Just thought I’d rattle off a quick scouting report on one of the AL’s hottest prospects, with one of the AL’s blandest names. He’s a 2B for the Angels and he’s coming off a huge season split between A/AA. If you’ve never heard of him before it’s only because his name is Howie.

Howie Kendrick hit .382/12 HR/47 RBI for Rancho Cucamonga this season. That’s the high-A Angels minor league affiliate. He was promoted to AA Arkansas where he went .342/7/42. His K:BB in A was 42:14. And you’re looking at 20:6 in AA. Not great, but certainly not terrible. And I’ll take the 19 HRs and 89 RBIs.

Here’s what David Regan over at RotoAmerica has to say about Kendrick:

The kid can HIT, plain and simple. Kendrick is called the best contact hitter in the minors by multiple scouts and some think he is near big league ready now. AA is usually a big adjustment for most minor leaguers, but Kendrick didn’t seem to miss a beat after being promoted there. He’s a kid that can hit most any pitch to any part of the field, often going the other way on balls low and away and turning on inside fastballs quickly. The added power this year is nice and should allow him to be an above average 2B in the majors … He’ll be out to take Adam Kennedy’s job sometime this year.

Howie followed up a solid minor-league season with a .380/5/17 showing over 121 ABs in the Arizona Fall League. He took 12 Ks to 4 BBs and stole a couple bags against 4 CS. He also booted 4 balls. Who cares? Brandon Wood booted 5.

So what can we forecast for Howie? Well, he’s a ‘tweener. At 5′10″, 180, he certainly doesn’t have a slugger’s body. He’s 22, hits a lot of doubles, and flashes a decent glove. 14 errors over a full minor-league season is a decent number. He was a 10th round pick as a high school senior back in 2002, so it’s not like we’re talking about a golden boy like B. Wood.

But this guy is down to earth. He’s even posted his e-mail address online! If you’ve got a Kendrick question you can ask him yourself. Just drop a note to E-Mail Howie

Howie’s a hard worker who should post .300+ seasons with 20 HRs and 80 RBIs to complement good run totals and 10 SBs. He seems like a bottom-of-the-order guy, but who knows? Figgins is set at leadoff for a long time and AK is the Angels 9-hole hitter. You’ve got to figure Howie slides in there for him when he gets too hot for AAA Holiday Inns.

Howie Kendrick Stats. Over At RotoWorld