Kansas City Royals Prospect Review: Hot Hitters in April

Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

3. Brett Eibner

Doesn’t it seem as though we were saying the same thing last year about Brett Eibner? He started off the season hot, then came back to Earth to post an overall decent season. His numbers may not have been anything to write home about, but Eibner continued to show his power potential and stole a career best eight bases in only 87 games.

This season, Eibner is starting off white hot. He has produced a .302/.400/.651 batting line, hitting four home runs. Eibner’s 1.051 OPS is the best of any Royals minor leaguer with twenty or more plate appearances, and he leads the system with 14 RBI. While Eibner only has yet to steal a base, he is certainly more than making up for that with his power thus far.

Brett Eibner has also had a slightly strange season based on the percentages. Despite a .346 batting average on balls in play, Eibner only has a 16.7% line drive rate, just below the league average of 20.2%. Meanwhile, he has hit a popup in the infield in 10% of his plate appearances, and has a fly ball rate that is 14.2% higher than the leave average. Of course, it helps that a third of Eibner’s fly balls have left the yard.

If Eibner can continue to hit for this type of power and add in that speed he has displayed last season, he certainly becomes a lot more interesting. While he may currently be blocked at the majors, Eibner is starting to look like more than a career minor league player.

Next: The former top prospect