Dean Kiekhefer
| IP | 24 |
|---|---|
| ERA | 6.375 |
| WHIP | 1.625 |
| BB/9 | 3 |
| SO/9 | 5.625 |
- Full name Dean Allen Kiekhefer
- Born 06/07/1989 in Louisville, KY
- Profile Ht.: 6'0" / Wt.: 175 / Bats: L / Throws: L
- School Louisville
- Debut 05/14/2016
- Drafted in the 36th round (1,099th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2010.
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
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Kiekhefer split time between starting and relieving at Louisville from 2008-10 before signing with the Cardinals as a 36th-rounder, and after passing through the Rule 5 draft unselected in 2014, he earned a spot on the 40-man roster in 2015. Kiekhefer never has had the physicality in his frame to start as a pro and had to improve his breaking ball to earn the 40-man spot as a potential left-on-left specialist. He's a bit of a slinger with a fastball that peaks at 90 mph, usually sitting in the upper 80s with some sinking life, and his low-80s changeup helps him give righthanded hitters a different look. Kiekhefer's strength is keeping the ball in the park, filling up the bottom of the strike zone and attacking lefthanded batters with a 75-79 mph curveball. He improved the power on the pitch and his ability to locate it over the last two seasons, and he threw it well in the Arizona Fall League, where he walked only one in 15 innings while getting plenty of groundouts and striking out 14. Kiekhefer will vie for a bullpen specialist role in 2016.
