Under the Radar Prospect - Kila Ka’aihue

Age - 24
Position - 1B/DH
Games Played - 124
AB - 391
Runs - 91
Hits - 126
Homeruns - 37
RBIs - 100
Walks - 104
Strikeouts - 67
BA - .315
OBP - .451
SLG - .632
OPS - 1.083

Kila Ka’aihue had a great year in 2008 playing for Kansas City's AA and AAA minor league teams, but he has not gotten the attention that he deserves. In Baseball America's 2008 Prospect Handbook Kila Ka’aihue was not mentioned at all for the Royals. They chose 30 players instead of him and I think they missed a very good player. Maybe it had to do with age, but I believe this guy is definitely a worthy prospect. He walked almost 40 more times than he struck out, which is unreal for a power hitting prospect!

In 2008 Kila Ka’aihue was called up at the end of the year and played 12 games. In those 12 games he hit .286, with 21 ABs, 6 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 1 homerun, 1 rbi, and 4 runs. Those are solid numbers for a guy who was not given a lot of opportunity to prove himself. I do not know why he was not called up earlier because he proved himself in the minors and the Royals did not have a first basemen or DH that really stood out that would hinder Kila Ka’aihue from moving up.

I do not think that his numbers in the majors will be as good as his numbers in the minors, but I believe that Kila Ka’aihue could be a very solid player at the major league level. Hopefully the Royals give him a chance to prove himself and hopefully Baseball America and other prospect writers will give him the respect that he deserves. Watch out for Kila Ka’aihue as a major sleeper prospect in the 2009 season.