Joe Koshansky

Joseph Stephen Koshansky

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 225 lb.
• School University of Virginia
• High School Chantilly High School
• Debut September 1, 2007
• Final Game September 27, 2008
• Born May 26, 1982 in Shreveport, LA USA

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Biographical Information

Joe Koshansky played parts of two seasons in the major leagues. He once led all of the minor leagues in RBI.

Amateur career

Koshansky was a two-way player in high school and early in his college career at the University of Virginia. In 2001, he went 4-6 with a 5.68 ERA in 14 starts and hit just .133, albeit with 6 walks in 21 plate appearances; he struck out in 7 of his 15 at-bats. In 2002, Joe was 2-5 with 2 saves and a 5.94 ERA, hitting .156/.255/.267, hardly looking like a future prospect. As a junior, Joe improved on all fronts. He went 7-2 with a 2.31 ERA and allowed a .206 average. At the plate, he hit .320/.434/.562. He made the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Conference team at DH. Returning for his senior year, Koshansky batted .302/.388/.604 and went 8-3 with a 2.98 ERA. He was 6th in the ACC in ERA, right behind Andrew Miller, and was among the leaders with 16 home runs. He didn't make the All-Conference team but somehow won Player of the Year honors anyway. The Colorado Rockies and scout Jay Matthews signed him as the 6th round pick in the 2004 amateur draft.

Professional Career

Koshansky debuted with the 2004 Tri-City Dust Devils and hit .234/.330/.460 and struck out 84 times in 239 AB. In 2005, Joe suddenly became a prospect. He led the Rockies minor leaguers in HR (38) and RBI (115) and tied Matt Miller for the total bases lead (294). He hit .291/.373/.603 for the Asheville Tourists with 92 runs, 36 HR, 103 RBI and 122 strikeouts, then batted .267/.292/.467 in 12 games for the Tulsa Drillers. He was named Colorado's Minor League Player of the Year. He made the South Atlantic League All-Conference team at first base and led the SALLY league in home runs, intentional walks (7), slugging percentage and extra-base hits (68). Baseball America did not name him among the top 20 prospects in the loop. He tied Chris Carter for fourth in most RBI in the minors, was second to Brandon Wood in homers, tied for fourth with Chris Lubanski in total bases (294) and third in extra-base hits.

Joe kept on slugging them out in 2006. He produced at a .284/.371/.526 clip for Tulsa, hitting 31 homers, driving in 109, scoring 84 and striking out 134 times. With Todd Helton in the majors and Ryan Shealy at AAA, Koshansky was stuck at AA. He led Colorado farm players in homers, RBI and slugging. Baseball America named him as the best power prospect and #13 overall prospect in the Texas League. He tied Mark Reynolds for fifth in the US-based minors in homers and was third in RBI (four behind leader Jon Knott). Koshansky led the TL in RBI and led the league's first basemen in putouts (1,108), assists (96), errors (11) and double plays (126). He also played in the 2006 Futures Game, going 1 for 3 with a 2-run homer.

He only hit .227/.296/.412 in winter ball for the Grand Canyon Rafters.

Koshansky batted .295/.380/.490 with 21 homers and 99 RBI for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He was 5th in the PCL in RBI. Koshansky made the 2007 Pacific Coast League All-Star team at first base. He debuted in the majors shortly thereafter, pinch-hitting for Matt Herges with two outs in the bottom of the 9th against Brandon Lyon. He grounded out to Tony Clark. He was just 1 for 12 with two walks in the majors that year. His lone hit came as a pinch-hitter for Omar Quintanilla, doubling off Scott Proctor to score Brad Hawpe with an insurance run in a 3-1 win.

Joe had another big season in the minors in 2008 at .300/.380/.600 with 36 doubles, 31 home runs, 90 runs and 121 RBI for Colorado Springs. In the majors, though, he struck out in 18 of 38 at-bats and hit .211/.250/.526, the power the lone positive. His three big league home runs came off Ryan Tucker, Guillermo Mota and Josh Geer. He was among the 2008 PCL leaders in runs (tied for 7th with Josh Phelps), doubles (tied for 5th with John Lindsey, Josh Whitesell and Brad Nelson), homers (tied for 3rd with Phelps and Brandon Wood), extra-base hits (71, 1st), intentional walks (7, 1st), RBI (1st by 11 over Whitesell), strikeouts (158, 3rd), slugging (4th after Nelson Cruz, Dallas McPherson and Jamie D'Antona), putouts (1,041, 1st), errors at 1B (11, tied with Whitesell for first) and double plays (135, 1st). He led the affiliated minors in RBI and tied Matt Wieters for 9th in slugging. He was again the All-Star 1B.

Moving to the Milwaukee Brewers chain, he hit .218/.316/.435 with 166 strikeouts and 24 home runs for the Nashville Sounds, becoming more of an all-or-nothing hitter. He tied Brendan Katin for 8th in the 2009 Pacific Coast League in home runs and led in strikeouts (two more than Katin). His .997 fielding percentage led PCL first basemen. With Nashville in 2010, he fared better at .264/.370/.496 with 26 home runs and 79 RBI. He tied Katin for 7th in the loop in dingers, was second in strikeouts (152, 17 behind Greg Halman) and led in double plays at 1B (125). With the San Francisco Giants' Richmond Flying Squirrels in 2011, he did poorly (.198/.299/.333 in 34 G, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 43 K in 126 AB) and ended his career.

Overall, Koshansky had batted .270/.359/.512 with 186 home runs and 658 RBI in 888 minor league games, striking out in 1,002 of 3,198 at-bats. He had struck out in 22 of 50 MLB at-bats with a batting line of .180/.236/.440.

Sources: 2005-2009 Baseball Almanacs, University of Virginia website, Minorleaguebaseball.com, Thebaseballcube.com

Related Sites

• SABR Stats Minor League Database