Kevin Kouzmanoff Stats & Scouting Report

AB	2525
AVG	.257
OBP	.302
SLG	.424
HR	87

Full name Kevin Kouzmanoff
Born 07/25/1981 in Newport Beach, CA
Profile Ht.: 6'1" / Wt.: 210 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Nevada - Reno
Debut 09/02/2006
Drafted in the 6th round (168th overall) by the Cleveland Guardians in 2003 (signed for $45,000).

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Kouzmanoff, whose father Mel played for the NFL's Chicago Bears, hit .364-8-59 in 2002 at Arkansas-Little Rock. He was on pace to top all those numbers and led the Western Athletic Conference in homers and RBIs.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Kouzmanoff earned the nickname "The Crushin' Russian" (though he's actually of Macedonian decent) after homering in each of his first two games in the majors, including a grand slam on the first big league pitch he ever saw. An unheralded prospect when he signed as a sixth-rounder in 2003, he led the minors in slugging (.656) last year while finishing second in hitting (.379) and fourth in on-base percentage (.437). Because the Indians also had Andy Marte at third base, they felt comfortable including him with righthander Andrew Brown in a November trade for Josh Barfield. Kouzmanoff has a compact, line-drive stroke that produces power to all fields. He's not a tremendous athlete, but he maximizes his physical skills with all-out play on the bases and in the field. He shows a strong arm and makes the routine plays at third base. Some scouts question Kouzmanoff's ability to stay at the hot corner, but the Padres believe he can. He's a below-average runner. Injuries have dogged him the last two years, as he missed two months with a back injury in 2005 and lost time to back and hamstring strains in 2006. After hitting .332/.395/.556 in the minors, Kouzmanoff has nothing left to prove there. He would have faced another year in Triple-A had Cleveland held onto him, but he's the frontrunner to start at third base for San Diego.
The Indians have been successful mining the University of Nevada for talent. Kouzmanoff, who transferred from Arkansas-Little Rock after his junior year, hopes to follow former Tribe prospect Ryan Church to the big leagues. Cleveland farmhands Chris Gimenez and Joe Inglett also hail from Nevada. Kouzmanoff doesn't have one tool that stands out. He's a throwback of sorts who makes all the routine plays at third base and religiously breaks down his swing searching for ways to improve. He's more upright at the plate than ever, maximizing the use of his lower half and making consistent hard, line-drive contact to all fields. He's a below-average runner who's an average defender at best, so his bat will have to carry him. In part because he signed as a college senior, Kouzmanoff has played just seven games above Class A despite being 24. He lost two months of development time last year when a back injury caused him to be shut down in June and July. The injury can be traced to his stint in the Arizona Fall League in 2004, when he fell into a dugout chasing a foul ball. His back bothered him throughout spring training and sapped much of his ability to drive the ball. He should be healthy to start this season in Double-A.
The Indians drafted Kouzmanoff in the sixth round out of Nevada, the same school that produced former Tribe prospect Ryan Church (now a big league outfielder with the Nationals) and current farmhands Joe Inglett and Chris Gimenez (who led the New York-Penn League with 36 extra-base hits and a .527 slugging percentage in his 2004 pro debut). Kouzmanoff doesn't wow scouts with his tools, but he's one of the hardest workers in the system and tore up the low Class A South Atlantic League in his first full season debut. He's obsessed with breaking down video of each of his at-bats, and while his swing is unorthodox, he makes consistently hard contact. The Indians worked with him to stand up straighter in the box to maximize his lower half in his swing, allowing him to drive more balls to the opposite field. Defensively, he makes all the routine plays at third base. Kouzmanoff was a bit old for low Class A last year, and at 23 he'll be ahead of most of his competition in high Class A in 2005.

Minor League Top Prospects

A self-made hitter, Kouzmanoff has surpassed all expectations since signing as a sixth-round pick as a college senior out of Nevada in 2003. He carried a .315 pro average into this season, then raked in the EL, hit .353 in Triple-A and slugged a grand slam on the first big league pitch he saw. Patient and calculating, Kouzmanoff works counts and awaits his pitch. He's balanced and under control throughout his swing, and he has above-average bat speed and power. "I can't think of a better righthanded hitter I've seen as a minor league player or manager in the last seven or eight years," Leiper said. Kouzmanoff won't compete for any Gold Glove, but he makes most of the routine plays at third base and his bat should play in the big leagues, even as a DH. He's a below-average runner.