ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE RECAP

SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- The Arizona Fall League is a showcase league where top flight prospects from all 30 Major League clubs combine into six teams and play 31 "regular season games" plus an All-Star game along with a championship game. First year manager of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Vance Wilson is representing the American League Champion Kansas City Royals and is relishing his experience with the Peoria Javalinas.

"We've had a great first week in the Fall League," said Wilson in a phone interview on Thursday afternoon with radio voice Benjamin Kelly. "The quality of the talent in this league is outstanding and I'm having a blast being a part of it."

Each organization sends a representative as a manager or coach to each team. The Javalinas coaching staff is comprised of Garey Ingram (Atlanta Braves) as the hitting coach, R.C. Lichtenstein (Tampa Bay Rays) as one of the pitching coaches while Jason Simontacchi (St. Louis Cardinals) works as the other. Dave Wallace (Cleveland Indians) is the bench coach with Wilson for the fall.

Each organization has seven of their top tier prospects in the showcase league and Wilson recognizes the challenges of balancing the playing time and juggling the line-up cards each day.

"The managing part is not so hard," said Wilson. "I spend a lot of time thinking ahead, thinking about the taxi squad (players who are only eligible to play on Wednesday's and Friday's) and working on making the line-up balanced.

"I've looked at old box scores and researched the players to see where they have historically hit in the line-up," said Wilson. "It seems we have a lot of six and seven hole hitters on our team, so a lot of these guys have had to hit higher in the line-up then maybe they would have during the regular season."

The 2014 Arizona Fall League is also an experimental or a "guinea pig league" as Wilson referenced it with the institution of the pitch clock, limited mound visits and other rules to help increase the pace of the game. Houston Astros farmhand and current Corpus Christi right-hander Mark Appel toed the mound on Tuesday, Oct. 14 in the debut of the pitch clock. The pitcher must throw within the allotted 20-second timer that is displayed at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Another rule to help increase the speed of play include "time out" conferences limiting the two opposing teams to three meetings per game, according to a press release from the Arizona Fall League. The conference and pitch-clock rules are only being governed at Salt River Fields while other regulations are being instituted at other venues around the league.

For example, the hitter is required to keep at least one foot in the batter's box throughout the plate appearance and when a manager requests an intentional walk, instead of throwing four wide pitches, the batter will take his base, according to the press release of the Arizona Fall League. To read the full release, click here.

The Naturals manager said the "biggest thing is keeping the batter's in the box throughout the entire at-bat." Wilson acknowledged the umpires and the hitters are doing a good job of respecting that rule and it has increased the pace of the game.

As for how the future Kansas City Royals are doing, the seven representatives are excelling in the top-flight league. No. 2 prospect and former Naturals RHP Kyle Zimmer has made a pair of starts in the Arizona Fall League with his latest catching the eyes of many including his skipper with 11 strikeouts in five innings of work.

" Zimmer's first outing wasn't bad," said Wilson. "[His second start], he was more consistent. He dominated the strike zone and was very efficient with his pitches. He was great."

The former first-round draft selection has logged 8.2 innings thus far and holds an ERA of 3.12 while striking out a league-best 14.

Current Naturals third baseman and Royals No. 4 prospect Hunter Dozier is consistently hitting third in Wilson's line-up card, a place the skipper said he is comfortable hitting in, and continues to progress throughout the process.

"He's hit the ball well and hard. [Dozier] sees a lot of power arms, guys that are throwing 94-[mph]-plus. He's taking some good swings and had a big home run the other night. He is continuing to play good defense."

Dozier hit a two-run home run that eventually led to a 2-2 tie on Monday, Oct. 13 in the first inning in a game against the Glendale Desert Dogs. The Denton, Texas native is hitting just .179 but has five RBI and a pair of doubles.  

Future Naturals and a pair of the Royals premier prospects, Bubba Starling and Raul Mondesi are also getting a chance to play. Both players have the opportunity to play two to three times a week and Wilson is pleased with both player's progression.

"Bubba is taking good swings while his defense is at a Major League caliber right now," said Wilson of the Royals No. 13 prospect. "Mondesi played some great defense the other night and is really impressing for a 19-year old player." Mondesi is rated by MLB.com as Kansas City's No. 1 prospect and turned 19 this past July.

Also getting work in the Fall League this season are RHP Ali Williams along with LHP Sam Selman. Williams has made three appearances and has struck out five while working to become a more power arm. Selman continues to work his mechanics in his three appearances and has scattered three hits over 3.1 innings and has allowed just one hit in his last two outings.

Future Natural RHP Miguel Almonte "has shown why he is a top-prospect" according to Wilson. He continues to exhibit his great fastball and has struck out four batters in 3.1 innings spanning over two appearances out of the bullpen. The 21-year old Dominican ranks fifth for the Royals prospect list according to MLB.com.

The Arizona Fall League has a long tradition of getting top-prospects to the Major League's in an expedited time and many are on display this autumn. Playing shortstop for the Peoria Javalinas is MLB.com's No. 4 overall prospect and the top name in Cleveland's farm system Francisco Lindor.  The 20-year old Puerto Rican is hitting .290 (9-for-31) with a pair of doubles and a long ball for the Javalinas this fall.

"[Lindor] is a special talent, to say the least," Said Wilson. "He's a 20-year old switch hitter and is probably going to be an all-star at the Major League level."

Prior to the prospective league, Lindor spent the majority of 2014 with the Indians' Double-A club, the Akron RubberDucks hitting .278 in 88 games with six home runs and 48 runs driven in prior to a late-July promotion to Triple-A Columbus.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who recently became the parent club of the Texas League's Tulsa Drillers, have their top prospect playing the showcase circuit. Shortstop Corey Seager has impressed Wilson with his size and his production at both the plate and on the defensive side of the diamond.

"I didn't realize how big he is. He's a big kid (6-foot-4). I'm really impressed by the way he swings the bat and it's impressive to watch him play shortstop at that size."

Natural fans may have a chance to see Seager play at Arvest Ballpark in 2015. The 20-year old shortstop played just 38 games with the Dodgers former Double-A affiliate in the Southern League after spending the majority of the 2014 campaign with Hi-A Rancho Cucamonga. 21 of Seager's 51 hits at the Double-A level went for extra bases including two home runs all the while hitting .345 in 38 games.

But even with all the baseball and the talent being played between the white lines in Arizona, Wilson, Dozier, Zimmer and the other prospects representing the Royals have their eyes fixed upon the big league club watching Kansas City rip off eight straight victories to reach the pinnacle of the season.

Wilson can relate to the current run of Kansas City recalling his days with the Detroit Tigers. The 2006 Tigers conjured up seven straight wins before dropping game 1 of the World Series to the eventual champions, the St. Louis Cardinals.

"The playoffs are funny," said Wilson. "I can remember with the Tigers: when the pressure is on the other team, it's amazing how it works. I'm not completely surprised [about Kansas City winning eight in a row]. It's all about who's hot, and right now they are."

Peoria will have the new pacing rules implemented for tonight's game at Salt River Fields against the Salt River Rafters but will be home for Saturday's game against the Scottsdale Scorpions. The Javalinas are 2-6 on the season and trail the West Division by 2.5 games.

Season 8 of Naturals baseball will begin with a six-game road trip to Midland and Frisco before returning to Arvest Ballpark for their home opener on Thursday, April 16 against the Midland RockHounds (Double-A Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics). 

The Season 8 promotional schedule, game times and other details on discounted ticket plans as well as group information will be made available throughout the off-season. For any questions regarding our 2015 season, please give us a call at (479) 927-4900.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark. For more information including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.

-Naturals-