Kevin Newman

31-Year-Old ShortstopSS

Los Angeles Angels

2024 Stats

AVG

.278

RBI

2025 Projections

AVG

RBI

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

Newman was signed by the Angels in November on a one-year deal with a team option, and it is the perfect landing spot for the utility infielder given the health status of the infield. Zach Neto is still recovering from his shoulder problem while Anthony Rendon may have strained an eyeball reading this outlook. Newman is the ideal utility infielder as someone who has the skills to play up the middle and the corner if needed while providing excellent strike zone judgement at the plate to spray the ball to all fields. This was the skillset David Fletcher showcased for this franchise before he was sent off to Atlanta, but we would be shocked to see Newman ascent into the same type of starting role which gave Fletcher the chance to amass 650+ plate apperances in consecutive full seasons. Simply put, Newman is someone that should not really hurt you, but 2021 is what could happen with too much playing time. 2019 should be discarded given that super happy fun ball is not coming back any time soon. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

From Preseason

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'1"

Weight 180

DOB 8/4/1993

Drafted 1st Rd 2015

Nabs one-year deal with Halos

SSLos Angeles Angels

November 14, 2024

The Angels signed Newman to a one-year, $2.5 million contract with a $2.5 million club option for 2026 on Thursday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

ANALYSIS
The veteran infielder could be the current favorite to open next season at shortstop for the Angels if Zach Neto (shoulder) isn't ready. Newman slashed .278/.311/.375 with three homers and eight steals in 111 games for the Diamondbacks in 2024 and graded out as a plus-four in Outs Above Average at shortstop.

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Batting Stats

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2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2024 MLB Game Log

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2023 MLB Game Log

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2022 MLB Game Log

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2021 MLB Game Log

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2020 MLB Game Log

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2019 MLB Game Log

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2018 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2022

+27%

OPS vs LHP

2024

+9%

OPS vs LHP

2023

+42%

OPS vs LHP

2022

+37%

OPS vs LHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2022vs Left	.785	345	47	5	33	10	.305	.348	.437
Since 2022vs Right	.617	528	53	3	48	14	.246	.290	.327
2024vs Left	.722	131	21	2	13	4	.282	.302	.419
2024vs Right	.660	180	20	1	15	4	.274	.318	.341
2023vs Left	.813	110	14	3	11	3	.278	.349	.464
2023vs Right	.571	143	14	0	17	5	.234	.282	.289
2022vs Left	.837	104	12	0	9	3	.361	.404	.433
2022vs Right	.611	205	19	2	16	5	.230	.271	.340
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2022

+1%

OPS at Home

2024

+9%

OPS at Home

2023

+17%

OPS on Road

2022

+9%

OPS at Home

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2022Home	.688	419	47	5	44	16	.271	.308	.380
Since 2022Away	.679	454	53	3	36	8	.268	.317	.362
2024Home	.717	144	17	0	13	7	.308	.333	.383
2024Away	.660	167	24	3	15	1	.252	.293	.368
2023Home	.624	130	12	3	15	6	.235	.279	.345
2023Away	.731	123	16	0	13	2	.274	.344	.387
2022Home	.718	145	18	2	16	3	.267	.310	.407
2022Away	.661	164	13	0	8	5	.281	.321	.340
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Stat Review

How does Kevin Newman compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.31

BB Rate

4.8%

K Rate

15.4%

BABIP

.322

ISO

.097

AVG

.278

OBP

.311

SLG

.375

OPS

.686

wOBA

.302

Exit Velocity

85.6 mph

Hard Hit Rate

21.0%

Barrels/PA

1.3%

Expected BA

.256

Expected SLG

.323

Sprint Speed

24.5 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

48.1%

Line Drive %

22.0%

Fly Ball %

29.9%

Prospect Rankings History

View Complete Kevin Newman Prospect Ranking History

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

Games By Position

Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

Newman had relatively high expectations given his status as the 19th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. He had a promising first full season in the big leagues in 2019, but he has since struggled to find a carrying tool. In theory, that's his ability to make consistent contact, but his career 11.7 percent strikeout rate has translated to just a .260 average. That's caused by his lack of barrels and hard contact, as he has only 20 home runs across 1,663 career plate appearances - translating to just a .096 ISO. Newman does boast some speed, but he has 14 combined stolen bases across the last three seasons and is 30-for-43 on the basepaths for his career. An offseason trade to the Reds also doesn't do him any favors, as Jonathan India and Jose Barrero are likely to start the season at Newman's natural positions of second and third base, respectively.

Newman posted a 109 wRC+ during his first full big-league campaign in 2019, but over the past two seasons he's slashed .226/.268/.302 with six home runs, 49 RBI and six stolen bases in 192 games. The 28-year-old is a high-contact hitter (career 10.9 percent strikeout rate and 5.2 percent walk rate), but his propensity for hitting groundballs (47.5 percent) limits his upside for fantasy purposes. Newman should still receive plenty of opportunities given Pittsburgh's options in the middle infield, but he'll need to drive the ball more in order to regain fantasy relevance.

Newman came up as a quick high-contact hitter throughout the minor leagues who relied upon his bat-to-ball skills and his feet to produce runs. He looked overmatched in 2018, but surprised us all with a rather productive, too-good-to-be-true offensive line in 2019. We all expected some regression for Newman in 2020, but not the fall back to square one of his career. Newman still excelled in his batted-ball skills, but the outcomes off his bat were rarely productive as he had six extra-base hits on the season and the final slash line means he likely hits eighth or ninth in the 2021 lineup, depending on whether the universal DH goes into hiatus in the senior circuit. He has eligibility at both middle infield spots, but it's difficult to view him as more than a MI option in NL-only leagues and free-agent fodder in mixed leagues unless the stolen bases resurface.

Newman flashed good bat-to-ball skills in the minors, but an otherwise meager profile made it difficult to be bullish about his fantasy prospects entering 2019. The Pirates supported that view by first giving Erik Gonzalez and Cole Tucker trials as the primary shortstop, but Newman seized the role in late May and didn't look back. From June 1 onward, Newman hit .301 with 11 homers, 15 steals, 54 runs and 51 RBI, making him found gold for those who poached him off the wire. The Statcast readings create doubt about his chances to repeat as a double-digit home-run hitter -- he ranked in the bottom fifth percentile of hitters in both exit velocity and hard-hit percentage -- but a .291 xBA adds some legitimacy to his actual output in that category. Perhaps more importantly, his role as the team's leadoff man should continue to afford him plenty of running chances in spite of his non-elite speed.

The jump to the highest level of professional baseball proved tough for Newman. However, those struggles shouldn't define his season. His much larger body of work at Triple-A Indianapolis was impressive, even for a 24-year-old at that level. His carrying tool was on full display as Newman struck out just 10.5% of the time and hit over .300. Newman also swiped 28 bases in his 109 games with the team's top affiliate, though he's not a true burner. He had never managed more than 13 steals in a season prior to 2018, he was caught on the basepaths 11 times in his 39 attempts last season and his 29 ft/sec sprint speed per Statcast, while good, did not rank among the elite. The big negative with Newman is the lack of power. He's topped out at five home runs in a season and his ISO has topped out at .128. Jordy Mercer moved on in free agency, seemingly creating an opening for Newman, but he'll have to nail down a starting job in spring training.

The problem with betting on an older hitter with a presumed plus hit tool and little else, is that when the hit tool doesn't quite deliver as promised, there's not much left. That was the case for Newman in 2017, and he has now failed to hit .290 or better during multiple stints at Double-A and a 40-game run at Triple-A to close out last season. The power probably isn't coming at this point, and he is no longer a plus runner or even an above-average defender at shortstop. This points to a future as either a bottom tier everyday player or a low-impact utility infielder. Newman is entering his age-24 season and figures to make his MLB debut this year, but there's just not much to see here from a fantasy perspective.

Newman is arguably Pittsburgh's most promising middle-infield prospect. After playing well for more than half of a season for Double-A Altoona, he will likely move to Triple-A Indianapolis in 2017. That would set himself up for a major-league debut in September or 2018. The 23-year-old University of Arizona product began 2016 with High-A Bradenton. He hit .366/.428/.494 in 189 plate appearances before earning a promotion to Altoona. While his numbers dropped off (.288/.361/.378), he maintained his plate discipline with a 26:24 BB:K. Defensively, he committed only two errors in 257 chances. The only real knock on Newman is his lack of power. He's totaled seven homers in two seasons. Still, he's positioned himself well as a solid batting-average prospect with a major league future on tap.

Although Newman didn’t meet with immediate success in the NYPL — he slashed .226/.281/.340 in 173 PA — an injury to fellow shortstop prospect, Cole Tucker, prompted the Pirates to promote Newman to Low-A West Virginia. Surprisingly, the 2015 first-round pick produced better offense for the Power than he did for the Black Bears. He batted .306 with a .743 OPS in 110 PA. Prior to the draft, Newman was thought to be further advanced defensively than at the plate. He’ll look to build upon a good foundation in 2016.

More Fantasy News

Close to deal with Angels

SSFree Agent

November 14, 2024

The Angels are nearing a contract agreement with Newman, Will Sammon and Sam Blum of The Athletic report.