Kevin Kouzmanoff
From BR Bullpen
Kevin Kouzmanoff
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 210 lb.
- School University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Nevada
- Debut September 2, 2006
- Born July 25, 1981 in Newport Beach, CA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Kevin Kouzmanoff is one of three players in major league history to hit a grand slam in his first at-bat, and the only one to hit one on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues. On September 2, 2006, shortly after he joined the Cleveland Indians, he was batting 7th as the designated hitter. In the first inning he hit the home run off of the Texas Rangers' Edinson Volquez. His grand slam was the only hit he got as he went 1-for-4.
Kouzmanoff attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he posted a .364/.455/.574 line in 2002, and the University of Nevada, where he hit .361/.420/.631 in 2003. A senior that year, he made the Western Athletic Conference All-Conference team at third base and was named the Conference player of the year. He led the Conference in homers (17), slugging and RBI (67) and was third in average.
He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the sixth round of the 2003 amateur draft and was sent to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, where he appeared in 54 games, hitting .272/.342/.437 with a team-high 8 home runs. He led New York-Penn League third baseen in fielding percentage (.964) and assits (126).
In 2004 he was with the Lake County Captains of the South Atlantic League, impressing with a .330/.394/.526 line, and came up for 7 games with the Akron Aeros at the end of the year. He was second in the SAL in average, behind only Brandon Moss, hit 35 doubles and 16 homers and made the league All-Star team as a utility infielder
In 2005 he was in 3 games at Mahoning Valley on a rehab assignment, but spent the bulk of the year with the Kinston Indians of the Carolina League, where he hit a solid .339/.401/.591, winning player of the week honors several times. He only played 68 games due to injuries or he would have ranked second in the league in batting average behind Leo Daigle. Baseball America again did not name him one of the top 20 prospects in his league.
He had some injury problems in 2004-05, which limited his playing time, and as a third baseman he might have been unhappy when the Indians traded to get Andy Marte. However, Kouzmanoff went out and hit over .400 for the first part of the 2006 season in Akron, where his manager, Tim Bogar, said of him:
"... he's one of the best right-handed hitters I've seen in a long time. He adjusts very quickly. He doesn't swing at two bad pitches in a row. He's got tremendous hand-eye coordination. That's apparent by how often he hits balls hard. . . he's got a very compact and efficient swing, one that we would consider low maintenance."
He was slugging .660 (with a .389 average nad .449 OBP) when he was brought up to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, where, before he came up to the Indians, he played 27 games and posted .353/.409/.647. Overall, his .379 average ranked second in the US-based minors, one point behind James Loney. He led the US-based minors in slugging (by 25 points) and OPS and was 4th in OBP.
Marte, in 96 games in Buffalo, is hitting (as of September 3, 2006) .261 with a .451 slugging percentage, and in 27 games with the Indians in 2006 has hit .214.
Kouzmanoff may well turn out to be an oft-quoted humorous player. His answers to an interviewer from MLB.com show that he speaks openly and with humor.
