Howie Kendrick made his FAB50 debut in 2004 at 43 because of the big splash he made in Cedar Rapids that caught the attention of our FAB50 research staff.
Angels Florida-area scout Tom Kotchman saw something in Kendrick's bat that even his coaches at obscure St. Johns River CC didn't. They had cut him as a freshman.
Kotchman got the Angels to sign Kendrick, taking him in the 10th round (294th OA) of the 2002 Draft.
Kendrick rewarded the Angels faith in him by delivering. For the Arizona League Angels he hit .318/.408 (AVG/SLG) in his debut year.
Promoted to Pioneer League Provo, he continued to turn it on, batting .368/.517 with solid contact work and keeping his strike-outs to just 28 for the season.
In 2004, when we visited Howie, he was having his breakout year for Class A Cedar Rapids. He exploded with the Kernals, in 313 trips to the plate delivering 10 homers, 6 triples, and 24 doubles for a .367/.578 season.
Howie hammered the batter-friendly California league, batting .384/.638 through July 16th. His 12 home runs come on the welcome news that he's reading the ball well, striking out a reasonable 42 times in 279 at-bats.
He received a promotion to Class AA Arkansas on 7/16, and shows no signs of slowing down. He's .343/.575 to date, and his numbers in 134 at-bats look good for a day-to-day player who can contribute well.
The early scouts and touts had him on the slow boat, moving perhaps as far as a full season in the California League. He traveled to the Travs, though, and those with whom we've spoken more recently say that Howie has put himself on the fast track.
We see him hitting the Triple-A, perhaps as early as the end of this season for a look, and full time in 2006. He's major league material any time after that if he keeps this up.
