by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (4/25/2013) Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma is working on a four-game hitting streak thanks in part to his ability to make more contact at the plate. After striking out nine times in his first 11 games, Kozma has struck out just twice in 24 at-bats over his last eight games while walking four times.
He takes a .262/.306/.369 line in 72 plate appearances into a weekend series against the Pirates in St. Louis that begins Friday.
Pete Kozma struggles in return to lineup
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (4/18/2013) Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma was back in the starting lineup Thursday after receiving Wednesday off but couldn't manage to get anything going in an 0-for-3 performance.
Kozma, who is 1 for 11 in his last three games, has hit .250/.255/.396 in 51 plate appearances this season.
Pete Kozma seeing too much Fantasy playing time
by Al Melchior | Data Analyst (4/10/2013) Entering Wednesday's game against the Reds, Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma was sporting a .300 batting average and an CBSSports.com Fantasy ownership rate that had more than doubled from opening day. Now owned in 30 percent of our leagues and starting in 21 percent, Kozma's appeal has moved beyond NL-only leagues.
Despite his high average, that just shouldn't be the case. He doesn't have a history of good power numbers, even though he tends to hit flyballs at a high rate. In the upper minors, Kozma never hit higher than .243, because too many of those flies never left the infield. The trend has continued in the early going this season, as he has already been popped up four times.
Take away just two of his hits and his average would have been .233. That's the fun of early-season sample sizes, but as his at-bats mount, Kozma's batting average will probably land around .230 or maybe even lower. With few extra-base hits and stolen bases to add to that, he will have little value in Fantasy, even for NL-only owners.
Pete Kozma continues to heat up
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (4/8/2013) Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma enjoyed another solid performance as he plated two runs during Sunday's series finale against the Giants.
Kozma singled in a run in the fourth inning and scored another through a sacrifice fly in the ninth. He finished 1 for 4 with a run scored and two RBI in a 14-3 victory.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is trying to downplay Kozma's solid start. Kozma, who is filling in for an injured Rafael Furcal, is hitting .333/.346/.500 with a home run and five RBI through his first six games.
"We're trying to make everybody leave him alone and not make a big deal about it," Matheny said. "We like what we've seen and what we saw last year. I told him this, too: 'This is the only guy I know. So just keep doing what you do.'"
Still not buying into Pete Kozma hype
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/7/2013) I'm still not ready to buy into the Pete Kozma hype a week into the season. I know he had a strong spring for the Cardinals and has carried that momentum over into the regular season, but I just don't see how a career .236 hitters in the minors will be able to keep doing what he has been doing.
I don't mind Fantasy owners getting what they can out of Kozma while he's hitting, but I just don't think he will end up being a long-term solution.
Pete Kozma posts three-hit day
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (4/6/2013) Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma singled three times in his team's 6-3 win over the Giants Saturday, scoring one run and driving in one run. The big game pushed Kozma's average to .350 through 20 at-bats this season.
Pete Kozma makes his presence known
by Chris Towers | CBSSports.com (4/3/2013) Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma has some big shoes to fill this season. He is replacing three-time All Star Rafael Furcal in the starting lineup at shortstop. He made a big impact for the first time Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.
Kozma slugged a solo home run in the seventh inning of the game to help power the Cardinals to a 6-1 win. Batting eighth in the order, Kozma finished 2 for 4 with one RBI and one run scored. One of his two outs came via strikeout, his third of the season.
Kozma opened the season 0 for 2 with two strikeouts and a walk Monday.
Pete Kozma rips two doubles to keep hot streak alive
by Jack Moore | CBSSports.com (3/24/2013)Pete Kozma went 2 for 3 with two doubles, a run scored and two RBI to continue his hot spring against the Mets Sunday.
Kozma appears to have won the shortstop job for the Cardinals following the release of Ronny Cedeno. The 24-year-old is hitting a sharp .353/.397/.544 with seven doubles and two home runs in 68 spring at-bats.
Pete Kozma continues hot spring
by Chris Cwik | CBSSports.com (3/21/2013)Pete Kozma continued his strong spring, going 2 for 3 against the Mets Thursday to improve his average to .340.
Kozma is expected to be the opening-day starter at short after the team released Ronny Cedeno Tuesday. Rafael Furcal was at the top of the depth chart when camp opene, but is out after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The 25-year-old Kozma hit .333/.383/.569 in 82 plate appearances with the Cardinals last season.
Pete Kozma remains enigmatic
by Nando Di Fino | Senior Fantasy Writer (3/18/2013) If you only saw Pete Kozma's 2012 line, you'd probably love him: a .333 average with two home runs, two steals, and a .952 OPS in 26 games last year. With a hot spring, it appears that Kozma, a former first-round pick, has finally arrived.
But if you dig into his minor-league stats, Kozma gets somewhat terrifying. In six seasons, over 2,429 at-bats, he's compiled a .236 average. He started 2012 as a utility guy in Triple-A and didn't even play the majority of games at shortstop last year for Memphis.
General manager John Mozeliak suggested during last year's postseason that Kozma, who had some big postseason hits, simply "rose to the challenge" of being placed on the big stage. But is that enough? For me, no. Kozma will have some value as a starter, mainly in counting stats, but he strikes out a good deal and if he doesn't rise to the challenge in the doldrums of June and July, we could see an infield of Daniel Descalso and Matt Carpenter. I wouldn't go more than one dollar on Kozma in NL-only auctions.
Manager: Pete Kozma installed at short
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (3/18/2013) After Rafael Furcal required Tommy John surgery last month, Pete Kozma emerged as the leading candidate to replace him as the Cardinals' starting shortstop for the beginning of the season. Manager Mike Matheny confirmed that thinking Monday and tapped the 24-year-old as the starter over Ronny Cedeno, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
The light-hitting Kozma, a former first-round draft pick, is carrying a .341 batting average while driving in seven runs during Grapefruit League play. He owns a .303 career average over two major-league seasons, but has struck out (23) in more than half of his games played (42).
Keep Pete Kozma off sleepers list
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (3/17/2013) Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma is having a heck of a spring, batting .359 (14 for 39) with two homers, three doubles, seven RBI and eight runs in 13 spring games. He's emerged as the favorite to replace Rafael Furcal (elbow) at shortstop for St. Louis. However, I'm not putting Kozma on my sleepers list just yet and neither should you.
You look at Kozma's background. He was a 2007 first-round pick (18th overall) and is just 24 years old, so you think he's finally hitting his stride. While he had a decent line in the majors last season -- .333/.383/.569/.952 -- I still have trouble trusting a player whose career line in the minors looks like this -- .236/.308/.344/.652.
Kozma's numbers in the high minors weren't even that pretty. His line at Double-A was .231/.305/.352/.656 and at Triple-A was .223/.286/.324/.610.
Looking at what he did last year in the majors and what he's doing in spring this year certainly is intriguing, but I can't wholeheartedly recommend Kozma as more than an NL-only Fantasy flier or a desperation flier in very deep mixed leagues on Draft Day. He needs a bigger sample size in regular-season games before I jump on the bandwagon.
Heyman: Pete Kozma expected to start for Cardinals
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (3/14/2013) CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman reports the Cardinals are planning for infielder Pete Kozma to start at shortstop in Rafael Furcal's absence since Daniel Descalso and Matt Carpenter are both playing well battling for the starting second base job. Kozma is having a great spring, batting .382 (13 for 34) with two homers, three doubles, six runs and seven RBI in 11 spring games.
Kozma's time to shine
by Chris Towers | CBSSports.com (3/7/2013) With news breaking that shortstop Rafael Furcal is set to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery, it looks like the Cardinals’ starting shortstop job will be going to 24-year-old Pete Kozma, who went 2-for-3 with a home run against the Yankees on Thursday. Kozma impressed in a 72 at bat cameo last season, putting up a .952 OPS and .333 batting average, and he continues to hit the ball well in the spring as well. Kozma is now batting .429, with four extra-base hits and just three strikeouts in 28 at bats. "As long as I get a chance, that's all I can ask for. I'm going to run with it," Kozma said. "I have to do what I did last year. I have to carry it over into the season."
Kozma looks like leader at SS
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (3/4/2013) The St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested Monday that with shortstop Rafael Furcal all but ruled out for the start of the regular season, the Cardinals appear ready to start Pete Kozma at the position. Kozma has widely outplayed his competition, Ronny Cedeno, this spring with a .409 batting average, a home run and two doubles in seven games. Plus, Cedeno is hitting terribly and made a few errors in his last start.
Kozma could see time at SS
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (3/3/2013) The Cardinals are unsure if Rafael Furcal's injured elbow will be healed by opening day and would likely split time at shortstop with Ronny Cedeno and Pete Kozma if Furcal isn't ready, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday. Kozma has gone 6 for 17 (.353) thus far this spring with a homer and four RBI.
Kozma in mix for Cardinals
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (2/17/2013) MLB.com reports the Cardinals are giving infielder Pete Kozma a legitimate chance to make the opening day roster, despite the team signing Ronny Cedeno in the offseason to be a backup infielder. “What we’re looking at just making sure we have protection," general manager John Mozeliak said. "In essence, if Pete keeps doing what he did, he’ll likely be in the big leagues. We didn’t want to just go into the season and find out that [Rafael] Furcal couldn’t go and find out Kozma was not [going to build on] the six-week period. We had a lot of optimism. It was just shoring up the position.”
