Royals Farm Report: July 21st
The Rookie-level Surprise Royals (Arizona League) have been on a roll recently, as they have won three straight and sit atop of their division.
Robinson Yambati has been solid on the mound, and has picked up back-to-back victories. His last time out, Yambati tossed six shutout innings, and struck out 10.
Henry Moreno continues to rake, as he is hitting .333 through 21 games. He leads the Arizona League in Double with 11, and his 17 RBI's rank second in the league.
Royals top prospect Mike Montgomery made his way to Arizona as he readies to get back to the Naturals. Montgomery pitched two perfect innings back on July 19th.
Rookie-level Burlington (Appalachian League) has split their last 10 games, and they are only one game out of first in the Appalachian League's East Division.
Luis Piterson is hitting .303 for the B-Royals. He has four home runs with 17 RBI's thus far. Ryan Stoval Is hitting .330 through 21 games, and has three home runs to go along with 14 RBI's. Seth Furmanek has played in just eight games in Burlington, but he does have three home runs, and is batting .348.
Leonel Santiago is 4-1 on the mound for Burlington, and he did not record a decision his last time out. Santiago pitched six innings, gave up two runs, and struck out three back on July 19th. WIllian Avinazar is 3-0 for the B-Royals, and has been lights out with a 0.96 ERA. In his last start, Avinazar pitched five innings, gave up one earned run, and struck out four.
Advanced-Rookie level Idaho Falls (Pioneer League) have been a tailspin over the past week, as they have lost eight of their last 10. They now sit in the cellar of the Pioneer League South, but even so, they are only four games out of first place.
Third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert, a 17-year old prospect signed out of Nicaragua, has been promoted to Idaho Falls, and in two games with the Chukars he has a home run and two RBI's.
Michael Mariot has continued to pitch well, but he had to settle for his third straight no-decision. Mariot pitched six innings, gave up just one earned run, and struck out nine his last time on the mound.
Murray Watts, a draft pick out of Southern Arkansas, continues to rake. Watts has five home runs, and 28 RBI with the Chukars, placing him amongst the RBI leaders in short season leagues. He also had six game hitting streak this past week, which was snapped on the 20th.
Class-A Burlington (Midwest League) finds themselves four games out of first place in the Midwest League's Western Division and still very much in contention for a playoff spot.
Promotions have once again taken a toll on the Bee's as OF Rene Oriental, and 1B Joey Lewis were both promoted to Wilmington. The Bees did gain Whit Merrifield who starred for the University of South Carolina in the College World Series. In three games the outfielder is hitting .417. Infielder Jacob Kuebler was rolling in Idaho Falls, and he was promoted to the Bees. Kuebler has started his Bees season 0-for-3.
Royals No. 14 prospect Tyler Samplehas been pitching great for the Bees, and is the latest prospect arm to be making noise amongst the scouting ranks. Sample tossed seven shutout innings in his last outing and struck out five.
Class-A Advanced Wilmington (Carolina League) are holding onto a 1 ½ game lead in the Carolina League's North Division.
The Blue Rocks have experienced quite a bit of turnover this past week. Eric Hosmer, Jarrod Dyson, and Henry Barrera were all promoted to The Naturals. Veteran OF Shane Costa and LHP Danny Duffy both joined the Blue Rocks this week as did left-hander Kevin Chapman, a hard throwing SEC reliever just drafted out of Florida.
The Royals first round draft pick Christian Colon is hitting .217 with a home run and seven RBI but has started to heat up of late. Ernesto Mejia, who played most of the season with the Naturals, has hit in all three games he has played in with the Blue Rocks.
Tim Melville, the Royals' sixth ranked prospect, is currently on the Disabled List. strong>John Lamb, the Royals' 7th best prospect, is continuing to absolutely dominate in Wilmington. Lamb threw his third straight shutout this past week. He pitched six innings, allowed just one hit, and struck out eight. Since joining Wilmington, Lamb is 6-2 with a 1.28 ERA, making a strong case for him being the next arm bound for the Naturals.
Brian Paukovits was also impressive, as he threw a shutout on the 19th. Paukovits pitched seven innings, allowed just three hits, and struck out two. Danny Duffy, the Royals' eighth best prospect, made his first appearance of the season in Wilmington. Duffy pitched four innings and gave up three earned runs, and struck out thee.
Northwest Arkansas has split their last 10 games, but they lead the Texas League North by a game and a half over Tulsa.
Eric Hosmer, the Royals fifth best prospect, has been off to a good start for the Naturals. Hosmer is hitting .333 with three home runs, and seven RBI in five games for the Naturals.
Jarrod Dyson, who re-joined the Naturals this past week after sitting out the first half with an injury to his throwing arm, has at least one base hit in each of the five games he has played with the club. Dyson is hitting .353 with six RBI with the Naturals.
Derrick Robinson has also been red-hot at the plate. Robinson has at least one base hit in 13 of his last 14 games. He also hit his first home run of the season this past week, and has 39 RBI so far in 2010. His 42 stolen bases are the most in the Texas League, and the next best thief in the league only has 19.
Chris Dwyer, the Royals' ninth best prospect, put together another good outing this past week. He pitched six innings, gave up only one earned run, and struck out seven in a no decision. Alex Caldera had the performance of the week for the Naturals. Caldera tossed seven shutout innings for the Naturals in a win over the Travelers. Caldera gave up just three hits, only one after the first inning, and struck out three for his third win of the season. The right-hander has displayed great control and has been excellent in all of his starts in Double-A thus far.
Aaron Crow, the Royals' second best prospect, did not pitch that well but avoided picking up another loss this past week. Crow pitched five innings, gave up three earned runs, and struck out four in North Little Rock.
Triple-A Omaha (Pacific Coast League), has lost six of their last 10, and they are two games out of first place.
Alex Gordon is hitting .315 with 14 home runs and 44 RBI's for the O-Royals. Former Natural Kila Ka'aihue is hitting .307 with 20 home runs, and 67 RBI's. He had a two home run game this past week.
Ed Lucas has been an offensive machine recently for Omaha. He is on an eight game hitting streak, and for the season is hitting .335 with seven home runs, and 29 RBI's. Lucas has been playing mostly at short as Irving Falu is in Puerto Rico playing in International competition.
Manny Pina, who had been with the Naturals earlier this season, is hitting .258 with two home runs, and three RBI's since his promotion. Pina was on a four game hitting streak earlier in the week.
Mike Moustakas who dominated in the Texas League, is getting used to playing in Triple-A. Moustakas is hitting just .174 with the O-Royals, but he did hit his first home run with the club this past Tuesday at Memphis. Moustakas has yet to play a game at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Blaine Hardy has made two appearances out of the O-Royals bullpen this past week. He suffered a loss when he gave up an earned run in two innings of work back on the 16th. He rebounded, and tossed a shutout inning on the 19th. Hardy is 2-2 with three saves, and has a 1.80 ERA in Omaha.
Federico Castaneda made one trip out of the bullpen this past week. Castaneda threw 3 1/3 innings, gave up one earned run, and struck out four.
Louis Coleman, the Royals' 12th best prospect and another Natural who has moved onto Omaha, has pitched really well this past week. Over two appearances Coleman tossed 3 1/3 innings without giving up a run. He also allowed just one hit over the two outings.
The Royals announced Tuesday that they had released former submarining Natural Chris Hayes. Hayes had two saves on the year for Omaha and a 3.95 ERA and was on the disabled list at the time of his release.
Former Naturals in the Big Leagues
Former lefty Dusty Hughes was roughed up in his one outing this past week. Hughes pitched two and two thirds, gave up three earned runs, and struck out two on July 20th.
Blake Wood made two appearances for the Royals this past week. Wood pitched a combined one and two thirds over the two games, and gave up three earned runs .
Anthony Lerew was roughed up by Toronto this past Tuesday, and he left the game after being struck by a line drive. Lerew pitched just 1 1/3 innings, and gave up four earned runs. He's expected to be okay for his next start, however.
Outside the K.C. Royals organization
Former Natural Dan Cortes, who is with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (Seattle Mariners' Double-A affiliate) did not pitch this past week. He is 5-4 with a 6.00 ERA and has been roughed up in all of his July starts. Pitcher Matt Peterson, who pitched in 11 games with the Naturals in 2008, was sent back to Double-A Jacksonville this past week after spending some time in Triple-A in New Orleans. He has made three appearances for the Suns since coming back, and has not allowed a run. After being called back up to Boston, Angel Sanchez was traded to the Houston Astros. Sanchez is hitting .286 with the Astros, and has three RBI.
Cory Aldridge, spent time in Anaheim with the Angels, but has been optioned back to Triple-A Salt Lake. Corey Smith, is with the Dodgers' Double-A affiliate, the Chattanooga Lookouts. Smith is hitting .284 this season so far, and has 10 home runs with 71 RBI.
Meanwhile, former Naturals pitcher Juan Abreu is with Double-A Mississippi (Atlanta Braves affiliate). Abreu pitched two innings this past week, and gave up two earned runs. He is 3-1 on the season with five saves. Former Natural Adam Donachie has been playing with Triple-A Norfolk in the Baltimore Orioles organization. So far this season Donachie has struggled, hitting .193, and has three home runs to go with 18 RBI's. He has one hit in his last five games.
Gilbert De La Vera started the season playing independent ball in Yuma, but the Detroit Tigers purchased his contract, and sent him to Triple-A Toledo. De La Vara made his first start for the Mud Hens, and he picked up the win. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, gave up one earned run, and struck out five. There is one Natural in independent ball with York (Atlantic League) - right hander Jarod Plummer. Plummer is 2-1 with a 7.22 ERA.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state of the art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. You can purchase season tickets and group outings with the Naturals by calling (479) 927-4900.