Austin Kearns...

[CBMGreatOne]

He had a bad spring and is off to a slow start. Anybody losing faith? I see him as a ticking time bomb ready to explode, at any time he could turn into a fantasy gold mine. Anybody have an opinion?

[This is the year]

I've got him too
I had him last year when he was jacking home runs left and right before his injury. I think it's just a matter of time

[GSes]

Its just a matter of time. I think he is this years Vernon Wells.

After Adam Dunn's jack and Kearns 0/2 today

I was offered Kearns for Dunn straight up.

Now I will just wait for Kearnsy to explode.

[DGroundhog]

He didn't play much in the spring, and is still recovering. It was foolish to think he would bust of the gate on fire.

I'd give him about 3-4 weeks and see how he is doing then. That's pretty much standard advice for any player, but it is even more true with a player who missed ST time and is probably still working himself back into game shape.

Even when he is healthy I don't see him as a lock to be a top OF. He had a nice little run early last year, but he came back down to earth. People like to make excuses for him, but the bottom line comes down to what his numbers were at the end of the season, and they weren't all that impressive. He has upside to be sure, but so does Dunn. Either could be a star or a flop this year.

[benjapage]

got a solid hit and a sb tonight...

b

[Red-legged Rednecks]

My experience w/ Austin Kearns is he only hits well when Griffey Jr. is on the DL. As soon as Griffey returns to the lineup, Kearns goes in a slump and stays there. Have no explanation for it, but it's happened the past 2 seasons. No way is Kearns the Vernon Wells of 2004. He's too brittle. Won't get enough ABs to accomplish what Wells has. Kearns is a real quandary.

[RedsRebirth]

I sure hope he blows up, I think the more protection he gets the better and Dunn and Griff look good early. Hope it continues. And hey, he did steal a base tonight, and thats kinda rare....

[hybrid]

i would just give him some time like most say, he missed some ST and it shows some right now. also people tell you kearns numbers went down for a reason, he was hurt....or do people only look at numbers now a days?

[DGroundhog]

Since we play a numbers based game, numbers are the most important part of it.

You may notice I don't knock him prematurely with the 'injury risk' tag, nor do I give injury as an excuse for his poor performance in the past.

Pujols and Sheff played large portions of last year with injuries and were still quite succesful. LuGo is trying the same this year, so far he's okay. Sheff seems content to play this season with his injury as well.

I see Kearns has potential. As I stated, he could be a star or a flop. I'm not going to give him a free pass to stardom because he had a good 2 months last year. I'm also not going to shun him from all my teams for being injured once or twice.

[hybrid]

i understand where your coming from, but some injuries effect a hitters approach and swing more then others. not to mention sheffield and pujols are just that damn good.