Where is he now? Kirk Nieuwenhuis, 2007 Fire

Kirk Niewenhuis

CF - AIA Fire, 2007
Bats: Left - Throws: Right
Height: 6'3" - Weight: 210lb
College: Azusa Pacific
Drafted: 2008 3rd Round, New York Mets, #100
 
In the ABL:

Nieuwenhuis was a standout on the 2007 AIA Fire squad that showed now mercy to the rest of the Alaska League. That season's AIA team powered their way to their first ABL crown with a 24-11 (26-15 overall) W/L record. Kirk had a great season in the ABL that year, hitting at a .333 clip and driving in 30 RBI. Considering his recent professional exploits, his steals were conspicuously low (3) and his homers weren't off the charts either (4). But that was no issue for the folks who voted him ABL Player of the year, and his performance certainly couldn't have hurt him the next spring on the first day of the MLB amateur draft, as we will see.



In the Pros:

Nieuwenhuis was taken by the Mets in the third round of the 2008 draft as the 100th overall pick. He logged a complete campaign that year in Brooklyn of the short-season New York Penn League. In 2009 he started the season for the Mets' advanced single-A club in St. Lucie, where he spent most of the year except for a brief but solid stint in AA during the last week of the season.

Let's take a look at his minor-pro stats thus far in his career:

As you can see, Kirk has put up a solid performance in the low minors and is showing signs of 20/20 potential. The red flag, for me, is his strikeout rate. If the guy continues to strike out once every four at-bats, nearly once a game, that could be a problem, but other than that his professional performance so far has been very good.

The Mets will want to see if Nieuwenhuis can put up numbers in AA as good as he did in high-A last season, so he should be a starting OF in Binghamton of the Eastern League in 2010. And if he holds his own in the EL? Well, let's take a look into the crystal ball.

In The Future:

Nieuwenhuis is not a can't-miss prospect for the Mets, but the consensus is that he'll break into the Major Leagues sooner rather than later.Whether or not he sticks as an everyday player depends on his ability to hit lefties and not get crowded out of CF. Some observations from the MetsMinorLeagueBlog:

- "Nieuwenhuis has a big league frame with length and some room to fill out.He has big league tools, notably the speed, range and instincts to play center and the arm to play right."

- "Nieuwenhuis’s athleticism will allow him to hold down an MLB centerfield job, or at least qualify as a 4^th OF who hits righties."

- "If he fails to improve against southpaws, he will find it difficult to hold down an everyday job. Moreover, if he can’t play center everyday, without the power for right, he falls into tweener and fourth OF land."

So there you  have it. Nieuwenhuis should get more than a cup of coffee with the big league club. If the Mets can't find room for him in center field he should be very trade-able, which makes me think that we could be hearing his name for years to come. Perennial All-Star? Probably not. But I foresee a respectable Major League career with the potential to put up at least a couple surprising seasons.