Breaking Down: Hank Blalock

February 9, 2010 5:32pm CST

2009 REVIEW
.234-25-66-62-2 in 462 at-bats

Blalock has suffered through numerous injuries in his career, and he entered last season, along with Chris Davis, as two power bats for the Rangers who were going to split some time at first, third and potentially DH. Blalock responded with 25 homers, his highest homers total since 2005, but he also suffered more bouts of ill health, and in the second half a slump led to the recalling of Davis from the minors, a move that limited Blalock to only 52 at-bats in September. Clearly the Rangers had soured on Blalock, so it was no surprise when he was allowed to walk when his contract expired at the end of the season.

Just what does this slugging corner infielder have to look forward to in 2010 once he finds a club to play for?


THE GOOD

Let's start with the obvious - Blalock has a powerful swing. This fact has gone a bit under the radar because of all the injuries, but when healthy and in the batter's box, he can do some damage. Some facts.

Blalock hit 29 homers in 2003, 32 in 2004 and 25 in 2005.

In 2006, he dipped to 16 homers in 591 at-bats, you can blame a career-worst 8.7 percent HR/F rate (career 13 percent), but he still knocked in 89 runs.

In 2007 and 2008 injuries limited Hank to only 22 homers, though he was able to accrue only 466 at-bats, so that pace was right where it had been previously (it was just interrupted by injury). He did post a 15.8 percent HR/F rate last season, a career best, but not so far out of the realm of the possible to be an outright fluke. Blalock owns a 13 percent career mark, and in every season since 2003 - save for that flukish 2006 campaign - his HR/F mark has been at least 12.7 percent. Combine that with a 42 percent career flyball rate, and you have the makings of a solid home run producer. Through the injuries, he has averaged of 22 homers per 500 at-bats in his career, so he provides some nice pop from the left side of the dish.

In addition to the home runs, Blalock has also driven in his fair share of runs, averaging 76 RBI per 500 at-bats in his career. Again, not an outstanding total, but a solid number nonetheless.

Blalock also pounds right-handed pitching to the tune of a .285/.348/.498 line in 2,523 career at-bats. Clearly, he deserves to at least be part of a platoon situation as the "good" side of the equation (the batter who faces lefties would be on the "bad" side since he would figure to get roughly a third to a quarter of the work).

Here is perhaps the biggest check marks in Hank's column - he is just 29 years old. Some hitters don't reach their physical or mental peaks until this point, and don't forget that Hank already has three seasons of at least 25 homers and four seasons of at least 89 RBI on his resume. Could he return to those levels with a full season of health?

One last note. Because of injuries and uncertainty, there is a good chance you can grab Blalock in the reserve rounds, potentially even off waivers at this point of the drafting season if your league gets started early, and that means there is certainly a strong chance that Blalock will return a decent profit on a nominal investment.


THE BAD

Blalock's exploits would be received in a more favorable light if he still qualified as an option at third base (he played only one game there last season). Due to the ever present injury concerns with Hank, his days of playing third base while possibly not over completely, certainly are in danger. As a result, he will more than likely be relegated to 1B/DH opportunities no matter where he ends up.

Secondly, he can't hit lefties, not a lick. The results are, well, let's just say they scream platoon me, though they don't quite dip to the level of a guy like Mike Jacobs (.178/.252/.248 in 101 such at bats last season).

Blalock in 2009: .221/.231/.427

Blalock in career: .229/.279/.378

At least he is pretty consistent in his mediocrity.

Bottom line though, no matter what team signs Blalock, you have to figure his at-bats will be curtailed at best against lefties, and with that his chance of putting up large counting totals seems to be capped.

Third, Blalock has been a mess in his career away from Arlington. Sometimes players are just more comfortable at home, but in this case you have to think that a large portion of the reason that he has been so much better at home is simply because Texas is a great place to hit. Here are the splits from his career.

Home: .293/.358/.516 with 90 homers and 318 RBI in 1,735 at-bats
Away: .245/.300/.414 with 62 homers and 217 RBI in 1,769 at-bats

Wow is right, that isn't a Mini-Me difference, that is a King Kong difference.

Fourth, Blalock has pretty much always been a victim of the old second half fade. The numbers are pretty self explanatory.

First Half: .288/.348/.497
Second Half: .246/.306/.424

Fifth, and I mentioned it a bunch of times above, he has been a walking MASH unit the past few years. He did suit up for 123 games last season, a three-year high after seasons of 58 and 65 games, but after being over 150 games each year from 2004-06, clearly this middle aged ballplayer has been beset by a myriad of injuries. Will that situation change with a move to first base or the DH role?

Sixth, he strikes out an awful lot with a career K-rate of 20.1 percent (that's once every five at-bats). That wouldn't be a horrible mark if he showed some more patience at the dish, but the past few years his BB-rate has regressed from a six-year run of over seven percent down to 6.8 percent in 2008 and 5.3 percent last season. At his best he is barely on the cusp average in the BB/K mark (career 0.44), but last season his mark dipped to catastrophic levels at 0.24. Unless this number rebounds, he will likely find it difficult to improve much from last years putrid .234 batting average.


MOVING FORWARD

Until he finds a team and a defined role, Blalock is a mystery who should be avoided in all drafts. Once he signs, if it is with an AL club that will let him face right-handed pitching on a regular basis, he will become a nice league specific end game target. Yes, he strikes out too much, and yes there are concerns about his ability to remain on the field for long periods of time as well as his ability to hit lefties, and there is even some concern that he might be relegated to the role of DH even though he has yet to reach his fourth decade on Earth. However, the optimist will say he is at his physical peak, will come exceedingly cheap on draft day, and that he could be a power source if someone just gives him a shot. I tend to agree, but a lot of things still have to go right before I would go staking my reputation on a return to the solid counting numbers that he has flashed in the past.