Minor League Report

In this feature I'm going to take a quick look over the Royals minor league system. I'm going to dig up standings, who's hot, who's cold, and take a look at the Royals top prospects.

Omaha Royals (AAA):

Our boys in AAA are 2-2 to start the season, tied for 1st in the American North division.

Who's Hot:

Mike Aviles: .389/.421/.722 with 4 RBI
Chris Lubanski: .385/.429/.923 with 2 HR and 4 RBI
Ryan Shealy: .267/.389/.667 with 2 HR and 6 RBI
Roberto Giron: 1-1 6.23 ERA...not so good huh, well check it out 9K-0BB and a .188 BAA
Brad Salmon: 0-0 0.00 ERA, 0 hits allowed in 3 IP thus far

Who's Cold:

Shane Costa: .250/.333/.313
Kyle Davies: 0-0 3.00 ERA, 2 hits and 4 BB in 3 IP
Tyler Lumsden: 0-0 5.79 ERA, 6 hits, 3ER in 4.2 IP

NW Arkansas Naturals (AA):

First week hasn't been so kind as they are off to a 1-3 start, still tied for 1st in the North.

Who's Hot:

Dusty Hughes: 1-1 1.69 ERA, 1 ERA in 5.1 IP with a .75 WHIP
Daniel Cortes: 0-0 2.08 ERA, 1 ERA in 4.1 IP

Who's Cold:

The Naturals offense, they are hitting a combined .235/.278/.294
Julio Pimentel: 0-1 7.36 ERA, 7 hits, 3ER in 3.2 IP
Rowdy Hardy: 0-1 9.82 ERA, 9 hits 4ER in 3.2 IP

Wilmington Blue Rocks (A Advanced):

1-2, good for last in the North division.

Who's Hot:

Blake Wood: 0-0 0.00 ERA, 1 hit, 0 ER in 5.1 IP with 9K-0BB and a .19 WHIP
Greg Holland: 1-0 0.00 ERA, 4 hits, 0 ER in 5 IP with 7k-0BB and a .80 WHIP

Who's Cold:

The Blue Rocks bats hitting a combined .144/.265/206

Burlington Bees (A):

The Bees are off to a 2-2 start, good for 4th in the Mid Western division.

Who's Hot:

Adrian Ortiz: .438/.500/.500
Clint Robinson: .308/.438/.923 with 2 HR and 2 RBI
Edward Cegarra: 0-0 0.00 ERA, 3 hits, 0 ER in 6 IP
Daniel Gutierrez: 0-0 0.00 ERA, 2 hits, 0 ER in 5 IP with 8K-2BB

Who's Cold:

Alwin Perez: 0-11 to start the season
Jason Taylor: .091/.286/.091
Mike Moustakas: .176/.176/.176

Top 10 Prospects:

1. Mike Moustakas: .176/.176/176; 1 RBI
2. Daniel Cortes: 0-0 2.08 ERA; 1ER in 4.1 IP
3. Luke Hochevar: 0-1 4.76 ERA; 5 hits and 3 ER in 5.2 IP
4. Blake Wood: 0-0 0.00 ERA; 1 hit and 0 ER in 5.1 IP 9k-0BB
5. Danny Duffy: -
6. Carlos Rosa: 0-0 4.50 ERA; 6 hits and 2 ER in 4 IP 5k-0BB
7. Julio Pimentel: 0-1 7.36 ERA; 7 hits, 3 ER in 3.2 IP 5k-0BB
8. Matt Mitchell: 0-0 0.00 ERA; 2 hits 0 ER in 5 IP 4k-0BB
9. Yasuhiko Yabuta: Royals Roster
10. Derrick robinson: .167/.231/.167; 2 SB

Royals at Twins (series I) recap

Coming off a sweep of the Tigers in Detroit the Royals came back to earth losing 2 of 3 to the Twins and will finally have their home opener Monday against the Yankees.

Game 1: John Bale started the series off pitching 6.1 innings and allowing 4 runs but Scott Baker was a run better as the Twins edged the Royals 4-3. Bale was followed by perfect appearances from Gobble and Ramirez.

Player of the game: Billy Butler; he was 2-4 with an RBI.

Game 2: Gil Meche was rocked for 6 runs in 5.2 innings as the Royals lost their second straight 6-4. Meche was followed by the first appearances of both Mahey and Yabuta.

Player of the game: Miguel Olivo; 1-4 with a 2-run double.

Game 3: Brett Tomko went 5 innings of 1 run ball in his first start of the season and the Royals offense did just enough to escape with a 3-1 win over the Twins. Mahey, Nunez, Gobble and Soria followed Tomko. Gordon provided the offense with a 2-run single in the 2nd.

Player of the game: Brett Tomko, the Royals needed a stop and Tomko did just that.

Unheralded player of the game: Jokaim Soria, he only got into one game, but he was dominate striking out the side for his 3rd save.

Look at the numbers:

• The Royals didn't draw a walk all series, a span of 102 AB's
• The Bullpen allowed 1 ER in 8 IP over the series
• 6.94, Gil Meche's ERA after 2 starts
• .167, Jose Guillens batting average
• 1 the number of errors to date
• The Royals didn't have a winning road trip until May 11th-20th of '07

Royals at Twins (game III)

The Royals look to avoid being apart of their second sweep of the season today, this time on the losing end, by sending...(sigh) Brett Tomko to the mound against Boof Bonzer in a 1:10 Start. This will be Tomko's second appearance, his first was on opening day where he pitched 2 innings allowing a game tying run in the eighth; by all accounts he threw the ball well except for the Guillen homer.

Box Score

The Royals salvaged the last game of the series and return to Kansas City with a winning road trip, pretty good way to start the season. Our un-likely hero today was Brett Tomko who pitched 5 innings of 1 run ball, he did throw a lot of pitches but I'll take that trade off in his first start. The bullpen did a fantastic job allowing only 1 run in 4 innings and Soria picked up his 3rd save of the season.

The offense continues it's slow start but did scratch out 3 runs, which today, was good enough. Gordon had the big hit, a 2-run single in the second. Callaspo and Gordon both had a 2-hit game while Butler contributed 3 hits.

Royals Notes: Olivo, Nomo

Nothing ground breaking here, Olivo returned to the 25 man roster after his 4-day suspension to start the season. With his return Matt Tupman was optioned to Omaha and Hideo Nomo's contract was purchased from Idaho Falls; Nomo will work mostly in long relief for the Royals.

Everyone pretty much expected Nomo to be called up once Olivo's suspension was over, and I don't have a big problem with it, it's a good story if it works. I just fail to see how Nomo can really make this bullpen better. He gave up a ton of hits in spring training, but to be fair he also had more K's than innings pitched. That said I guess I'll just wait and see what happens, I'm just not convinced.

Royals at Twins (game II)

Gil Meche working on his normal rest today will face Livan Hernadez and the Twins for the second game of a three game set. Meche went 6 innings in his first start allowing three runs and escaping with a no decision.

Box Score


Meche had another rough outing as he gave up 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings. Meche was cruising along through three innings before Morneau took a Meche pitch 420 ft. Mahey and Yabuta each made their first appearances of the spring, they combined for 2.1 innings of one hit ball.

The Royals offense continued its struggles today by again only scoring 4 runs, that's 20 for the season, and if you do the math that is 648 for the season. Hillman made several switches today to try and get the bats going. He switched Gordon and Teahen in the order and gave Buck the day off in favor of Olivo and Pena had a seat on the bench as Callaspo got his first start of the year. Those moves worked okay as the 4 went 5-16 with 3 RBI.

Royals at Twins (game I)

John Bale looks to keep the Royals winnings streak alive by taking on Scott Baker and the Minnesota Twins in a 7:10 start. The Royals are still without DeJesus as he is mending a sprain to his ankle, he isn't expected to make any starts during this series so we will see some more of Joey Gathright.

Box Score

The Royals 3 game winning streak came to a halt tonight as John Bale gave up 4 runs in 6 1/3 innings. Bale making his first start obviously wasn't as sharp as he was in spring training, he allowed 10 hits and only had 2 K's. Scott Baker, who nearly pitched a no-hitter against the Royals late last year, was nearly un-hittable after the 2nd inning.

The Royals offense is still in a slumber, collecting 8 hits but only three runs. The Twins scored the winning run when Mike Lamb doubled to lead off the fourth and then was bunted the third by Tolbert and the squeezed home by Everett...who would have thought, but then again small ball is exactly what the Twins do well.

Royals at Tigers (series one) recap

Who would have predicted that the Kansas City Royals would come out and sweep the overly-hyped Tigers to open the season? The Royals came out and played solid fundamental baseball and they out pitched, hit, and hustled the Tigers.


Game 1: Meche battled through 6 innings giving up three runs, he was followed by Tomko, Nunez and Soria. Gordon provided the early offense with a 2-run shot in the 6th. Royals hold on to win 5-4 in 11 innings.


Player of the game: Alex Gordon; his two run shot got the Royals on the board and rattled Verlander.


Game 2: Brian Bannister was the story of this game going 7 innings allowing 0 ER and only 2 hits, he was followed by Nunez and Soria. Grudzeilanek, Guillen, and Butler each had a double in the 6th accounting for the Royals first 2 runs. Royals win 4-0, in getting their first shut-out of the year.


Player of the game: Brian Bannister; he was amazing, enough said.


Game 3: Zach Greinke kept the good pitching performances going by throwing 7 strong innings allowing only 1 ER. Greinke was following by Ramirez, and Soria. The offense was again started by Gordon going yard in the 4th, a two run shot. The Royals scored single runs in the 6th (Teahens 1st HR) and 7th en route to a 4-1 win and completed the sweep.


Player of the game: Zack Greinke; he was solid, especially when runners were on base.


Unheralded player(s) of the series: Mark Grudzeilanek (6-12, 3 runs) and Joakim Soria. (3IP, 4K's, 2 saves)

Look at the numbers:

• Royals are 3-0 for the first time since 2003
• The Royals didn't win a series last year until April 20-22nd against the Twins
• Royals allowed only 5 ER's in 29 Innings while striking out 24 K's/9 BB's
• Royals outscored the Tigers 13-5
• Royals out homered the Tigers 3-2
• Royals out hit the Tigers 29-21
• Royals don't play the Tigers again until May 13th
• Royals were 3-4 in SB attempts

Notes: David DeJesus only played 3 innings due to re-injuring his ankle.