Nationals: Carter Kieboom Shows His Potential With Breakout Game
Washington Nationals infield prospect Carter Kieboom showed off his unlimited potential in a two home run game against the Houston Astros last night.
Washington Nationals second basemen Carter Kieboom came into this season as the number 25 overall prospect in all of Major League Baseball according to MLB.com. Last night against the Houston Astros, Keiboom showed why he has all the tools to live up to this potential.
The 21-year-old went 2-2 with two home runs and three runs batted in, reaching base in all three of his plate appearances. Kieboom hit both of his homers off American League Cy Young runner up Justin Verlander, who is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.
Despite not being a very big guy, Kieboom has some serious pop to his bat which he showed in the minors last year hitting 16 home runs and driving in 69 runs to go with it. Despite Kieboom’s big spring, at the moment it just does not seem like he will be able to crack the Nationals Opening Day roster.
With Brian Dozier a lock to be the teams starting second basemen and Wimer Difo and Howie Kendrick as backup infielders on the bench, Kieboom really does not have a shot to make the team currently. Kieboom will almost certainly start the year in the minors but for his development, this is not a bad thing.
Although he had tons of success with the bat last night, the Nationals second basemen did not look very comfortable in the field. Kieboom was charged with one error in the game but struggled all night on defense.
Starting the year in the minors will give Kieboom a chance to improve his defense and keep working on his bat that is already strong. Although it is just spring training, it is very cool to see just how good of a player he could be and that he is on an upward trajectory at this point of his career.
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We likely won’t be seeing Carter Kieboom in a Washington Nationals uniform till the end of this season, but his performance last night shows the Nationals may have one of their best prospects in years.