I will first quote Prospector Itch about Carter Kieboom because I think he’s right on, “Kieboom won’t dislodge Trea Turner from shortstop but could wind up a good big league second baseman. Trouble with that is second base is now a catcher in the rye for mashers with just enough hand-eye to fake it ‘til they make the plays, now that range is mitigated by analytics. Kieboom may never be above average in a fantasy world where Muncies, Hiuras, and McMahons are popping up on the regular. Unless, that is, he finds some stolen bases in his game. Wouldn’t take much. 10-15 can make all the difference these days, just like 10-15 blows to Grey’s head could make all the difference.” Aw, c’mon! Howie Kendrick, hero to all Nationals fans and owner of many International Howies of Pancakes, was manning 2nd base this year with Brian Dozier, but postseason heroics aside, they’re likely gone, and with good reason. That reason being they’re old eh-eff. This opens the 2nd base job for Shawn Carter Kieboom Goes The Dynamite Jr. (Full name.) So, what can we expect from Carter Kieboom for 2020 fantasy baseball?
CK 1 as his parents call him had a year in Triple-A that is so indicative of what I’d expect from him that I kinda want to make it exactly his major league projections for 2020, but let’s see them first after this clunky sentence intro: 79/16/79/.303/5 in 412 ABs. He also hit two homers in his short stint in the majors, including a homer in his debut. A total unfair expectation for him, but he reminds me of middle infidel version of Anthony Rendon. In fairness to Rendon and not Kieboom, Rendon had more speed when he first came up. In fairness now to Kieboom, Rendon took seven seasons to hit more than 30 homers. Before last year, Rendon was a 25-homer, 7-steal, .300 hitter. That sounds a lot like Kieboom once he gets comfortable in the majors. Since I’ve twisted myself into this comparison that I can’t get out of, Rendon had four seasons of 135+ games with only one year where he hit 25 homers before finally making good last year. So, Kieboom could be a 25-homer, 7-steal, .300 hitter this year. Do I think it’s possible? Not especially. Feels like a genie wish, and are you really wasting one of three wishes for a 25-homer middle infidel? To drill down quickly before jogging out of this post, Kieboom had a 20.2% K-rate in Triple, which in today’s game is practically Gwynn-ish, and he had a 13.8% walk rate. He’s basically a three-hole hitter, prolly one that will be better in real baseball than fantasy for a few years, until his 22-year-old frame fills out into a 35-homer hitter in three to four years. Or a shorter span of time if he’s drinking whatever it was Ketel Marte was drinking, which is prolly Ketel. By the way, I didn’t find any decent video of Kieboom, so you’ll have to take my word for it. By the way, Part 2: My Bys By The Way, if you’re doing prospect video and a guy hits a home run, you can edit out the jog around the bases. Any hoo! For 2020, I’ll give Carter Kieboom projections of 52/16/59/.281/4 in 445 ABs. Will be a solid gamble in deeper leagues, but we need to see the Nats commit to him on Opening Day for real excitement, and, even then, a lot of guys have his current profile.
