Roger Kieschnick - fantasy league review

[Mays-Fan]

[excerpted]

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San Francisco Giants outfielder Roger Kieschnick is old for a prospect, at age 25, and has a track record marred by injuries, but he's quietly enjoying a fine season with Triple-A Fresno. He's batting .333 with 13 homers, 33 RBIs, 41 runs scored and a 1.062 OPS in 183 at-bats.

In Fresno's 10-7 win at Albuquerque last night, Kieschnick went 4-for-5 with a pair of homers and six RBIs.

The book on Kieschnick is that he brings good power to the table as evidenced by his .488 career slugging percentage. In the past, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound outfielder was too pull-conscious at times, and holes in his big swing made him susceptible to high strikeout totals.

Last season, Kieschnick hit just .255 and racked up 121 strikeouts to only 34 walks in 459 at-bats with Double-A Richmond. In 2010, the former Texas Tech star posted an ugly .613 OPS at Richmond. A stress fracture in his lower back affected his performance.

This season, Kieschnick already has 52 strikeouts in 183 at-bats but is on pace to shatter his previous high in walks. His rate of a walk for every 9.1 at-bats is by far the best of his career. Historically, he has struggled mightily versus lefties, but this season he is hitting .303 with six homers and a 1.056 OPS against southpaws.

The Texas native is making improvements in many different facets of his game this year. As Bryan LaHair has shown this year with the Chicago Cubs, late-blooming power hitters with poor plate discipline shouldn't be written off completely.

However, the Giants have so many similar corner outfield options in Aubrey Huff, Brandon Belt, Brett Pill and Nate Schierholtz that it's hard to see Kieschnick getting a boatload of major league at-bats this season. Based on Kieschnick's history of mediocre batting averages and obscene strikeout totals, fantasy managers are wise not to put a lot of stock in his Pacific Coast League breakout at his age.


Read more: Fantasy Baseball Player Prospecting: Danny Hultzen, Roger Kieschnick, more :: KFFL - Article

 

[calsnowskier]

I think it is a pretty fair critique with a couple small exceptions...

1) attacking him for hs age us a bit harsh. 25 is not too old for a md-range prospect.
2) attacking his AA numbers without giving the league caveat is not fair.

 

[Heathbar012]

I think it is a pretty fair critique with a couple small exceptions...

1) attacking him for hs age us a bit harsh. 25 is not too old for a md-range prospect.
2) attacking his AA numbers without giving the league caveat is not fair.

Agreed. When something is skewed to a fantasy baseball audience, I find that a little too much credence is given to the by-the-book statistical analysis of a player. There are other factors that fantasy owners (even in the deepest of keeper leagues) can't appreciate about a prospect until they hit a certain number for a certain amount of time in the right league. It's using stats to dictate the hypothesis rather than support an assertion that has been examined, first hand. Plus, we're Giants fans, so we have to believe that the guy, at least, might have figured it all out.

 

[calsnowskier]

Agreed. When something is skewed to a fantasy baseball audience, I find that a little too much credence is given to the by-the-book statistical analysis of a player. There are other factors that fantasy owners (even in the deepest of keeper leagues) can't appreciate about a prospect until they hit a certain number for a certain amount of time in the right league. It's using stats to dictate the hypothesis rather than support an assertion that has been examined, first hand. Plus, we're Giants fans, so we have to believe that the guy, at least, might have figured it all out.

Dont get me wrong...

I do NOT think Kiesch is the second coming. I am expecting more along the lines of a Bowker +. I am in basic agreement with the article that he should passed over by fantasy owners.

I just think there is a so-so chance I could be wrong because of the outliers that I mentioned.

 

[Heathbar012]

Dont get me wrong...

I do NOT think Kiesch is the second coming. I am expecting more along the lines of a Bowker +. I am in basic agreement with the article that he should passed over by fantasy owners.

I just think there is a so-so chance I could be wrong because of the outliers that I mentioned.

Oh, I got you. I was going off on a tangent about the difference between evaluating a player based on what he provides to the organization over numbers for a fantasy team. I'm pretty happy with what John Bowker provided for the Giants' organization. If that is Kiesch's fate for this or another playoff push, he has served San Francisco well. I'm just building on the running theme of stats being a lot of fun, and great for analysis, but don't tell the complete story.

 

[Stokes1931]

Oh, I got you. I was going off on a tangent about the difference between evaluating a player based on what he provides to the organization over numbers for a fantasy team. I'm pretty happy with what John Bowker provided for the Giants' organization. If that is Kiesch's fate for this or another playoff push, he has served San Francisco well. I'm just building on the running theme of stats being a lot of fun, and great for analysis, but don't tell the complete story.

Like Cain being merely a .500 pitcher, and never beating the Dodgers (until last year?