Alex Gordon & Kevin Kouzmanoff

Alex Gordon & Kevin Kouzmanoff

 

Alex Gordon

 

The official word from the Royals front office is basically (paraphrasing here): “We’ll give him 40 games minimum to judge how he’s doing.”

Maybe I’m jumping the gun here, but after 38 games Gordon has one of the worst OPS’ in the major’s at a lowly .541. In these games, he’s stuck out 41 times, walked 15, scored only 11 runs, and drove in a minuscule 5 RBI. The lack of RBI is all the more disheartening when one considers he was hitting high in the order during the first few weeks of the season.

Gordon skipped AAA in his assertion to the majors. Now is the time to send him back, even if it’s only for a few weeks. This should help him regain any lost confidence, and still give him an opportunity to play at the MLB level in 2007.

The NL’s hot shot rookie third baseman, Kevin Kouzmanoff, isn’t faring any better himself, although he’s a different story. Gordon is a young rookie, was selected 2nd overall and skipped AAA. Kouzmanoff will be turning 26 in a couple of months, was drafted in the 6th round, and has played in every minor league level.

Yet Kouz himself only has an OPS of .480, 12 RBI, and a ridiculously low 3 runs scored in 98 AB. Unlike the Royals, the playoff contending Padres have moved Kevin in and out of the line-up, starting some days, being pinch hit for on others.

Some that follow the Padres say that Kouzmanoff is finally starting to come around, as he has risen his batting average by more than .50 points in the last week, hitting .545. Over the past two weeks, he has an average of .318.

I’ve been in favor of keeping Kouzmanoff at the major league level, due to age and his past AAA production (.353 BA, 1.056 OPS).

It’ll be fun to watch the results of two players with such a dichotomy the rest of the season. The Rookie of the Year awards are still wide open in both leagues and a second half charge by either one of these players could help them obtain the coveted award.
 

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