Kellen Kulbacki

Kellen R. Kulbacki

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 185 lb.
• School James Madison University
• High School Hershey High School

• Born November 21, 1985 in Harrisonburg, VA USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Kellen Kulbacki, a well-decorated college ballplayer, was a first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in the 2007 draft. Kulbacki is the grandson of Bob Bettleyon, who played for the Cordele A's in 1951.

Kulbacki hit .379 as a high school junior and .493/.549/.944 as a senior. He was the Keystone Division Player of the Year his senior campaign.

In his freshman year at James Madison, Kulbacki batted .343/.393/.552. He was named to the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie team and won the Kevin Nehring Rookie of the Year Award that season. Following the campaign, he won MVP honors with the Herndon Braves of the Clark Griffith League. As a sophomore in 2006, the left-handed outfielder hit .464/.568/.943 with 24 homers, 68 runs and 75 RBI in 53 games. He was second in NCAA Division I in average behind Mike Goetz, led in slugging by 96 points over Marcus Davis and Shawn Scobee, was second to Goetz in OBP, led in home runs and tied two others for 7th in RBI. He was a consensus first-team All-American. He won the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year Award and was an obvious choice for the All-Conference team in the outfield. He split the Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year award with Wes Roemer. He was the VaSID State Player of the Year, NCBWA District IV Player of the Year and ABCA All-East and VaSID All-State first team. He was a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Brooks Wallace Award.

Kulbacki hit .240/.314/.420 for the Cotuit Kettleers that summer. Baseball America did not rate him as one of the top 30 prospects in the Cape Cod League, though he did tie for 4th with 7 HR.

In 2007, Kellen batted .398/.538/.785 with 56 runs, 56 walks and 19 homers in 53 games and again earned multiple honors, including first-team All-American selections. The San Diego Padres took him with the 40th pick in the first round of the 2007 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Ash Lawson and made his pro debut that summer with the Eugene Emeralds, going 0 for 3 with a strikeout in his first game on June 25. Immediately successful, he hit .301/.382/.491 in 61 games for the Emeralds his first professional season to earn Baseball America Short-Season All-Star honors, as well as a Northwest League Player of the Week selection. In 2008, Kulbacki batted .332/.428/.589 with 20 home runs and 66 RBI in 84 games for the Lake Elsinore Storm. He also batted .164 in 18 games for the Fort Wayne Wizards to bring his season totals to .304/.400/.540 with 22 home runs and 75 RBI. He earned a California League Player of the Week honor, a Post-Season All-Star selection and a Baseball America High Class-A All-Star selection. Going into 2009, he was named the fourth-best prospect in the Padres system by Baseball America and the 89th-best prospect in the game by Baseball Prospectus. Injuries befell him toward the end of the 2008 campaign, however, and hampered him for the rest of his career. He was officially released by the Padres prior to the 2011 season and joined the independent leagues for 2011 and 2012. 2012 was his final campaign - overall, he hit .273 with 32 home runs and 137 RBI in 238 games.

Sources: Cape Cod League site, James Madison bio, The Baseball Cube, 2006-2007 Baseball Almanacs