14 for 77 Minor League Recap 4/12/11

14for77 Hitter of the Day Wil Myers 3-5 2b,BB 3RBI

14for77 Pitcher of the Day Mario Santiago 3.2 IP 1 H 3 K 0 R

Cougars Recap

Prior to the season I thought the A Ball lineup and pitching staff could be limited and at times early they've showed that scoring 3 runs in all four losses. So far in the young season their staff has put up a 5.37 ERA which stands as second worst in the Midwest league and yesterday was more of the same as Leonel Santiago staked to a 1 run lead ran into trouble in the 3rd and 4th innings. Working with a fastball/curve combination Santiago gave up worked around baserunners in the first two innings but was unable to duplicate that success in the 3rd when he gave up a 1 run single but got out of the jam with a double play. Then in the 4th Santiago again looked to work around a leadoff double by getting the next two hitters, then the trouble started as Santiago earned a strike three for what appeared to be the third out however Travis Jones was unable to catch the wild pitch and the hitter advanced to first to keep the inning alive. Santiago couldn't work around that mistake allowing the next two hitters to get hits and his day was done allowing 4 runs over 3.2 innings. The Cougars would draw within 1 run in the 5th inning but couldn't get any closer as the Bandits tacked on an insurance run in the 8th.

Leonel Santiago 0-2 10.57 ERA 7.2 IP 14 H 10/3 K/BB
Alex Llanos 2-4 2b

Blue Rocks Recap

The Blue Rocks came back from a pretty shaky start by Elisaul Pimentel. Pimentel had trouble with most phases of the game as he wasn't missing bats (7 hits) or controlling the running game (3 stolen bases). The Rocks got him off the hook with a four run rally in the top of the 7th inning as two walks and three hits plus a wild pitch allowed the Rocks to notch four runs in the innings. The Rocks would score a unearned run in the top of the 9th on a Tim Ferguson ground out that allowed Nick Francis who reached via throwing error to score giving Wilmington their final winning margin. Bryan Paukovits and Ryan Dennick pitched effectively going a combined 6 innings giving up just 1 unearned run.

John Whittleman 3-5 3b 2 RBI, Nick Francis 2-5 3 RBI

Naturals Recap

Despite Chris Dwyer struggling (3.1 8 H 2 BB 4 ER) the Naturals turned a early 2 run deficit into a laugher scoring 8 runs thru the first 2 innings and 14 in total as they improved their record to 5-1. Every Natural in the starting lineup had at least one hit while six guys had multi hit games and only one (Christian Colon) didn't reach multiple times via hit and walk. Mario Santiago pitched another 3.2 effective innings of relief striking out 3 while only giving up 1 hit to earn the win.
Derrick Robinson 3-6 2 RBI

Chasers Recap

The Storm Chasers offense sputtered again on Tuesday night as they just couldn't push any runs accross after scoring 2 in the first inning. Mike Montgomery pitched well in his 2nd start of the season despite a little trouble finding the zone with his fastball. He mixed all three pitches much better than he did in his first start working in the low 90's while touching 94 along the way. Michael Kirkman the other prospect in this starting pitching matchup didn't fair nearly as well allowing 8 hits and 2 runs over 3.1 innings reaching his pitch total early in the fourth inning. His bullpen shut the door on the Storm Chasers however not allowing a run over the next 9.2 innings allowing time for the Express to tie the game in the 9th off Louis Coleman and win it in the bottom of the 13th off Steven Shell.

Johnny Giavotella 3-5 BB
Mike Montgomery 4 IP 2 H 5/3 K/BB 0 R

Arizona Fall League Rosters announced

The Royals will be sending Danny Duffy, Mike Montgomery, Patrick Keating, Derrick Robinson, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez to Surprise Arizona this fall for the Arizona Fall League. Perez at only 20 years old will be the 2nd youngest position player in the league and should present quite the challenge for the young catcher. Perez had a stellar August in the Carolina League powering up for 4 Home Runs which is 1 more than he had hit in the previous four months. Overall for the month Perez line of .390/.412/.623 is easily the best line he has posted in his young minor league career. On top of the bat improving Salvador's defense remains above average throwing out 43% of runners on the season. Perez definitely has to improve his patience at the plate but overall I have a lot of respect the season the young catcher has put together in the Carolina league.

.283/.312/.406 7 HR 20 doubles 16/37 BB/So 43% CS 11 PB 82 gms

Redoing the Royals Prospect List 11-20+

#11 Noel Arguelles - Still on the bench hopefully we'll see the 7 million dollar man later this season.

#12 Kila Ka'aihue - Moved him back up because of all the GMDM and Yost quotes. I think he might actually be apart of this organization next year.

#13 Salvador Perez - A coming out party of sorts for the young catcher. Only 20 and holding his own with the bat around a .800 OPS and throwing out 41% of runners against.

#14 Jordan Parraz - Parraz was off to a horrible start in Omaha but seems to have corrected things and is having a great May.

#15 Derrick Robinson - Probably a bit too early for DRob after just a 3 month turn around but his solid defense, speed and on base pct have him leaping into prospect status again. That combined with the lack of prospects around these final spots.

#16 Johnny Giavotella - Good OBP skills but a lack of defense and pop.

#17 Tyler Sample - Struggling with control still but stays low in the zone and has good tilt on his pitches.

#18 Keeton Hayenga - Made his first Burlington appearance the other day out of the pen hopefully he'll be moved to the rotation and can take advantage of the enormous potential in his arm.

#19 Cheslor Cuthbert - Probably starts in Arizona league in late June.

#20 Edgar Osuna - Osuna's change up has him looking very impressive against AA opponents but he's going to have to develop a couple other offspeed options to be anything more than a LOOGY in the majors.

Honorable Mentions

Blaine Hardy/Brandon Sisk/Buddy Baumann/Patrick Keating- All four of these bullpen arms are having outstanding seasons at their levels. Keating and Baumann are striking out more than 1 per inning while Sisk and Hardy have 4 saves each and sub 2 ERAs. Still the road for relievers to the majors is a bumpy one and don't expect many to get thru it.

Off the list

Kelvin Herrera - Was off to a very solid start to the season until his last 3 starts and arm troubles popped up again. Watching Kelvin's body language while charting pitches at the Bees game I went to reminded me of the movie "Sugar". I can't imagine how foreign it must be to be in a country that you can't communicate well in while you experience arm problems while trying to latch onto your golden ticket. Hopefully things turn around for this hard thrower but it doesn't look good.

Carlos Rosa - Traded

Prospect Make or Break Time

Ahh Christmas in March as my Baseball America Prospect Handbook arrived. I quickly turn to the Royals section and am reminded of the disappointment that was the 2009 season by positional prospects. More on that later. That disappointment got me thinking how big this season is going to be for some of those Royal prospects. For a few, failure this season will mean the end of a career. Here is a list of important comebacks for 2010.

#1 Blake Wood- Wood has been on the prospect scene for quite sometime and why not 6'4 225 righthander with a 94 mph fastball that touches 97 a solid curveball that can be a strikeout pitch and average change. When it's all working Wood can be unhittable and on rare occasions it has all worked but those times are coming fewer and fewer. Time for change it sounds as though KC is giving up on him as a starter and moving him to the bullpen where he can use his strong fastball and spot his curve and change. It's a move that if it doesn't work Wood might be out of the system this time next season. If successful Wood should move quickly into the bullpen possibly reaching KC this year and ready to take Farnsworth or Cruz' place in 2011.
Prospect Mountain #4-'08, #10-'09, #24-2010

#2 Kila Ka'aihue- Kila never a tremendous prospect exploded on the scene in 2008 with 100+ walks and 37 HRs. The most patient hitter in a system devoid of that skill is on the verge of his most important season. While Kila's career might not be over after this season (some smart GM might pick him up) another season similar to '09 or worse will more than likely end his Royals career. What does Kila need to do to get a chance? Well it might be difficult but he needs to get close to the 2008 numbers to open GMDMs eyes. I might be wrong but I think he needs to get into that .925 OPS vicinity to prove our uninformed FO that he deserves a spot in the big league lineup.
Prospect Mountain UR-'08, #9-'09, #15-2010

#3 Derrick Robinson- Robinson has been "The Project" for quite sometime and 2010 is his make or break year. According to BA the Royals were about to scrap his switch hitting prospects when he made an adjustment to his stance leading to his first breakout month of his career in August. While his RH hitting talent is limited if Robinson can't hit lefthanded then his speed value down the first base line decreases quite a bit. Robinsons speed has never been a question and according to Total Zone he uses it quite well in the field but if he can't reach base it all goes for not. For some reason Robinson is in Major League camp lets hope DeJesus rubs off on him but I doubt it. For the Robinson lovers who say hey August was a sign, I point to his next 44 abs in September in which he put up a .337 OPS, UGH.
Prospect Mountain #11-'08, #16-'09, #22-2010

Overall this season is going to be a big season for a number of Royals prospects. Lots of guys are coming back from injuries Henry Barrera, Julio Pimentel, Kelvin Herrera, Ed Cegarra and Matt Mitchell. Those guys need to prove their arms are 100% or they will fall behind a very deep Royals pitching system. Moustakas and Hosmer need to get better to prove they were worth their draft slot and the players the Royals passed for them. Even if they aren't great this year they are still young and this season won't make or break whether they can be major leaguers. While another down season by the prospect pair would ultimately be bad for GMDM and the ranking of the Royals system, Moore has already pitched an excuse for those moves by firing Ladnier essentially blaming him. You got to give GMDM credit he has never said Hoch was his pick when he could've put more influence in and now he has created a scapegoat for Moose and Hos. Myers, Crow and this years draftees I guess are going to be legacy, well until he can create another excuse.