2010-07-02

Interview with Kevin Ahrens



Kevin Ahrens was selected 16th overall in 2007 as an 18 year old.  Your Toronto Blue Jays made 5 picks in the first round of that draft and Kevin was taken the highest.  He was drafted out of Memorial high school in Texas as a switch hitting shortstop and received a $1,440,000.00 signing bonus.

Here is a quick look at his stats:

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG




2007 18 Blue Jays GULF Rk TOR 48 192 165 19 38 6 0 3 21 3 0 25 47 .230 .339 .321






2008 19 Lansing MIDW A TOR 122 514 460 54 119 25 5 5 42 5 1 45 135 .259 .329 .367






2009 20 Dunedin FLOR A+ TOR 105 423 377 35 81 17 2 4 36 1 1 37 76 .215 .282 .302






2010 21 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-A TOR 37 155 145 14 25 8 1 1 11 2 2 7 35 .172 .214 .262






2010 21 Lansing MIDW A TOR 13 56 55 2 9 3 0 0 5 1 2 1 18 .164 .179 .218






2010 21 Dunedin FLOR A+ TOR 24 99 90 12 16 5 1 1 6 1 0 6 17 .178 .235 .289






4 Seasons 312 1284 1147 122 263 56 8 13 110 11 4 114 293 .229 .301 .326






A (2 seasons) 135 570 515 56 128 28 5 5 47 6 3 46 153 .249 .314 .351






A+ (2 seasons) 129 522 467 47 97 22 3 5 42 2 1 43 93 .208 .273 .300






Rk (1 season) 48 192 165 19 38 6 0 3 21 3 0 25 47 .230 .339 .321







Considering he was selected higher than both Brett Cecil who has made it to the Majors Leagues and J.P. Arencibia who is beating down the door in AAA, I think it is fair to say the organization expected more.  Still just 21 years old, he has been sent back to Lansing, told to drop the left handed side of the switch hit and focus on his natural right hand swing.  After taking a look at his minor league splits, I think I see why.  In 865 at bats against RHP he is hitting .216 and slugging .303 with 9 home runs and 227 strike outs.  

Our boy Jesse caught up with Kevin this week and talked to him about his move to third base as well as his transformation as a hitter.  A very insightful interview.  Check it:
 
 

2 comments:

  1. Like you alluded to, a 21 year old has plenty of time to get it together. If it takes a few years he's still only 24. I'll take it. I'll especially take JP getting to and sticking at the majors sooner than later...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mattt,
    It really is stupid to give up on a guy and label him when he is just barely allowed to drink alcohol in his native country.
    He is under team control for a while. Keep an eye on him.

    ReplyDelete