#7 Roger Kieschnick AA .251/.305/.368 with 4 HR in 223 AB's
After a stellar 2009 season in A+ San Jose in which he put up a line of .296/.345/.532 with 23 HR's, Roger Kieschnick looked like he might be on the fast track to the majors. Unfortunately, he had a rough season in 2010. Roger actually got off to a decent start in AA hitting .289 in April. He had a horrible month of May hitting just .190. He seemed to recover a bit in June with a .286 BA, but then came out of his second game in July after 1 AB and never returned to the lineup with some sort of back injury or ailment. I did a quick google search and came up empty on any information regarding the injury. Back injuries can be unpredictable. They can heal up and never cause a problem again, or they can become chronic and debilitating. Anybody remember a guy named Dallas McPherson?
Aside from a lack of power and a poor to mediocre walk rate, Roger really only had 1 really bad month. He lost out on the part of the season where Eastern League hitters usually heat up, so we don't know what he might have done the rest of the way. He will definitely drop significantly in the 2011 Top Prospect lists, but should not be written off completely. He got great size, is a good athlete and has shown tremendous power potential. At this point, his career outcome will probably be determined by the health of his back, so he could be back in the top 10 by this time next year or he could be off the list altogether. 2011 will be an important year for Roger Kieschnick.
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Yeah, I really like Roger after seeing him at Adlento. Disappointed ih his year at Ricmond but more disappointed with the injury.
ReplyDeleteConcerning injuries... It makes one wonder how much stretching exercies are done because of the numerous hamstrings. How much serious exercise do these guys get when you look at a guys like Pablo and Uribe? I know Posey MadBum were pretty hard on themselves while they were at Adelento with SJ, so I figured that was their normal activity. I didn't see much else except hitting off the tee.
Totally agree DrB, I think you got Roger pegged just right. Didn't know about his back problem, but they don't go away without good guidance on how to treat, and frankly, the Giants (and most probably the rest of the MLB) appears to be pretty lax regarding providing that type of care to minor leaguers generally.
ReplyDeleteI hope Bowtie has changed things around, but it would be my guess that Roger is trying to figure this out on his own, when he probably need some sort of fitness expert working with him regularly to improve the right muscles in his back to minimize the risk of recurrence of this. Something like that outfit that Pablo is working with right now would be ideal for Kieschnick, I think it would be critical for him to get his back into the proper fitness to minimize recurrence.
But yeah, can't give up on him yet, lot of good talents that could add up to a good ballplayer if he can continue to develop instead of being stalled by injuries.