Casey Kotchman is coming off the best year of his career, at age 24, having hit .296 with 11 homers and a .372 on-base percentage. I asked three talent evaluators to give their view of Kotchman, now and into the future, and these are the responses:
AL talent evaluator: "Kotchman's strengths are his defense, his ability to make contact, and his on-base skills. His weakness is lack of power, especially given his position, his inability to stay healthy and his lack of speed. I like Kotchman. He's a legitimately tough out now, and the only question is whether he'll hit more home runs. I think he will. He's strong enough, sees the ball very well, and has hands to hit. His power is limited now by a level swing and a middle of the field approach.
"As he matures, I think he's smart enough and has enough skills to make an adjustment in his approach. I don't think 20-25 home run power is unrealistic in his prime. Combine that with his defense and his contact ability and he's a pretty darn good player. However, I don't think he'll age well given his skill set and body, and probably won't be a good player on the wrong side of 30."
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Buster Olney
