Kemp or Heyward?

[Gregg]

NL only 5x5 keeper. Both priced about the same. Who do you like better this year and next?

[whalewang]

I like both quite a bit but I'll definitely take Kemp.

[Gregg]

Thanks whale.

Anyone else?

I see this has been viewed over 30 times and one response. I am a bit surprised by this. Given ages, health, slow starts, teams, etc. I don't think it is a no brainer question and I don't think it is a stupid question either. Either way how about a little help here. I am interested in your opinions.

[joncarlos]

I honestly think it's a toss-up and depends on your situation. Kemp is really risky. But theoretically he has a higher ceiling.

I think I'm taking Heyward unless I really need a home run. Heyward's K rate is good and his BABIP should come up. Kemp's K rate is horrendous.

[cavebird]

I would take Jason, but then again, I am not exactly objective, and call him Jason.

[cavebird]

Both are significant injury risks. Kemp has proven to have a much, much higher ceiling, at least in terms of actual production. I'd take Kemp and it's not really that close (but I'm not that objective, either). If we're concerned about BABIPs, we should probably look at both players --- Kemp's BABIP is .214, so his will come up as well. Kemp's OPS is .960 even with the terrible luck. Heyward's is .611.

Kemp for sure.

Neither has had horrific luck; both of their line drive percentages are down, and their infield hit percentages are up. Kemp's got a K% over 30, and Heyward has a IFFB% around 10. Strike outs and pop ups aren't unlucky. Kemp's OPS is .960 on three home runs in 34 plate appearances based upon an unsustainable 50% HR/FB. Kemp has had more MLB success, but he is five years older. Kemp has had a more serious injury, but Heyward seems to find new ways to hurt new things every year. The results so far this year can be summed up in one word for both of them: April. Who's better going forward? Just a preference call at this point.

[Gregg]

Thanks for the responses.

Do you think Kemp will be held back from stealing bases this year?

[whalewang]

I thought I saw that he had several SBs in one of his minor league games (can't find the game logs though). He does have 1 SB since being activated.

[cavebird]

Or, to look at it another way, Kemp has had both significantly more success in the past and significantly more success currently. It is a preference call. I prefer the better hitter.

Significantly more success currently meaning that his 3 HR look better in rate stats than Heyward's 2 HR because Kemp hasn't been healthy enough to play that much this year? And significantly more success in the past because he's much older?

[cavebird]

Tomayto / tomahto

And given their histories, they'll both be on the DL by June, and it really won't matter.

[chancellor]

Still weird to think that a mere two years ago Kemp was the MLB leader for consecutive games played. He was about as far as you can get from having an "injury-prone" label.

The steroids finally caught up to him.

[Gregg]

Thanks for the input, I went with Kemp.