Killer Bee: Kendrick named June Athlete of the Month

On Wednesday Howard "Howie" Kendrick will spend his 23rd birthday in Toledo, Ohio, of all places. There, the Salt Lake Bees second baseman will be playing in his second All-Star game in four days.

Kendrick was in Pittsburgh on Sunday when he scored a pair of runs in helping the United States beat the World, 8-5, in the Futures All-Star Game, featuring top players from all levels of the minor leagues.

The Triple-A All-Star Game on Wednesday in Toledo will likely be Kendrick's last as a minor league baseball player. That's certainly not a knock. It's just that he isn't likely to be a minor leaguer for very much longer.

Kendrick "is the best hitter in the minor leagues," gushes Bees manager Brian Harper. "He'll be in the major leagues next year."

The stats seem to back up Harper's statements. Kendrick, for much of June, was hitting better than .400 for the season, topping out at .411 at one point. He was named the PCL's Batter of the Week for the first week of June. He's cooled off a bit, but he still entered the All-Star break with a .369 batting average, 61 RBIs and 13 home runs — all best on the division-leading Bees and among the leaders in the Pacific Coast League.

For his accomplishments, Kendrick has been named the Deseret Morning News' Athlete of the Month for June.

Despite all the recent accolades and All-Star recognition, the native Floridian remains humble and dedicated to getting better.

"I'm very pleased where I'm at defensively, but I want to get better," said Kendrick. "Offensively, obviously, there are some things I need to work on there, too."

For one thing, Kendrick wants to become more selective in the pitches he swings at. He is an aggressive hitter, who rarely walks. He has picked up just 12 bases on balls this season in nearly 300 plate appearances.

"I get myself into trouble sometimes by chasing pitches outside the strike zone," said Kendrick. "When I don't chase those pitches, I hit a lot better because I make them come into the zone and I get better pitches to hit. I need to make the pitchers come to me and not give into them."

Still, even balls out of the strike zone often get sprayed all over the field by Kendrick.

"Howie hits a lot of bad pitches hard," said Harper. "He's aggressive. In that way he reminds me a lot of Kirby Puckett."

Harper was a teammate of the late, great, Hall-of-Famer Puckett in Minnesota for seven years.