What do you guys think about Keppinger?

[Padres 19 fan]

He's off the DL and Hairston is on the DL, but coming back thursday. Do any of you see him having value the rest of the season? Or is he going to be splitting time?

[Slayer Rules]

Cincy is sure deep @ SS - It's a good thing, since everyone they play at the position breaks something.

I like Kep a lot - but I think I like Hairston even more, since it seemed as though Hairston stole more bases.

As far as who will play, I imagine that Kep is more assured of PT, since he'll be back sooner and was playing great when he got hurt.

All things considered, I think Hairston fills up the cats a tad more (due to his SB's) so I'd prefer him - but I don't know where Concy would play him if they both were back healthy...

[SpecialFNK]

back when Hairston was still playing SS and Keppinger was about to go on his rehab assignment i read somewhere that the Reds were going to have Keppinger play 3B on his rehab assignment. Hairston then got hurt and they scrapped that plan.
as a Hairston owner, i hope he plays more than Keppinger once they are both healthy. i think Hairston would be better for the Reds as a leadoff hitter.

[jdsun1]

This pretty much sums it up(taken from MLB Skinny on the Yahoo! Front page):

He's now played exactly 162 games in his career, posting totals of .313, 13 home runs, 70 RBIs, 76 runs and six steals. While he may be given a few days off here and there to ease his knee back into every-day action, Keppinger is likely to be penciled in regularly back in the No. 2 spot in the lineup, as he was on Sunday.



If you need anymore convincing then check out his minor league stats last year before he was called up:

AB R H HR RBI SB BB K AVG
228 31 84 2 18 1 24 14 .368

[IllinoisBandit]

This pretty much sums it up(taken from MLB Skinny on the Yahoo! Front page):

[i]He's now played exactly 162 games in his career, posting totals of .313, 13 home runs, 70 RBIs, 76 runs and six steals.

That's about what to realistically expect from him - except I don't know if he can keep that RBI pace given his torrid avg. w/RISP over much of '07 and '08 combined with batting second. I'm not sure what kind of value that gives him in many league, though.

[djxskillz]

well i just picked him up and dropped crosby. Just a fill in until furcal gets back of course.

[SpecialFNK]

id like to know why some people think Keppinger is a lock to be the starting SS.
this write up from rotoworld the other day..

Jerry Hairston Jr. (thumb) went 1-for-5 in the first game of a rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville on Monday.
Hairston is eligible to come off the disabled list on Wednesday. He'll be a part-time player with Jeff Keppinger back as the primary shortstop.

i doubt the guy writing this has any inside information from the Reds, so he shouldnt be saying who is going to be primary anything.

its not like Keppinger was some high potential prospect and Hairston wasnt.
Hairston career minor league numbers- .303 AVG/ .382 OBP/ .452 SLG/ .834 OPS
Keppinger career minor league numbers- .321 AVG/ .374 OBP/ .419 SLG/ .793 OPS
theres no doubt Hairston had a rough 2 years in 2006 and 2007, but he was someone who put up nice numbers previously while with Baltimore.

..and heres the write up i was talking about earlier. it was under Edwin Encarnacion from rotoworld..

Edwin Encarnacion-3B - Reds Jun. 11 - 5:52 pm et
Before Jerry Hairston Jr. landed on the DL, the Reds were planning on having Jeff Keppinger play third base on his rehab assignment in the minors.
Keppinger will be needed at shortstop now, but it's very interesting that they were intending to use him at Edwin Encarnacion's position. Encarnacion is currently hitting .243/.329/.441 with 10 homers. He had a terrible May, but he has an 1115 OPS through 10 games in June. It sounds as though another slump could put his job in serious danger after Keppinger and Alex Gonzalez return.

that the Reds were planning on having Keppinger play 3B in the minors before Hairston got hurt tells me that the Reds were planning on keeping Hairston at SS.

im not saying who should be the starter, allthough as a Hairston owner i sure as hell hope its him ..but id like to know why Keppinger is considered the primary SS. he wasnt the expected starter coming into the season anyway, that was Gonzalez.

[Amazing Oopah]

with Edwin Encarnacion on 3B, SS is the only place where Kepp has to go if they want to give him so at bats. If anything, he and Hairston will probably compete for it.

[RedHopeful]

with Edwin Encarnacion on 3B, SS is the only place where Kepp has to go if they want to give him so at bats. If anything, he and Hairston will probably compete for it.

I think Jeff will steal a few starts from Edwin. He's really been lackluster for much of the year with the bat. He has had prolonged slumps in the past and I feel he's either got to solve some confidence issues or ability to pick up pitched balls. Either way, he needs to figure it out before being allowed to play everyday. Besides, he's been dealing with back spasms of late and I think the Reds would like to give him some decent rest.

[Padres 19 fan]

Well tonight they have Kepp batting 6th and playing third.