Friday, August 29, 2008

Minor League Prospect Watch - Kyle Blanks


This week I chose to highlight Kyle Blanks in the Minor League Prospect Watch. Blanks is in the San Diego Padres system and is a 6'6", 270 pound first baseman, who not only mashes the ball but he also has some nifty footwork around the bag at first.

Kyle Blanks has been crushing the ball all season in Double-A, including a 9 RBI game this past Monday. He definitely has a Frank Thomas like build to him and while he doesn't walk as much as The Big Hurt, he still gets his fair share of walks with 51 on the season. His .403 on-base percentage is certainly impressive for a man of his size and proves that he is more than just a slugger. The one problem right now for Blanks is that he is blocked at first base in the majors by Adrian Gonzalez, so it wouldn't surprise me to see the Padres trade either Blanks or Gonzalez at some point in the next couple seasons. My guess would be that they trade Blanks, unless they don't want to spend money on Gonzalez when he becomes a free agent.

Here are Kyle Blanks stats for the season to date:

.324 AVG/18 HR/ 104 RBI/.403 OBP/.506 SLG/.909 OPS/51 BB

You can check out Kyle Blank's up to date stats on his Baseball Reference player page and his First Inning player page.

Here is where Kyle Banks ranks among minor league prospects:

Ranking in ScoutingBook (8/29/2008): #182
Ranking in Baseball America 2008: n/a
Ranking in Baseball Prospectus: Unranked
Ranking in MiLB.com Season Preview Unranked
Ranking from the Sporting News: Unranked
Ranking from ESPN: #68

Banks was not ranked that highly at the beginning of this season because he had not shown great power for his size but I think he may be ranked higher when next seasons rankings come out.

Here is everything you need to know about Kyle Blanks:

A nine-RBI performance on Monday, not to mention hits in nearly half his at-bats, was enough to keep the massive first baseman stationed near the top of the Hot Sheet. Blanks has reached a new gear in the second half, hitting .335/.399/.578 with 12 home runs and 13 doubles in 218 at-bats. He ranks second in the Texas League in RBIs (104) and hits (155), fourth in average (.324) and fifth in on-base percentage (.403). That's a heck of a year for the second-youngest regular position player (Elvis Andrus is 20) in the league. (Baseball America)

Kyle Blanks drove in so many runs on Monday, he literally lost track. Blanks went 5-for-6 with a homer and a career-high nine RBIs as the visiting San Antonio Missions totaled 28 hits in a 21-3 rout of the Corpus Christi Hooks on Monday. "I knew I had a few, but I thought I was somewhere around five RBIs," Blanks said. "I didn't know I had nine, but it was nice to know I did that well. It's definitely one of the best games I've ever had, by far." The 21-year-old Blanks drew a bases-loaded walk in the third inning, lined an RBI single in the fourth, singled again in the sixth, hit a two-run double in the eighth and did serious damage in the ninth with a two-run homer and a three-RBI double. "It felt good, I was just swinging the bat and had people on base for me," said Blanks, who's batting .318 with 18 homers and 101 RBIs this year. "Everyone did real well for me tonight, so it felt real good." Blanks drove in a previous career-high six runs in his first professional game back on June 22, 2005 for the Rookie-level Arizona League Padres. "It's nice to know I've got another number to aim for," Blanks said. A lofty goal, although nothing seems out of reach considering the way the Texas League All-Star has been swinging lately. It was the second five-hit effort in the last six days for Blanks, who, after his latest performance, has 21 RBIs in his last 11 games for the Missions. "I definitely think I've made some good adjustments to both the pitchers and parks," Blanks said of his fourth season. "I've played a little more this year, some more first base than DH, and I think I've made some pretty good adjustments. Hopefully I'll continue to do it." Blanks went 5-for-7 with a pair of homers and six RBIs on Aug. 20 against Frisco and said the secret was in his hands. "My hitting coach, Terry Kennedy, has been working with me over the past two weeks, and he gave me a little something he'd seen. Ever since than I've put that to work, things have just clicked," said Blanks. "He told me to get my hands up a little higher, so I brought them up and I started hitting again." The Padres' 42nd-round pick in 2004 has been an All-Star in each of his four seasons in San Diego's system. He was named the best power hitter in the organization by Baseball America in 2006, only to follow up the honor with 24 homers and 100 RBIs for Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore in 2007. That power Storm lineup is now in San Antonio, and Blanks said it felt like old times Monday. The Missions batted around four times. "We actually last year had a 30-0 game with 28 hits," Blanks said of the Storms' May 18 win over Lancaster last season. Blanks had six hits and scored six times that night. "This is virtually the exact same squad. A lot of the same guys are here, so we've put together some good games here as well." With four RBIs heading into the ninth, Blanks was just looking to stay on the roll. "I was just looking for a good pitch to hit. I was getting a lot of fastballs, and I looked for another," he said. "I got it that time and put a good swing on it." The Missions loaded the bases for Blanks a second time. There would be no bases-loaded walk in this inning. "I really just wanted to keep it rolling, just get a hit and keep everything going," Blanks said of the bases-clearing double that gave him 101 RBIs on the season. "And hopefully we'd keep going from there." Blanks is 13th Texas League player to have nine RBIs in a game. J.J. Clark holds a seemingly unbreakable record of 16 RBIs, set on June 15, 1902. But Blanks was just a piece of the puzzle. Jose Lobaton went 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs, Josh Alley had three hits and three RBIs, Craig Cooper added a pinch-hit two-run double and Gabriel Lopez went 4-for-6 and scored twice. The Missions' 28 hits were the most by a Texas League team since they tallied 28 on May 8, 1999 to beat the Midland RockHounds. Craig Monroe was the last player to total nine RBIs in a Texas League game on April 8, 2000 for the Tulsa Drillers. "It really just seemed like everyone was locked in," Blanks said. "Even the pitcher [Stephen Faris] had two hits." (MLB.com)

It may be a lost season in San Diego, where the Padres have long been out of contention and unloaded Greg Maddux up the street to the Dodgers. But in the Padres system there are some encouraging storylines and they begin with Blanks, the 6-foot-6, 281-pound hoss who was a 2004 draft-and-follow from Yavapai (Ariz.) JC.Blanks' big week was highlighted by his 6-RBI, 5-for-7 showing Wednesday against Frisco. In that game, he ripped a double and two home runs, including the walk-off winner in the 12th inning. Just 21, Blanks owns the eighth-best average (.313) in the Texas League as he has shown he is not a think-homer-first kind of basher. And look at his 91 RBIs. They are second, behind 25-year-old Tommy Everidge's 108 and ahead of three others who are in their mid-20s. His 140 hits also are third-best in the league and, cementing his status has to be his home average. It's .328, in a ballpark hardly known to be kind to hitters. Blanks' defense also has not been lost on Texas League managers, who like his nifty foot work at first base (he's committed five errors). (Baseball America)

Kyle Blanks and the San Antonio Missions showed no ill effects, one night after being no-hit for 5 1/3 innings by the Frisco RoughRiders. The 21-year-old slugger smacked his second homer of the game in the bottom of the 12th to give the Missions a wild 14-12 victory over the RoughRiders at Wolff Stadium. Needing a triple for the cycle, Blanks followed Chad Huffman's leadoff walk with his 17th homer of the season to give the Missions (28-29) their third win in four games. "It was great to get the win. We fought back all night and it was nice to get off the field with a win after five hours," Blanks said. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound first baseman went 5-for-7 and tied a career high with six RBIs. He had run-scoring singles in the first and fourth before launching a two-run homer in the sixth. In the eighth, he hit his 20th double to plate another run and, one batter later, Seth Johnston tied the game at 10-10 with a sacrifice fly. The teams traded zeros in the ninth to force extra innings and give Blanks another shot at the triple he needed for the cycle. He struck out in the 10th with the Missions trailing, 12-10, but Colt Morton tied the game with a two-out double. "[The cycle] definitely crossed my mind," Blanks said. "I heard someone say something about it on the bench at some point. I just wanted to get on base and keep the wheels moving and hopefully have someone drive me in." It was Blanks' fifth career multi-homer game and the third time he has driven in six runs. He homered twice and collected six RBIs for Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore on May 12, 2007. That was part of a season in which the New Mexico native batted .301 with 24 homers, 31 doubles and 100 RBIs to earn California League midseason and postseason All-Star honors. The six RBIs moved him into second place in the Texas League with 91. A starter in the Texas League All-Star Game, Blanks had a monster July, batting .307 with six homers and 26 RBIs in 26 games. He is 17-for-33 (.515) with three homers and 14 RBIs in his last nine contests. "I'm just being more patient," said Blanks, San Diego's 42nd-round pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. "When I get those good pitches to hit, I'm hitting them and not missing them." Drew Macias homered, drove in two runs and scored five times, while Johnston homered and drove in three runs. One night after Frisco's Neftali Feliz and Trey Hodges combined on a rain-shortened no-hitter, Macias, Johnston and Blanks combined to go 10-for-17 with four homers, 11 RBIs and nine runs scored. "It's never fun to get no-hit," Blanks said. "They pitched well yesterday, but we wanted to come out and swing the bats and take that away. It seemed like everyone had some kind of part in it and we just had that never-say-die attitude." (MILB.com)

Kyle Blanks is the biggest thing in the Midwest League--literally. If he keeps hitting like he is, he will be the biggest thing figuratively as well.The 6-foot-6, 290-pounder was 3-for-4 last night with two doubles for Fort Wayne, and on the season the Padres prospect is 6-for-16 with five extra-base hits. He also has only one strikeout, a promising sign for a player who fanned 49 times in 164 at-bats in the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2005.The 19-year-old signed as a draft-and-follow after the Padres took him in the 42nd round out of Yavapai (Ariz.) JC. Despite his size, Blanks is graceful around the bag at first as he was named national juco defensive player of the year. (Baseball America)

Blanks batted .440 with 85 hits in 193 at bats, scored 45 runs, drove in 47, with 25 doubles and eight homer runs, leading the team in each of those categories. He also added five triples and 23 stolen bases in 25 attempts while walking 14 times and striking out 38 times. The Padres ended up signing the prospect just prior to the May 30 deadline for $260K.

How is it possible that a Kyle Blanks, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound athlete, can steal 23 bases?

Coach Smeltzer: Actually he is 280 pounds. Kyle is an amazing athlete, not just for his size, but for anyone’s size. He runs a 6.90 sixty-yard dash which is an average Major League time. He is a very intelligent baserunner. I think because of his size he gets ignored a little bit by opposing pitchers until they figure out that this kid will steal a base on me. He is a very good athlete. A very smart baserunner and obviously for his size he can really run.

Kyle won Player of the Year for the league and helped you guys immensely, what does he bring to the table as far as his all-around game?

Coach Smeltzer: Kyle is a kid that can hit for average right now and as time goes on he will develop more consistency with his power. He has a lot of power in his swing and it is not something he showed in high school. He only hit five home runs with the metal bat. What is more impressive about his offensive numbers is we play with wooden bats in our league. Kyle has already had 200 wood at bats which will put him ahead of the game. He ended up hitting ten homers, including playoffs, with a wood bat and that power consistency is going to continue to come and a lot of the average hitting he does comes from the pure strength of being able to pull balls through the six-hole and fighting balls off to the right side. He will continue to hit for average but we will see that average drop as he continues to become more of a power hitter. He has a good approach offensively, even when he gets two strikes. Right now he is about putting the ball in play with two strikes as opposed to what the Padres may try and have him do, air it out through the whole at bat and really learn how to develop that power.

As a right-handed, first baseman with his size, how is his fielding and work around the bag?

Coach Smeltzer: Defensively, agility-wise, his feet work well around the bag. He does tend to get a little bit top-heavy when he is fielding ground balls. I think that is still growing into his body. His feet, for being size 16, they do move well. He will continue to get better. He got a lot better for us as the year went on from a lot of his hard work and being coachable. He was a high school shortstop, if you can believe that. It is really a new position for him and it is continuing to become an everyday learning experience for him. Footwork and athletically he is getting very good at it.

Given his large frame, does he also carry a long swing and what types of pitches give him trouble?

Coach Smeltzer: His strike zone is big but his swing is very short and compact. You have to when you use a wood bat and face the caliber of pitching we face on a day-to-day basis. He has faced plenty of 88-to-92 arms on a regular basis in our conference. You can't have a long swing and have success with a wood bat in your hands facing those kinds of arms. His swing is very short but his strike zone is very big. That is something he has to fight through and he struggles with at times. Those balls down a little bit below his knees are a long reach for him. I think mentally it works in his favor because the pitcher sees that it is a large strike (
Padres Scout)


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