The Nationals have placed infielder Carter Kieboom on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist contusion and recalled right-hander Wil Crowe, the team announced. Kieboom’s IL placement is retroactive to Tuesday, but this will nonetheless end his season.
Kieboom was a first-round pick of the Nationals in 2016 who continues to be regarded as a high-end young talent, but this will go down as a disappointing season for him. The reigning World Series champions Nationals had designs on Kieboom capably replacing departed star Anthony Rendon at third base as early as this season, though the campaign has instead gone poorly for the sub-.500 Nats and the 23-year-old.
While Kieboom does lead Washington in playing time at the hot corner, where he has amassed 30 starts and 122 plate appearances, he could only put together a .202/.344/.212 line before his season ended. Kieboom failed to hit a home run this year, and with a mere one extra-base hit, he ranks last in isolated power (.010) among 243 major leaguers who have amassed 120-plus plate appearances in 2020.
never thought someone could UNDER OPS Jeff Mathis.. but dang this guy pulled it off..now let’s see if he can get 17 seasons doing it lol
Guess you haven’t heard of Chris Davis lol
As Marvin the Martian might say, he has not been an Earth-shattering Kieboom.
I’ve gotta say, as rough as this season has obviously been for him (I mean an .010 ISO is just awful) the fact that he was still able to maintain his plate discipline and put up an OBP of .344 is quite impressive/promising. I would say given that he’s still just 23 and has consistently posted stronger power numbers in his minor league career — that he’ll be able to improve there in the future and this season was an outlier. So with that in mind, and that he displayed such an advanced approach at the plate (walking as much as he did – thus not compromising in his at-bats) and at least nationals fans can take some positives away from an otherwise forgettable rookie season. I’m not a Nationals fan and admittedly have not really seem much of him live — I do think that patient approach will pay off in the Long-run. And just the fact alone that he maintained that approach even while struggling is a positive indication of things to come (I think anyway)
I agree, and something else to keep in mind is that he was much stronger defensively than people thought he would be, especially after his disastrous games at shortstop last season while Turner was out. He had a lot of infield assists at third. So, while his hitting was weaker than expected, his defense was better.
Have you ever considered entering your name to be a MLBTR writer? I’ve seen you in comment sections and have enjoyed what you have to say. You certainly have the facts and numbers to back up your arguments.
I second this.
His season just went kieboom,I’ll see myself out.
From Thomas Boswell of The Wash Post about a week ago. Q&A excerpt on Kiebom:
“Nobody is going to give up on Carter Kieboom any time soon –and by that I means for YEARS. He’s got “long MLB career” written all over him. He’s pressing. A 162-game season would do hima world of good, rather than a sprint season where a bad start works on your nerves. He could conceivably play another half-season in AAA to get squared away. But you are looking for the first spot to bring him back up. This is a 25-plus homer third baseman. I know he doesn’t look like that now. He looks lost. Here’s a tip: Everybody looks exactly the same when they are lost!
I remember him turning around two Verlander fastballs for long homers to left in spring training in ’19. That guy will be back. Great work ethic, etc.
Note: It’s a small sample size, just the equivalent of 27.74 full games. But Kieboom is averaging 2.42 assists per nine innings at third base. This era, with all the strikeouts, makes it hard for a 3rd baseman to get as many assists –which are an excellent indicator of range– as players in earlier times, like the great Mike Schmidt, for example. In his career, Mike averaged 2.40 assist per 9 innings at 3rd in his career. I know, I know –Kieboom’s 27.74 games may mean nothing. But he only has three errors and, if we’re going to be candid about the bad stuff in his season, then we should mention what might be positive, too.”
There are legions of guys who look the part, work hard, tear up the minors and flop in the big time. Add Kieboom to the list.
Teams typically dont drop the axe on a highly regarded prospect after a mere 138 AB’s. Thank God.