The Academy – Minor Happenings

After one week of the minor league season let’s check in on what’s happening in the Royals system.

Strahmenating

The tall, lanky lefty had one of the most successful first starts at Double-A in the Dayton Moore era. As most know, the jump from spacious Wilmington Frawley field to the much more explosive Texas League can be a big leap for Royals pitchers. Comparing recent Double-A debuts, only a healthy and dominant Kyle Zimmer (oh, what could’ve been) had a better start than Strahm.

Mike Montgomery 2010 5.2 IP 2 H 1 ER 4 BB 8 K
Danny Duffy 2010 5 IP 10 H 4 ER 1 BB 6 K
John Lamb 2010 5 IP 6 H 3 ER 1 BB 4 K
Jake Odorizzi 2011 5 IP 6 H 2 ER 2 BB 4 K
Yordano Ventura 2012 – 4.2 IP 9 H 7 ER 2 BB 4 K
Kyle Zimmer 2013 6 IP 3 H 0 ER 1 BB 7 K
Brandon Finnegan 2015 3 IP 5 H 7 R 3 ER 2 BB 3 K
Matt Strahm 5 IP 2 H 0 R 0 BB 4 K

Pitchers Offended

The offenses are quite a bit ahead of the pitchers to start the season at the minor league levels, with three of the four affiliates averaging five runs or more per game. Only Wilmington is lacking behind (7 runs in 3 games), but that hasn’t stopped their opponents from averaging nearly seven runs per game in their three games. At the Low-A level the young Legends are off to a tremendous start, scoring 32 runs in four games with 12 doubles in those games. If you want to check out an exciting group of hitters, Lexington definitely looks like a great place to start this minor league season.

Wild Thang

Omaha manager Brian Goldberg mentioned that Miguel Almonte’s erratic start to his season could be due to the fact that he was in Kansas City the day prior instead of doing his usual side work. That is something to look for Tuesday in his second start of the season when the Chasers take on Round Rock with an extremely talented lineup.

Starting 9

Chase Vallot .500/.579/1.293 3-2b, 4 BB
Yunior Marte 4.2 IP 3 H 1 ER 2 BB 7 K
Ryan O’Hearn .385/.429/.462 – hit against the shift well in his first series
Pedro Ferndandez 4.1 IP 4 H 1 ER 1 BB 5 K
Hunter Dozier .308/.438/.846 2b, 2 HR
Alec Mills 5 IP 4 H 1 ER 0 BB 7 K
Cheslor Cuthbert .500/.526/.700 2b, HR
Jon Dziedzic 5 IP 2 H 2 R 0 ER 1 BB 8 K

Biggest Week
Cody Decker .375/.500/1.250 2 HR, 2b, 2 BB

Fun Match-ups of the Week

Current Giants pitcher Phil Bickford, a pitcher the Royals were coveting according to most sources, could matchup with Lexington. The Naturals over the weekend will take on the Texas Rangers squad and Baseball Prospectus #15 overall prospect Lewis Brinson, while the Storm Chasers face Joey Gallo Monday through Thursday at Werner Park. With the strong winds the Heartland has seen the past few weeks, downtown Papillion might need to be on high alert for a Gallo bomb.

Antihero Baseball

Here’s some fun stuff. Check out Cody Decker’s latest Youtube Video:

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Feature Photo Credit – Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports