2011 Season in Review: Zack Cozart

Zack Cozart came into 2011 off of a solid, but unspectacular season at Louisville where he hit .255/.310/.416 at age 24. 2011 wound up being a very important season for his career.

April began without much flash as Cozart went 7 for 56 to start the season (.125) before going on a tear to end the month. The tear at the end of the month wasn’t enough to bring up the overall numbers though, as he hit just .225/.281/.337 over 89 at bats with 7 walks and 14 strikeouts.

In May, Cozart was able to carry over his hot streak that he went on to end April. In 92 at bats Cozart hit .337/.378/.533 with 9 doubles and 3 home runs. During the month Cozart took a much more aggressive approach at the plate as he walked just 4 times and struck out just 8 times, relying on lots of contact to boost his overall numbers.

June was even stronger than May as Cozart carried his hot bat over from the previous month. In 122 at bats during the month Cozart hit .377/.420/.549 with 10 doubles, a triple and 3 home runs with 9 walks and 24 strikeouts. Continuing the hot streak he pushed his season line to .320/.366/.482 at the conclusion of the month.

In July Cozart would just see 20 at bats for the Louisville Bats, hitting for a .150/.261/.250 line before getting called up to Cincinnati to fill their gaping hole at shortstop. Unfortunately for him, he would only get to see 37 at bats for the Reds before hyper-extending his elbow after a collision at second base. His stint in the Majors was strong though, hitting .324/.324/.486 with 2 home runs. He wouldn’t return the rest of the year as he underwent Tommy John surgery.

Overall Thoughts

Zack Cozart had a breakout season in 2011 at age 25 and took a firm grip on the Reds shortstop position despite seeing limited action. He showed off good power once again, but took a step forward with his hitting and lowered his strikeout rate. He is likely to be a good defensive shortstop. Cozart might not be an elite hitting shortstop, but with his power he could fall into the middle-tier group and when coupled with his defense could be an above-average shortstop overall.

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