Over the last couple of days there has been a discussion about whether it would be better to keep Rickie Weeks or Howie Kendrick. As I said in the comments section of the mock draft, Weeks is the sexy pick with 30/30 potential. Kendrick seems to be the steady player who will hit over .310 consistently and throw in a few home runs along the way.

Guffybear thought that Weeks’ September OBP was better then it was all season. Well, let take a look:

Weeks - September OBP - .409 (.245 batting ave)
Kendrick September OBP - .353 (.340 batting ave)
Weeks - August OBP - .500 (.327 batting ave)
Kendrick - August OBP - .435 (.395 batting ave)

Weeks had 150 at bats between the two months, and Kendrick had 143. So the sample size is about the same. Rickie Weeks’ pre all-star break stats had him with a .328 OBP and a miserable .221 batting average. So yes, Weeks did improve significantly over the last two months. Howie Kendrick did keep pace with him, but loses fantasy value, because he hit one home run, and Weeks hit eleven. That is a big difference.

One of the knocks against Rickie Weeks revolves around his durability. Weeks posted 409 at bats last year. However, Howie Kendrick only had 338 at bats last year. Fortunately, for fantasy owners, most of the time lost was due to a hand fracture from being hit by a pitch. So I would give the durability edge to Kendrick.

Take a look at these stats from the same months I compared earlier:

Weeks - September - BB 20.97%, K 35.71%
Kendrick - September - BB 0.00%, 16.00%
Weeks - August - BB 18.75%, K 25.00 %
Kendrick - August - BB 6.52%, 13.95%

I knew that Weeks had high strike out rates, but I had no idea how few times Howie Kendrick walked. In fact, he only had 9 walks all of last year. That means that Kendrick is a contact hitter with a little power. That also means that Kendrick’s batting average is tied very closely to the BABIP stat. Last year, Kendrick had a BABIP of .382. A natural regression of his BABIP in 2008 will most likely effect his batting average. Look at what happened to Freddy Sanchez last year. Most experts have said that Kendrick has 20/20 potential, but that may not be realized for a few more years.

On the flip side, Weeks’ high strikeout rate will prevent him from ever having a league average batting average. If Weeks keeps his walk rates where they are, and brings the strikeout rate down to 20-22 percent, then watch out. I know that I gave a recommendation of keeping Kendrick, but I would have to change my opinion based on the end of the 2007 season. I think, when healthy, Rickie Weeks will add more fantasy value to your team.