Chronicles of the Lads

KENDRY
Kendry Morales made his professional debut in the US almost exactly a year ago (May 21, in fact), and homered on his first swing, in Ranco Cucamonga. He made quick work of the California League, hitting 344/400/544 in over 90 at-bats, and was promoted to AA.

It was there that the problems began. He started off 0-for-11, and as late as August 15th was stuck on an unimpressive 240/290/430 line with 200 AB. But Kendry caught fire, hitting 469/494/778 the rest of the way, to raise his season line at the level to a respectable, if unspectacular, 306/349/530.

Those aren't great numbers for the Texas League, but for a 21-year-old, they're pretty impressive, and were certainly sufficient to earn him a promotion to AAA this season. But once again, Kendry started off slowly; at my last Watch List Update on May 11, Kendry was hitting poorly, at 241/296/362. Here's what I said at the time:

He's drastically improved his walks, which is welcome, but Kendry hasn't started to do much of anything when he has to swing at pitches. I suspect he'll turn it around sooner than later.

By "turn it around," I never imagined that he would do this:

When     AB  H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG OBP SLG
5/12-22  45  23  5   0   2   2   3   0   0  511 532 756

So that's, um, pretty good.

Given Kendry's previous experiences, we shouldn't be surprised if he struggles for a bit in his first exposure to the major leagues. He's taken a few months to adjust to each new level; I have no evidence that he'll do the same in the AL, but I don't have any reason to think he'll do any differently, either.

But even if our worst fears come true and he takes two months to figure out what's going on, the Angels are going to have to give him those two months at some point. The way we're "playing," those two months might as well start now. Mike Scioscia claims Kendry is going to get his chance, and the Angel braintrust should certainly know better than you or me how long it takes Kendry to adjust to new levels of competition.

We just have to avoid going into panic mode if the kid doesn't get a hit for a week. Remember, he hasn't even turned 22 yet. He's up ahead of schedule. But he's shown some excellent potential in the 367 days he's been in the United States, and has earned his chance to play for the big club.