By Scott Woodall
Ahhh yes – Chicks do dig the long ball…and some even like Padres camoas well.
But with fewer and fewer post roid era sluggers coming up these days, 2010 Fantasy Baseball owners are forced to dig a little deeper to find their round trippers.
In 2009 the San Diego Padreswere treated to a nice “jug” of coffee from young Kyle Blanks before his season was prematurely halted by a foot injury. The 10 dingers in 148 abs even included a most fun to watch inside the park home run!
According to Wikipedia - at 6'6", 285 lbs. Kyle Blanks was the largest player in Major League Baseball history to achieve this!
Heading into 2010 - hopefully Blanks trainers will work diligently with Blanks tootsies, so the man some refer to as “Gigantor” will be able to extrapolate a full baseball season into an impressive line of sophomore stats. Maybe we should send them the link to our article: "Note to Kyle Blanks Trainers: Fit “Gigantor” with Freeway FitFlops!"
With A-Gone still not gone from San Diego, Blanks is blocked from perhaps a more appropriate first baseman’s job. But the big man showed surprising athletism patrolling left field at PETCO last year.
Lots of trade rumors have swirled involving Adrian Gonzales, and the consensus is A-gone could be heading elsewhere by trade deadline. But whether Kyle Blanks is the Padres future first baseman, or not – his stick will eventually do much of his talking -regardless of the position he takes on the field.
Now that Frank Thomas has officially retired – it’s time Major League Baseball fans be made aware of the NEXT BIG HURT. The 6’6” Blanks actually showed up to camp this season a leaner 270 pounds. (And no, it’ not ‘cause the Oscar Gamble afro imitation is now a thing of the past)
Although PETCO Field can sometimes play a dubious part in slimming down a Friars player’s offensive numbers, if Blanks 2009 shortened rookie season was an early indication this mammoth of a man is plenty strong enough to tame the PETCO beast.
Kyle Blanks is still a baby however at only 23 years of age – so we should expect some batting average risks that could approach Adam Dunn like lows if the K’s pile up too much, or if the vast outfield of PETCO begins to wear him down.
Having said that, Adrian Gonzales does still remain in the Pads line-up (for now) so expect the behemoth baseball player’s RBI opportunities to be available on many nights. A-gone may even help prevent “Blanks the Tank” from shooting blanks if he can pass along his keen batters eye, and tremendous, yet still some how underrated skills to the copious Padre star of the future.
Keeper League owners need to cross their fingers a bit when talking such lofty comparisons as the Phillies Ryan Howard – but rest assured Kyle Blanks won’t be able to hide from the Fantasy Baseball limelight much longer – camo uniform, or not!
