Howie Kendrick Stats & Scouting Report

AB	5950
AVG	.294
OBP	.337
SLG	.43
HR	127

Full name Howie Joseph Kendrick
Born 07/12/1983 in Jacksonville, FL
Profile Ht.: 5'11" / Wt.: 225 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School St. Johns River State JC
Debut 04/26/2006
Drafted in the 10th round (294th overall) by the Los Angeles Angels in 2002.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

The Angels originally selected Kendrick as a draft-and-follow, but at the behest of area scout Tom Kotchman they signed him right away for $100,000. Last year he finished second in the minors (.367) and fourth in the Arizona Fall League (.380) in hitting. Kendrick may be the best pure hitter in the minors. His swing is compact, balanced and easily repeated. He lets pitches get deep before centering them and driving them to all fields. His swing doesn't create much loft, but he should hit at least 15-20 homers annually because of his bat speed and penchant for making hard contact. His instincts are exceptional in all phases of the game, which makes him an average baserunner and should allow him to develop into a competent defender. Kendrick's non-hitting tools aren't special. He has fringe-average speed, and his range, arm and defensive footwork are average at best. He makes contact so easily that he rarely walks. Kendrick could win multiple batting titles in the big leagues. Angels starter Adam Kennedy will be a free agent following the 2006 season, at which point Kendrick should take over. He's ready for Triple-A Salt Lake, though Los Angeles also must figure out how to get Alberto Callaspo at-bats.
Kendrick has improved exponentially since he was cut as a college freshman. After he found a home at little-known St. John's River (Fla.) CC, area scout Tom Kotchman loved his bat so much he urged the Angels to draft him in the 10th round in 2002. Though he missed two months with a groin injury in 2004, he won the low Class A Midwest League batting title and raised his career average to .357. Kendrick derives his hitting ability from extraordinary hand-eye coordination and a balanced, controlled swing. He has a clear plan for each at-bat and recalls pitchers' tendencies, allowing him to adjust from one pitch to the next. He has gap power and is an excellent situational hitter. Only Kendrick's bat grades as an above-average tool. He has improved defensively but remains a work in progress. His range and arm are average at best. Kendrick is a below-average runner but has good instincts on the basepaths. Kendrick has drawn comparisons to Orlando Hudson and fits the mold of a prototypical No. 2 hitter. He could do a lot of damage at high Class A Rancho Cucamonga, a hitter's haven, in 2005.
Scout/minor league manager Tom Kotchman first identified Kendrick as a potential draft-and- follow selection in 2002. Instead of waiting a year and risking losing him, Kotchman used video of Kendrick to persuade the Angels to sign him immediately for $100,000. Kendrick started 4-for-40 last season in Provo, then hit .423 the rest of the way to finish fourth in the league in hitting. He has a short, direct swing with outstanding hand speed. He stays inside the ball and shows the ability to make adjustments. Kendrick is a contact hitter with the strength to drive the ball into the gaps. He's physical and athletic, comparing to undersized second basemen such as Harold Reynolds and Ray Durham. Kendrick is a steady defender who makes the routine play. His arm strength is solid-average, and he has good hands and is dedicated to improving. Right behind Alberto Callaspo on the system's depth chart at second base, Kendrick is primed for a promotion to low Class A.

Minor League Top Prospects

Kendrick easily could have ranked atop this list in most seasons. Managers raved about his bat speed and his consistent production at the plate. A career .361 hitter in the minors, he put together a 16-game hitting streak early in his big league debut "He's as pure a hitter as you'll see," Oklahoma manager Mike Boulanger said. "He uses the whole field, but his approach is to drive the ball back up the middle. With his swing, you won't see him fall into many slumps." Kendrick's stroke is designed to produce line drives rather than towering blasts, but he still could produce 20 homers per season thanks to his bat speed. His speed and defensive skills are fringy, but he has worked very hard on his second-base play. He made just five errors in his first 81 games (counting the majors) at second this year, and also filled in at first and third base.
Kendrick entered 2005 with a career batting average of .357--and improved upon that during the first half of the season with the Quakes. He hit .384 with 35 multi-hit efforts in 63 games, going consecutive games without a hit just once. He also added power to his game, establishing a new career high in home runs by early July, and batted .342 after a promotion to Double-A. Kendrick's swing is short, simple and direct. He gets the bat into the zone quickly, uses all fields and shows no discernable weakness. "He's the best contact hitter I've seen in the minor leagues in a long time," Stockton manager Todd Steverson said. Scouts also praised Kendrick's work ethic and pointed to a number of improvements in the field, including his footwork, throwing accuracy and double-play pivot. He now projects as an average second baseman.
Despite a career .357 average, Kendrick was relatively unheralded coming into the 2005 season. That's not the case any longer after he tore his way through the high Class A California League and didn't miss a beat after a midseason promotion to Arkansas. Managers and scouts universally praised him as the top hitter in the league, and one scout called him the best he saw all summer. He hits every ball off the sweet spot, and his hand-eye coordination allows him to let pitches get deeper and makes him less likely to get fooled. Arkansas manager Tom Gamboa compared him to Tony Gwynn and Mark Grace because of his smooth swing and balance at the plate. Kendrick went 2-for-5 in his first TL game and never slowed down. "He hit four line drives--just bullets--and I thought, 'So much for the adjustment to Double-A for this guy," Gamboa said. Kendrick also made significant defensive improvements this year and now projects as an average glove man at second base. He should hit No. 2 or even No. 3 in a big league batting order, depending on how much power he develops.
Kendrick missed two months with a groin injury, but that couldn't stop him from winning the MWL batting title at .367. A notoriously slow starter, he batted .241 in April and .410 afterward. Kendrick's career .357 average as a pro results from excellent hand-eye coordination and a balanced, controlled swing. He lets his natural bat speed do most of the work, and can drive the ball for gap power. He makes contact so easily that it impedes his ability to draw walks. Though his speed is fringe average, his instincts make opponents respect him as a basestealer. Raw defensively when he signed out of junior college in 2002, Kendrick has improved his arm strength, footwork and range. He also has gotten better at turning the double play and is now a reliable defender.
Kendrick overcame a 4-for-40 start to place fourth in the league in hitting. His torrid finish included a .404 July and .451 August. Another Kotchman signee from the Florida junior college ranks, Kendrick has plus hand speed at the plate, thanks to his strong, quick wrists. Kotchman considers Kendrick a Ray Durham clone and said the ball sounds different off his bat. Also like Durham, Kendrick isn't a standout defender at second base, though he works hard. "He's quietly aggressive," Carey said. "Howie looks to be the kind of player that will grind his way to the big leagues."