Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | LAD | OF | 43 | 35 |
Grades Update: Dec 2020
| OFP | Role | Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 30 | 30 | 50 | 60 | 50 | 60 |
Dec 2020 Report
Evaluator: Robert James
Age: 25 yr
Height: 5-11
Weight: 190 lbs
Hits/Throws: L/R
Acquired: 2017 Draft - Round 1
RuleV: Eligible
Physical Description: Fantastic natural athlete. Ideal athletic frame, not likely to add bulk but does not lack strength average size. Not overly physical, but a big league body.
Hit: Standing up pretty straight almost like an open stance. Holds his hands way up high. Little pre-pitch movement. No leg kick, small stride. He looks to be quick to the ball and he's got a good bat path but his swing is extremely stiff. He's got natural pop but he doesn't do a good job incorporating his lower half and it doesn't look like he uses his lower half or hips to generate any power. He also has poor plate coverage and doesn't stay on balls outside. It looks like he's just pulling everything with his arm and he hits a lot of medium fly balls to RF. I don't think I saw him hit the ball hard to the opposite field- if he hits it to the left side, it's usually a mishit or a chopper. He's got a good eye and is a patient hitter, he works counts and draws walks. However, he can be beaten up high with good velocity, so oftentimes pitcher's pound him away and then throw a high fastball by him to finish him off. Grade: 30
Power: He's got natural power, I saw him absolutely crush the ball occasionally. His average exit velocity isn't great because of all the mishits but he can hit the ball very hard when he squares it up. He looks to drive the ball in the air. He hit 19 HR in 412 PA last year (in a hitter's league but still) so the power is there but his problems with his hit tool are preventing the power from fully playing. Grade: 50
Field: He's a very good fielder. Natural CF, he gets great jumps and reads the ball well. He covers a lot of ground. Could definitely play a decent CF in MLB. Grade: 60
Arm: Average arm, with average accuracy. He plays CF so his arm isn't tested a lot. He hits the cutoff man and is accurate, teams aren't going to run wild on him or something. Grade: 50
Run: Plus runner, speed translates to impact on both sides of the ball. Instinctual baserunner and excellent base stealer. Speed for centerfield does a good job closing gaps. Grade: 60
Overall: Guys like this are always hard to grade because they do so many things well but none of it matters if they don't fix the thing that doesn't work well (which is almost always the hit tool). It's a familiar song- all the ingredients are here for an above-average regular but the hit tool is holding Kendall back. It's a power/speed profile with plus defense but it doesn't work if Kendall hits like this. Last year Kendall had a completely unplayable 35.7 K% (during the year he repeated High-A!). And I'm not sure what the answer is. He does a lot of good things in the box; he works counts and draws walks, the pop is there but he needs to completely rework his swing so that he can cover the outer half of the plate. He could probably survive as a dead pull hitter because everything else works but he's going to have to figure out a way to handle the outer half because pitchers are eating him alive out there.
OFP: 35
Role: 30 - Up/Down Emergency Depth
Risk: High
