Remember when Kouzmanoff was a highly touted prospect with the Indians and was traded to San Diego for a player, Josh Barfield, who had just come off of a .280/.318/.423, 13 home run, 21 stolen base season? Kouzmanoff, now 30 years old, hasn’t lived up to expectations, but he did have one year with the Padres, back in 2008, where he hit .260 with 23 home runs.
The thing that has always hampered Kouz has been his lack of plate discipline and below average contact skills. Kouz has consistently posted low walk rates (4.6 percent career BB%), high chase rates (33.5 percent career chase rate) and below average contact rates (77.4 career contact rate). It’s easy to see why he has never hit for much AVG/OBP.
That being said, Kouz has never played his home games in a hitter-friendly home park, or even a neutral home park for that matter. He has spent the better part of the last five seasons in San Diego and Oakland, both major pitcher’s parks. Now, he should soon find himself in one of the better hitter’s parks in baseball.
For his career, Kouz is a .242/.288/.381 hitter at home with a 37.5 AB/HR rate. On the road, he is a career .267/.310/.457 hitter with a 24.1 AB/HR rate. Did I mention that he could be playing home games in one of the better hitter’s parks in baseball for the first time in his career? His career road AB/HR rate would translate to about 23 home runs given 550 at-bats.
This seems like a savvy move by the Rockies, who are in desperate need of a third baseman heading into 2012. If nothing else, Kouz has always played plus defense and limits his strikeouts. He will start his time with the Rockies at triple-A, but I have a feeling we will see a lot of him with the Rox in September.
At triple-A Sacramento this season, Kouz hit .302/.341/.550 with 13 home runs in 279 plate appearances. Take those numbers with a grain of salt, however, considering his age and still very low four-percent walk rate. Do, however, consider it a sign that he still has at least some life left in his bat.
If Kouz wins the everyday job next season, there is a decent enough chance he has a bit of a mid-career revival, providing the Rockies with the third baseman they seek for nothing more than cash or a player to be named later.
