lake Elsinore was a hitters’ park but it seems implied or at least that sentence is written in such a way where people could misunderstand it (I did the first time I read it). And it is one of my pet peeves (or course, that’s probably obvious with this post)… People frequently suggest Padres hitters are taking advantage of Lake Elsinore’s hitter-friendly confines, but it simply is not the case. So John, if you’ll pardon the post, I’m going to get on my soap-box for a moment.

Overall, yes, the CAL plays like a hitters’ league. But it is CRAZY-skewed by 2 or 3 parks: High Desert, Lancaster, and possibly one other. Nearly all the rest of the parks are neutral or pitcher-friendly. Lake Elisnore, in particular is quite pitcher friendly (it is at least very hitter-unfriendly to right-handed hitters).

I do not remember the numbers exactly, but I think the LF line is 330ish but extends out RAPIDLY to 425 in LC. Straight-away CF is roughly 400 +/-, RC is a modest 385 and the RF line is 320 (I think) but has a mini-Fenway-esque wall.

I always encourage people to look at the home/road splits for ANY player from the CAL. It’s a big reason why after 2007, I was telling everyone I could that Blanks was better than Lars Anderson - who had elevated stats from Lancaster (I think he was at Lancaster, well one of those ridiculous parks).

Okay, I’m off the soap-box now…

-peter

by PeterF on Feb 12, 2026 9:52 PM EST reply actions

Good points

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=anders002lar
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=blanks001kyl

You are right as well. Lars was playing at Lancaster, in 2007 and 2008.
Also - despite this, Blanks still hit just as well, If not better. As usual, Blanks’ only real flaw, compared to Lars Anderson, was not playing in the Red Sox system.

"If my uniform doesn't get dirty, I haven't done anything in the baseball game." - Rickey Henderson

by casejud on Feb 13, 2026 12:02 AM EST up reply actions

Just a few observations from his miserable 2010 campaign.

His swing just got too damn long again. The Padres made a huge mistake making him the cleanup hitter out of spring training. As “protection” for Adrian Gonzalez, he faced extreme scrutiny from opposing teams he just wasn’t ready to handle. I look for little signs in hitters and try and extrapolate what’s going on mentally with them. I remember him being asked what his approach was to facing a certain pitcher and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. I’m not sure he really has an approach to speak of. He’s just a “grip it and rip it” type of guy. They tried to tell him to be patient at the plate but since he doesn’t have an approach, that just confused him. He was taking good pitches and swinging at bad ones. Eventually the desperation built up so he really tried hitting home runs and just made his swing long in the process. He couldn’t catch up to fastballs and it disrupted his timing with breaking balls. It’s kind of a classic crash and burn story. Many a prospect has died this way.

Honestly, they’ve got to fix his swing and let him develop an approach he can carry over into the bigs before he should get another shot. He looks a good season or two away from being a credible big leaguer to me. Just my 2 cents.

"Never have a motto, that's what I always say" - Me
http://marcel-oehler.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/1986/05/19860506.gif

by padmadfan on Feb 13, 2026 12:08 PM EST reply actions

I really like Blanks ...

… and I also believe he’s going to have some nice seasons. I totally agree that his swing was insanely long last year. I guess that’s a function of being throwing into the 4 hole. I disagree with the assertion that he’s a grip it and rip it kid.

Those guys don’t post a .393 OBP in 1,700 (minor league) at-bats.

"Most overrated prospect in the minors." -- Bravesin07 on Madison Bumgarner

by criminal type on Feb 13, 2026 12:28 PM EST reply actions

The swing and the injury

Interesting to note that Blanks claims the atrocious approach at the plate over the first two months of last year had nothing to do with the injury, which he said “pretty much happened in one day.”
His swing definitely had lengthened back out last year, and I’m not sure why that happened. It’s particularly odd since Randy Ready was with him in both Ft. Wayne and San Antonio, but I would hope they’d be able to get him back to the wider base, short stride and better separation he had with his hands in 2008. In terms of the notion of “grip and rip,” that’s just not the case. He’s had solid strike zone knowledge since he came out of Yavapai and showed really strong contact skills as he advanced. He’s definitely not a guy who has to muscle up to hit any pitch out of any park on any swing, and when he’s gone well (including his 09 call-up), he wasn’t swinging from his heels at all.

by realitypolice on Feb 14, 2026 10:50 AM EST reply actions

Yeah, I completely miss-characterized what I was trying to say with the "grip it and rip it" comment.

I wasn’t trying to infer he had abandoned his patience and was swinging from the heels on every pitch. Actually, I referenced that he was taking too many good pitches and ended up swinging at bad ones. I meant that he had no earthly clue what to do at the plate and was reduced to being a one dimensional slugger. He was ill-equipped to make adjustments because I don’t think his game plan had matured to the point he could handle big league pitching, particularly when he would be the subject of intense scrutiny as Adrian’s “protection”.

The real irony is that he’s so damn strong he could get away with having a short stride, hip shift type swing and still have all fields power.

"Never have a motto, that's what I always say" - Me
http://marcel-oehler.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/1986/05/19860506.gif

by padmadfan on Feb 14, 2026 4:27 PM EST up reply actions

In that case, I agree with everything. The total loss of a plan at the plate was a real surprise to me because he’d really developed it nicely late in 07 and then through that great season in San Antonio. I hope he and Ready can get back to that place!

Blanks is the subject of one of my favorite probably apocryphal stories… Since he was a draft and follow, the scout made arrangements to get him to come down from Yavapai to Peoria to take batting practice in front of the player development guys right after minor league camp opened the following spring. He was out on the back field and Grady Fuson was on his way out to watch him. As he’s coming in, Blanks launches two consecutive pitches that landed well beyond the fence in left center. Fuson stops, authorizes the six-figure signing bonus, and turns around to go back to the office having never actually reached the field. Like I said, probably not true, but the front office guy who told it was definitely selling it.

by realitypolice on Feb 15, 2026 10:46 AM EST up reply actions