Kyle Kubitza

With David Freese nursing a hamstring injury the Angels called up prospect Kyle Kubitza on Wednesday to start at third. Kubitza went 2 for 3 in the Angels 4-2 loss to the Rays but had a few mental mistakes as he had a defensive lapse and two base running mistakes. Instead of getting a routine out he tried to tag Kevin Kiermaier going to third. After collecting his first hit he failed to tag up on a deep fly ball and then over ran a base shortly after that and was caught in a run down.

Fantasy Impact

Chalk up the mistakes to a young kid being nervous in his Major League debut. The good news is he went 2 for 3 and showed he can pick up the offensive slack if David Freese is out for an extended period of time. The hope was that Kubitza would become the every day third basemen for the Angels down the road. Lets see how he performs the next few games while Freese is out.

The Angels traded their No. 2 prospect, Ricardo Sanchez, and minor league reliever Nate Hyatt to acquire the 24 year old Kubitza.

Fantasy Impact

Although Kubitza has never played in the MLB, he could provide depth at 3B for the Angels. David Freese is a free agent after the 2015 season and, at 31, was not an impact player for the Angels last season, only hitting .260 with 10 home runs and 55 RBI. Kubitzka is an intriguing option at 3B for late 2015 or 2016, as he is a lefty with double power and decent speed, posting 31 doubles, 11 triples, and 21 SB at Double-A Misssissippi last season. Another skill for the newest Angel is his high OBP, as he has a .381 OBP in 436 minor league games. He is not going to be an option for 2015 unless Freese gets hurt, but is a player to watch for the future.