Jeff Keppinger: A true contact hitter

[mbgrayson]

Yahoo notes the following for Jeff Keppinger yesterday:

May 1 SS Jeff Keppinger, a contact hitter deluxe, has swung and missed only 10 pitches this season in 113 at-bats.

After one month, he is hitting .301/.350/.416 for an OPS of .766. He has 9 walks, and only 4 strikeouts, in 122 plate appearances. He is hitting .320 vs. lefties, and .295 vs. righties. His BABIP is .299, meaning that he has actually been a little unlucky so far.

We had a discussion the other day about his fielding in a minor league thread. He has one error so far in 93 chances, and has a solid 'zone rating' as well. See HERE for the current NL shortstops ranked by zone rating. Kepp in 7th out of 15. (Zone rating= The percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone," as measured by STATS, Inc.)

Overall, Country Kepp has been very solid so far. Given that his current salary is listed on ESPN at $402,500, he is a great deal.

[LincolnparkRed]

He is also second in GIDP at 7, one off of Pedro Feliz. Phillips only has 3 by the way

[RedsManRick]

Keppinger is the answer to the leadoff question. For some reason, Dusty doesn't seem to see that.

[*BaseClogger*]

I will toot my own horn by pointing out how much I tooted Kepp's horn since October...

[Chip R]

Keppinger is the answer to the leadoff question. For some reason, Dusty doesn't seem to see that.

If only he could play CF.

[oneupper]

Kepp's propensity for DPs have him sitting LAST in WPA among REDS hitters.
Very surprising.

http://www.fangraphs.com/winss.aspx?...ds&season=2008

I like him for leadoff, too. DPs not so much of an issue after the pitcher spot.

[RedsManRick]

Kepp's propensity for DPs have him sitting LAST in WPA among REDS hitters.
Very surprising.

http://www.fangraphs.com/winss.aspx?...ds&season=2008

I like him for leadoff, too. DPs not so much of an issue after the pitcher spot.

Exactly. We know he's going to make a lot of contact and he's not going to slug much. That's a recipe for double plays when you try to make him an "RBI guy" by batting him behind our slow, high OBP guys.

[jojo]

If only he could play CF.

Sure......why not?

[RedsManRick]

Sure......why not?

Well, that was easy. Good call. Not sure I'd want him between Dunn and Junior, but between Dunn and Bruce wouldn't be so bad.

[wheels]

My goodness....Some guys just materialize out of nowhere.

Country's one of the main reasons I love Baseball.

[HokieRed]

I know everybody loves Kepp, but here's a hard question. If he OPSes .760 and is mediocre at best at SS, do you make a spot for him? Is he a regular? Do you put him on 3b and move EE to left--where EE may have to go? As much as I like Keppinger, I'm not convinced he's an everyday player on a contender.

[Kc61]

I know everybody loves Kepp, but here's a hard question. If he OPSes .760 and is mediocre at best at SS, do you make a spot for him? Is he a regular? Do you put him on 3b and move EE to left--where EE may have to go? As much as I like Keppinger, I'm not convinced he's an everyday player on a contender.

OPS doesn't always tell the story. OPS is great for determining top of the line hitters, who combine OBP and slugging. When dealing with a lead-off type, a tablesetter, the OBP component will be high but the SLG often low. And the OPS, in turn, won't be overly impressive.

So OPS doesn't really tell you very much about a table setting hitter. Now, it's fair to say you only want high OPS guys on your team. But in the real world, a couple of .760 OPS guys -- where .370 is the OBP component -- isn't that bad.

[jojo]

I will toot my own horn by pointing out how much I tooted Kepp's horn since October...

After the Dust settles, Keppy is basically average-slightly above offensively (mainly due to an above average OPB ability) for a shortstop while being a minus defender there. An average middle infielder at league minimum is a nice thing but as the legend grows because he doesn't K or make obvious errors, he'll quickly become a prime candidate for the "overrated Reds" thread....

[*BaseClogger*]

After the Dust settles, Keppy is basically average-slightly above offensively (mainly due to an above average OPB ability) for a shortstop while being a minus defender there. An average middle infielder at league minimum is a nice thing but as the legend grows because he doesn't K or make obvious errors, he'll quickly become a prime candidate for the "overrated Reds" thread....

yet many still want to move him to "super-sub" when AGon returns...

[*BaseClogger*]

OPS doesn't always tell the story. OPS is great for determining top of the line hitters, who combine OBP and slugging. When dealing with a lead-off type, a tablesetter, the OBP component will be high but the SLG often low. And the OPS, in turn, won't be overly impressive.

So OPS doesn't really tell you very much about a table setting hitter. Now, it's fair to say you only want high OPS guys on your team. But in the real world, a couple of .760 OPS guys -- where .370 is the OBP component -- isn't that bad.

Bingo. I have been trying to put this thought into words several times when people start tossing around OPS as if OB% and SLG% are treated equally...