2K11 Kendry Morales

[Jefe]

Fangraphs says he's in the 3rd tier of 1Bs. Razzball ranks him #11.

Big coming out in 2009, with 2010 cut way short due to a freak injury.

Marcel hates him this year (16 HR) and Bill James likes him (27 HR). Big difference there is expected plate attempts. (see Fangraphs page.)

.290 / 28HR / 95RBI sound about right?

[Erik]

Is Marcel expecting him to get hurt again, or to not be ready when the season starts? Because I haven't heard any evidence for the latter.

[Hornsby]

Is Marcel expecting him to get hurt again, or to not be ready when the season starts? Because I haven't heard any evidence for the latter.

From what The Angels are saying, he's ready to hit now, but he may not be ready to play in the field. If this is the case, he'll DH, Abreu will go back to the OF, and Bourjos will sit, pissing me off royally.

[DJBeasties]

Is Marcel expecting him to get hurt again, or to not be ready when the season starts? Because I haven't heard any evidence for the latter.

Marcels has Morales projected with 368 PA so I guess they are factoring that in. But Marcels is a monkey projection that "it is the most basic forecasting system you can have, that uses as little intelligence as possible. So, that's the allusion to the monkey. It uses 3 years of MLB data, with the most recent data weighted heavier. It regresses towards the mean. And it has an age factor."

Aside from the injury question marks Morales struggled against LHP the first six weeks he played. His power scores were down from elite to just above-league average by the time he got hurt. The HR/f was buoying him.

If he's healthy all year he'll hit 30 HRs I think supposing he can handle his own against LHP. Otherwise, he's David Ortiz.

[revo]

Morales was on pace to have an as good or better year in '10 than he did in '09, interestingly enough.

Assuming he would've gotten the same 566 ABs he did in '09, Morales would've finished with 85 runs, 32 HRs & 114 RBIs.

Aside from the injury question marks Morales struggled against LHP the first six weeks he played. His power scores were down from elite to just above-league average by the time he got hurt. The HR/f was buoying him.

I'm curious why you think that, when the prior season he was also at about 14% HR/FBs.

I think Morales could be a steal if people are scared off and think he's an injury-risk.

I'll go .300/88/32/108.

[DJBeasties]

Morales was on pace to have an as good or better year in '10 than he did in '09, interestingly enough.

Assuming he would've gotten the same 566 ABs he did in '09, Morales would've finished with 85 runs, 32 HRs & 114 RBIs.



I'm curious why you think that, when the prior season he was also at about 14% HR/FBs.

I think Morales could be a steal if people are scared off and think he's an injury-risk.

I'll go .300/88/32/108.

It's certainly tough to draw a whole bunch of conclusions on six weeks, but up until he got hurt, his power scores were similar to all of his '06, '07, '08 power data. 2009 was a huge breakout and he started playing the elite power game. THen in 2010 (granted just six weeks) his power scores were back to just above average but his HR/f% jumped by five points so it kind of washed out the skills support questions.

I think he's a little tricky this year because the Angels are saying that he isn't ready to field his position and aside from 2009, he usually struggled against LHP in the Majors and minor leagues.

So which player is he? I personally think he's a 30 HR guy in a full year but I don't know about how he'll fair against LHP and if he'll end up as a .275 hitter. I like seeing a lot of extra base hits from guys like this. He did it in 2009 (34 HR, 43 doubles, 2 triples), but through the first six weeks (sample size) he had just 5 doubles.

[wannabegriffey]

He did it in 2009 (34 HR, 43 doubles, 2 triples), but through the first six weeks (sample size) he had just 5 doubles.

This is why I love the pen. I haven't reached morales yet for my prep work but the low doubles may or may not mean anything in the time frame but it is giving me something extra to consider.

[Vecmizer]

Both Rotowire and Rotoworld have said that he may not be ready for opening day. Rotoworld later added that he could begin the year as the DH. I think some projections are tempered due to this fact as well as the question even if healthy will the injury cause a decline in power or will it take some time for the power to return. Fair questions, but if given the opportunity and price I would take the risk.

[revo]

SI.com's Jon Heyman reports that Kendry Morales (leg) is "very unlikely" to be ready by Opening Day.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia had expressed optimism that his slugger would be able to answer the bell in the opener, but evidently that's not likely to happen. Perhaps not coincidentally, ESPN's Buster Olney has reported that the Halos are on the lookout for a left-handed bat. The Rangers' Chris Davis would make some sense, as he could fill in at first until Morales is ready and then move to third or DH. It remains to be seen who exactly the Angels are interested in, though, and whether or not the Rangers might be willing to deal within the division.
Source: Jon Heyman on Twitter Mar 4, 9:51 PM

[Grinch]

I'm hoping to grab Trumbo at a buck or two in my AL only league. Rebuilding for 2012, could be a nice pick. Unless they make a trade he could be up until Morales is back.

[Hornsby]

SI.com's Jon Heyman reports that Kendry Morales (leg) is "very unlikely" to be ready by Opening Day.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia had expressed optimism that his slugger would be able to answer the bell in the opener, but evidently that's not likely to happen. Perhaps not coincidentally, ESPN's Buster Olney has reported that the Halos are on the lookout for a left-handed bat. The Rangers' Chris Davis would make some sense, as he could fill in at first until Morales is ready and then move to third or DH. It remains to be seen who exactly the Angels are interested in, though, and whether or not the Rangers might be willing to deal within the division.
Source: Jon Heyman on Twitter Mar 4, 9:51 PM

If the Rangers could get a used jock for Davis, they'd deal him in a heartbeat...in the division or put of it.

[zoobird]

If he's not ready for opening day, that obviously cuts into his value. If you're afraid that he's an injury risk that's a real issue too. The limited at bats projected by Marcels are meaningless though as is the fact that he hit only 5 doubles in the 6 weeks that he played last year. A couple of extra grounders down the line and he'd have a very nice total of 7 doubles in 6 weeks. No point drawing conclusions from that kind of limited data.

[revo]

Fast Becoming a Lost Season for Kendrys......

The Angels sent Kendrys Morales to see foot and ankle specialist Phil Kwong of the Kerlan-Jobe clinic again Wednesday as the slugger continues to struggle in his rehab from last May's broken ankle. It looks as if Morales' return has been significantly set back. He might have to be shut down from baseball-related activities, which could mean a May return is unlikely.

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/angels/post/_/id/2011/kendrys-morales-vernon-wells-updates-and-lineups

[BuckyBuckner]

Out for the year.

That blows

[Sam]

Out for at least 6 months (i.e. the rest of the season)

Per Rotoworld:
Kendrys Morales will have surgery on his left ankle to remove scar tissue, which will sideline him for a minimum of six months.
Ouch. Obviously this is the worst-case scenario and a huge blow to the Angels and fantasy owners that gambled on Morales having a bounce-back year. The original fracture that Morales suffered last season in his infamous celebration at home plate has healed, but the scar tissue evidently is giving him enough problems that doctors felt the only reasonable course of action was more surgery. Assuming they don't look for help outside of the organization, the Angels will now roll with Mark Trumbo at first base for the rest of the season.