Royals Minor League Daily Tap featuring the 14for77 Matchup of the Week

Tough day on opening day for Royals affiliates as all three clubs playing fell on the night. Inconsistent starting pitching was the name of the game as Chris Dwyer struggled throwing strikes with his fastball for the Naturals, Leonel Santiago struggled with a bit of everything giving up 7 hits 2 walks and 6 runs (5 earned) for the Cougars. As for Mike Montgomery it was a tale of two games for the young lefty. In the second inning the Isotopes jumped all over Montgomery early in counts as eight hitters came to the plate none of which went past a four pitch count while many were swinging away earlier and having success lining singles through the holes. After the second inning however Montgomery settled down and gave up just one run over the next three innings retiring the last 7 hitters he faced. On the night Monty finished with 5 IP 6 H 5 ER 2 BB 3 K not quite the start to the season the young lefty was looking for but in the long run was a good learning experience for the future. The game really got away for the Storm Chasers when Steven Shell got knocked around in his 1 inning of work giving up 5 runs partly due to a collision in the outfield by Paulo Orlando and David Lough.

Daily Tap Top Hitter Clint Robinson 2-4 2 HR 2 RBI

Daily Tap Top Pitcher Dusty Odenbach 0.2 IP 1 K 0 H entered with the bases loaded and stranded them there. Not many to really get excited about on the first day.

MATCHUP OF THE WEEK
AA
Northwest Arkansas Naturals John Lamb
vs
San Antonio Missions Casey Kelly

Our 14for77 Matchup of the Week features two top 35 prospects in John Lamb and Casey Kelly. Lamb has been recovering from a muscle strain that has kept his velocity down most of the spring but his craftiness and experience at the AA level should give him the upper hand versus AA hitters.

Casey Kelly was the top piece in the Adrian Gonzalez deal for the Padres and as a 21 year old in AA he has plenty of promise for their fanbase. Kelly should be a nice test for the Naturals hitters with his 89-93 peaking at 96 mph fastball and plus change up. Kelly also throws a curveball that has some average projection but he struggles commanding it currently. Kelly's delivery is smooth and easy and he's a above average athlete who should be a plus fielder as a former players son and a excellent high school shortstop in his own right.

The Naturals only punched out 5 hits last night and two of those were punched out by getting tossed out stealing. Kelly could prove a tough pitcher to get that offense going especially for a right handed heavy lineup like the Naturals whose 7 of the 9 hitters in last nights lineup were right handed. Christian Colon 2010 4th pick overall had a good night accounting for both Naturals runs homering in his first AA at bat and driving in another run in on a single later in the game.



Blue Rocks start their season
High A
Wilmington Blue Rocks Tim Melville
vs
Myrtle Beach Pelicans Neil Ramirez

Game Notes:
Tim Melville the Royals 2008 4th Round pick is back after a difficult season last year at High A Wilmington. Melville has the stuff to be a dominant pitcher with a possible plus fastball, curve combination combined with a change that has peaked above average at times as well. Melville's biggest problem has been his pace which leads to control problems. JJ Picollo touted Melville as a possible fast mover to the AA level this season which hopefully means they fixed things during instructs and spring.

Neil Ramirez is a soon to be 22 year old right hander who finds himself outside of the Top 20 prospects in a deep Texas Rangers farm system. According to Jason Parks at Texas Farm Review has two plus pitches in his 92-94 mph fastball and his curve that has heavy vertical movement.
Mike Olt and Leury Garcia are two of the top 15 prospect in the Texas Rangers system.


AAA
Omaha Storm Chasers Jeff Suppan
vs
Albuquerque Isotopes(Dodgers) Carlos Monasterios

Suppan rejoins the Royals organization after a few years away. He'll try to prove he's worth a look at the major league level and hopefully be a good mentor to the young guys coming thru the system.

Monasterios came over in the Bobby Abreu deal from the Yankees back in 2006 and spent quite a bit of 2010 on the major league roster. He threw 32 games (13 starts) in the bigs last season compiling a 4.38 ERA in 88.1 IP. Monasterios is primarily a fastball/change up guy as over 80% of his pitches in the majors were of that variety. His change up is his plus pitch with fading action on it at an average of 77.6 mph as that teams well with his 90.1 mph fastball last season. Carlos was prone to the long ball last season giving up 1.5+/9 last year which playing in LA's spacious park is quite alot and considering he'll be playing in the light air in New Mexico the Chasers could take advantage of that.

The Storm Chasers defense struggled in the first game as they left multiple outs on the field. The offense did account for 12 hits and 5 runs in the loss on the positive side.



A
Kane County Cougars Sugar Ray Marimom
vs
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Matt Miller

Sugar Ray Marimom is back for his second year at A ball where the young Columbian struggled in 14 starts allowing 1.429 WHIP and over 5 run ERA. He and a few others in the current rotation will be pushed to get off to decent starts prior to some of the younger arms coming after extended spring training.

Miller was picked last year in the 5th round out of Michigan and quickly earned rave reviews by folks in the Brewers system as he touched 97 mph on his normal 92-94 mph FB. He has a four pitch mix with the above average FB he also throws a plus slider, decent change up and began throwing a curveball last season in leading his Pioneer league team to a title. At 6'6 230 lbs and possessing a big time fastball Miller at worst looks the part as a future bullpen guy.

The Cougars struggled all over the diamond as the pitching staff gave up 14 hits in the first 7.1 Innings while committing three errors and the bats were held to just 6 hits only one of which was an extra base hit(Eibner HR).

Pics and Video of Spring Training

While I was at spring training I was mostly jotting notes down but I did take some time to take a few pics and videos. Here are a few of the video's I'll post more pics and video tomorrow.

Christian Colon in the cage

Wil Myers in the cage

Orlando Calixte in the cage

Lane Adams in the cage

Michael Antonio in the cage

Royals send Myers and Colon to Wilmington

The Royals signed Christian Colon last week and quickly moved him to Wilmington where he'll be joined by Wil Myers who was promoted from Burlington(IA). Myers in my opinion is the best overall hitter in the system combining power and patience to go along with tons of raw tools. These additions combined with the players already there will make Wilmington the top draw by Royals prospect followers and could push them into a playoff run.



Wilmington Top Prospects
1.Eric Hosmer 1b- #1 in Carolina league in Avg and doubles, #2 in Lg OPS
2.John Lamb SP- Putting up as good of numbers as Duffy, Montgomery, Matusz, Kelly or any prospect in the Carolina League the last couple years.
3.Wil Myers C
4.Christian Colon SS
5.Chris Dwyer SP- Solid season for a guy many expected to take time to get thru the system.
6.Tim Melville SP- Early struggles were tamed but his last couple of starts have been tough.
7.Salvador Perez C- Great start to the season but struggled greatly in June.
8.Buddy Baumann SP/RP- Profiles as a Loogy down the road but is pitching well from both spots starter and reliever.

Colon has struggled so far going 0-12 with 4 strikeouts and hitting into 3 double plays. Colon was thought by many to be a sure fire major leaguer so hopefully these are nothing more than early struggles. I am a tad worried as the guy he is most compared to Grant Green hasn't exactly lit the very very hitter friendly Cal League on fire with a .844 OPS.

If Colon plays to the ability we all hoped and KC doesn't promote Hosmer or Lamb to AA then Wilmington will probably earn a shot in the Carolina League Playoffs.

Royals High School draft info on Michael Antonio and Jason Adam

The last two seasons the Royals have concentrated mostly on college players in the draft a strategy that definitely draws some mixed reviews among the fanbase. While in most seasons I wouldn't agree with that strategy either this season with a lack of talent I agree with taking college kids who are limited ceiling wise but cheaper and quicker to the big leagues for the most part. Two of the Royals Top 5 picks were High Schoolers and after reading info about both I must say I love the picks of Michael Antonio and Jason Adam. This week I luckily got a little more info into them by talking with a Royals insider on Antonio and Adam was nice enough to answer a few questions.

Jason Congratulations on getting drafted by the way it must be a huge thrill.

Were you watching the draft online when you got drafted?
My family and me were all huddled around the computer watching the draft and when we finally got that call it was incredible.

JJ Picollo stated that you and your family have a good relationship with the organization, were the Royals the leaders within your family for who you wanted to get drafted by?
The royals have been front runners in our minds because they are the hometown team and they have a great organization from top to bottom that we've been able to get very close to.

Being a local kid are the Royals your favorite team and if not who?
Yes definitely, I grew up watching them and going to their games.

What person has had the biggest influence on your pitching? When did you think you had a chance to get drafted out of High School?
My summer coach Jeremy Jones has helped me immensely these past years to improve my pitching and help me turn into a man. I didn't realize I was actually going to have this opportunity until right before my high school season when the attention really picked up.

As a Missouri commit will the rumors of the Big 12 possibly dissolving have any influence on your decision to sign a pro contract?
It doesn't really play a factor because it wont take effect until my junior year and I chose Missouri because I liked Mizzou not because I liked the big 12.

What do you think is your best pitch currently?
Probably my spotted fastball.

Finally what did you think of the scouting process and the draft process in general?
It has been very exciting and maybe a little stressful but I enjoyed every second of it.

Of all the Royals draftpicks the one that made people scratch their heads the most was the pick of Michael Antonio, a HS Shortstop from Manny Ramirez's Alma matter George Washington HS in New York. Antonio was projected to be picked anywhere from the late 3rd to 6th. His stock was said to be heading down going into the draft and to be honest I didn't know much about Antonio heading into the draft but after reading about him and checking out his swing on various sites I have to say I like the pick quite a bit. The kid has upside and almost seems like a poor mans Manny Machado in that he has a big growing frame at 6'3 190 where he possibly could grow out of the position of Shortstop but if everything went right could become a talent at the SS position that moves Colon over to second base eventually. A contact within the organization had this to say about Antonio:

Antonio is a strong, athletic kid but raw. He’ll need the full development time in the minors. He’s a dead fastball hitter and has a little difficulty recognizing off-speed stuff. Runs pretty well and is a solid defender…although he would get a little too cute/fancy from time to time in the field. I suspect that could be attributed to being a high school kid who’s the best player on his team. That attitude will probably go away once he’s around a bunch of players who are as good or better than him.

I can see him developing more power...that’s definitely a possibility. He has tremendous athleticism and upside if handled right and with patience.

In the end this draft didn't have the flash of Hosmer, Melville and Montgomery or the second 1st rounder like Myers but it has added some talent at the top end with the additions of Colon and Chapman while adding some upside potential in Eibner, Antonio and Adam. Hopefully like all drafts a diamond in the rough will be uncovered as well.