In a season full of pleasant surprises, has there been a more pleasant surprise in fantasy baseball than Texas’ Ian Kinsler? The 26-year old’s flawless 5×5 rotisserie game has pushed him to the top of second base rankings this season, while putting him in the conversation for Fantasy MVP honors.
With speed that was quoted by Rangers assistant general manager Thad Levine as being “just a tick above average” in an SI.com article, Kinsler has still managed 26 stolen bases to go with 16 home runs. He ranks third in the American League batting race (.320), while leading the league with 99 runs scored and ranking second among major league second basemen with his 26 steals.
Teammate Michael Young, as the SI.com story goes on to point out, has been a tremendous influence on him. While we can take SI’s word for it when it comes to Young’s leadership and clubhouse presence, we can pretty easily see some similarities in their swings. Like Young, Kinsler can perennially contend for an American League batting title, while giving fantasy owners just what they need in all five standard offensive categories.
All Kinsler needed was his health to put together one of the best fantasy seasons of ‘08. He had flashed five-category production in both ‘06 and ‘07, but came down with injuries that shortened his season and affected him when he did play. While he has improved across the board during a career year, all of the vitals to his fantasy success — K-to-BB rate, OPS and stolen base percentage — have been effectively the same.
A look back at last season, when he hit .263 with 20 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 483 at-bats, and what we see is a line that is arguably more dynamic than what Kinsler has done so far in ‘08. The differences, of course, have been in his health and batting average, which has climbed 57 points to its current .320. Far fewer walks and strikeouts have contributed there, as Kinsler has a much higher contact rate than in any of his previous seasons.
All of the numbers help draw one conclusion: This guy’s career year is no fluke. Maturity, experience and (knock on wood) no oddball injuries have made him an All-Star, not any kind of dramatic change in what he does at the plate. Credit fantasy owners who used eighth round draft choices on him in the preseason with good vision, but we all should have seen this one coming.
Filed under: Storylines | Tagged: fantasy mlb, Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
