The Royals traded for Melky Cabrera on Sunday in an effort to add to their OF/DH depth, giving up A.J. Puckett and Andre Davis is the process. The two pitchers that the Royals have given up in this deal share an interesting trait in that they have struggled to make quality starts outing to outing.

I’ll start in reverse order with Davis, a big-bodied lefty at 6’6 230 lbs, that gives a strikingly similar appearance to former prospect Cody Reed in terms of throwing motion and size. While Davis works in the mid to low 90’s fastball with a solid, average slider, his big body leads to difficulties repeating mechanics. There are tools to work with here and he’s flashed them at times with an 11 K performance and a 7 inning, 0 run outing with eight K’s, but it’s not there start to start. His likely peak profile is a 7th inning reliever type.

The name some Royals fans may know in the deal is 2016 2nd round pick, A.J. Puckett. On the surface some Royals fans may think this is an overpay, but in my midseason prospect rankings I had Puckett ranked as the Royals fourth-best starting pitching prospect. That didn’t include Jake Junis who is well ahead of Puckett. While Puckett was a second round pick, he hasn’t shown that he can repeat his stuff start to start, riding an on-again, off-again streak until his most recent success of five consecutive starts with a sub 3 ERA. Still, the righty lacked upper-level stuff, mostly peaking at 93-94 mph with a pair of average offerings in his change and breaking ball. The command within the zone has been a struggle for Puckett and the overall control (3.8 BB/9 in ’17) has been less than advertised when drafted.

While some may think the Royals gave up too much, I believe this is a very even deal with Melky giving them what they need currently for a couple pitchers that I doubt will make much impact going forward.

Friday – Omaha Storm Chasers 5, Albuquerque Isotopes 4 – Boxscore HR: Ryan O’Hearn (17)
Saturday – Fresno Grizzlies 5, Omaha Storm Chasers 0 – Boxscore
Sunday – Omaha Storm Chasers 5, Fresno Grizzlies 2 – Boxscore HR: Logan Moon (7)

The Chasers got some much-needed quality pitching over the weekend. On Sunday in particular, the bullpen received quality work from Eric Stout and Kevin McCarthy to earn the win. The Chasers most dependable pitcher all season has been Stout, who uses a quality fastball and slider to get hitters out. The Chasers hottest hitter last two weeks is Frank Schwindel, who extended his hitting streak to 16 games. The DH/1B has put up a .369/.391/.667 with 8 home runs in July.

Friday – Springfield Cardinals 7, NW Arkansas Naturals 4 – Boxscore
Saturday – NW Arkansas Naturals 3, Springfield Cardinals 2 – Boxscore
Sunday – Springfield Cardinals 6, NW Arkansas Naturals 3 – Boxscore

The Naturals struggles in July continued with the team dropping two of three games to send their record to 9-20 this month. The bullpen let the Naturals down over the weekend with newcomers Yunior Marte and Richard Lovelady doing the most damage.

If you read the site often, then I’m sure you saw what I wrote about Foster Griffin, but one player I wanted to mention quickly was Donnie Dewees, the outfielder for the Naturals. The Royals traded Alec Mills for Dewees in an offseason deal to free up a roster spot and appeared to have added someone with a real shot at contributing at the major league level. The speed is quality, using it on the bases and in the field. In addition to a solid plate approach, Dewees flashes better than average raw power and one can dream that he might be able to convert it into more power down the road. The biggest weakness I see for Dewees is an arm that rates well below average and limits his defensive ability. Intelligent players for Tulsa took advantage of his arm on both Saturday and Sunday, advancing to second on what should have been a single when Dewees was playing left, and scoring easily on a hit up the middle on Sunday. The arm likely limits him to left where the power will need to pick up for him to play there. Luckily it’s there, he just needs to access it more.

Friday – Wilmington Blue Rocks 4, Carolina Mudcats 3 – Boxscore
Saturday – Carolina Mudcats 5, Wilmington Blue Rocks 0 – Boxscore
Sunday – Carolina Mudcats 3, Wilmington Blue Rocks 2 – Boxscore

The Rocks mustered just 10 hits over the weekend, scoring only six runs in the process. The Rocks are 17-12 this month and stand 4 games back of Salem for a playoff spot. Catcher Chase Vallot has had a very good three months at the dish, putting up a .252/.399/.482 line in 70 games for Wilmington to help with a couple of other hitters to carry the offense. As usual, the defense with Vallot remains a question as he’s still struggling to control the running game at an 18% caught stealing rate next to his 12 errors and 10 passed balls. The receiving has gotten better than it was a couple of years ago, but Vallot still needs to improve going forward.

Friday – Kannapolis Intimidators 7, Lexington Legends – Boxscore
Saturday – Lexington Legends 2, Kannapolis Intimidators 0 – Boxscore
Sunday – Kannapolis Intimidators 10, Lexington Legends 3 – Boxscore

The Legends offense continued their struggles over the weekend, dropping two of three games while scoring just five runs. One hitter contributing to this loss of offense is outfielder Khalil Lee, with a brutal .150/.289/.239 with just one home run in 22 games.

Friday – Orem Owlz 13,  Idaho Falls Chukars 2 – Boxscore 
Saturday – Orem Owlz 15, Idaho Falls Chukars 8 – Boxscore
Sunday – Orem Owlz 17, Idaho Falls Chukars 7 – Boxscore

The Chukars pitching staff continued their struggles over the weekend, giving up 45 runs in just three games. Currently, the staff ERA (7.33) is over a full run worse than the club closest to them. Hard throwing right-handed pitcher Janser Lara has struggled with his control, walking 18 hitters in 22.2 innings, but with 29 K’s, he is getting plenty of swing and miss. The secondary pitches and control need to take a major step forward for the 20-year-old, but he’s one of the few arms in the system that can miss bats with his upper 90’s fastball.

Friday – Burlington Royals 6, Kingsport Mets 1 – Boxscore HR: Sebastian Rivero (4)
Saturday – Kingsport Mets 5, Burlington Royals 4 – Boxscore HR: Dennicher Carrasco (9)
Sunday – Burlington Royals 13, Greeneville Astros 1 – Boxscore

The Burlington Royals won two of three this weekend, with a big on Sunday over the Astros. Centerfielder Michael Gigliotti continues to hit well (.341) while controlling the strikezone to get on base (.464). Much like Nicky Lopez in ’16, the Royals may have added an up-the-middle player with quality on-base skills and superior defense in a prime position with a pick after the 1st round.

Friday – AZL Royals 8, AZL Reds 1 Boxscore HR: Isaiah Smith (1)
Saturday – AZL Royals 11, AZL Mariners 4 Boxscore

The AZL Royals won both of their games this weekend, with Sunday off.  One scary stat for the Royals is third baseman Angel Medina’s 16 errors in 21 games played.

Friday – DSL Rays 1, DSL Royals 0 Boxscore 
Saturday – DSL Royals 1, DSL Rays 0 F/10 Boxscore

Quite the offensive output by the two teams over the weekend. To no surprise, Delvin Capellan put up another five scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and striking out five. The 18-year-old leads the league in ERA and WHIP and is currently riding a 17 consecutive scoreless inning streak.

The Royals will reportedly pay about $2.5 million of the remaining money on Cabrera’s contract, bringing the total added in the last week to more than $4 million.

I imagine Cabrera will take at bats away from all three of Alex Gordon, Brandon Moss and Jorge Bonifacio, but I would guess Bonifacio is impacted the least given his improvements both offensively and defensively. His .296/.327/.500 line in 114 plate appearances against lefties will give him an edge over both Moss and Gordon against southpaws. I’m not entirely sure where Cabrera will fit in the lineup, but I think you could make an argument for him to hit at the top in the number two spot or after Moustakas in the number seven spot if they want to leave Bonifacio at the top. Either way, this gives the Royals a solid top seven on most nights, which can be very difficult for opposing pitchers to navigate.

The acquisition of Cabrera is sort of an homage to the Royals of the World Series seasons for a couple reasons. The reason on the field is that Cabrera just doesn’t strike out. This year, his strikeout rate is 12.1 percent, and that’s nothing new. It was lower last year and is in line with his career rate of 11.9 percent. That will represent an improvement in that category over whoever he replaces in the lineup on any given day. Additionally, there’s the aspect of clubhouse chemistry. That’s something I didn’t believe in very much until I had the chance to be inside the Royals clubhouse during the championship years. Getting a player as respected and well liked as Cabrera is a big pickup.

It’s not like the Royals got him for free, though. They had to give up their first pick from last season, A.J. Puckett. He, of course, wasn’t a first round pick, but he was their first pick. When I’ve seen Puckett, I’ve seen a pitcher better than the mediocre numbers he’s put up, so I probably like him more than most, but a college pitcher with a 3.90 ERA and an only decent strikeout to walk ratio in a pitcher’s park isn’t very encouraging. He could end up a workhorse in time, but I think his ceiling is number three starter and his likely outcome is back of the rotation arm or middle reliever.

Davis was the Royals 8^th round pick in 2015. He’s a big lefty with some potentially good stuff, but he hasn’t had the results either. He’s currently posting a 4.83 in low-A as a 23-year old. The strikeouts are there and the walks are low enough, but he’s giving up a ton of hits and appears to be a pretty big project for the White Sox.

In all, giving that up for a player who can help the Royals reach the postseason and hopefully advance deep into the postseason is a deal you make every day of the week. It also highlights just how difficult a market it is for teams looking to sell rental bats as Cabrera isn’t great, but he’s certainly good enough to help just about every team and was only able to bring back this haul. I was worried they might give up too much for Cabrera if they traded for him, but I loved the idea of bringing him back. Having seen the return, I have to say I really like this move for the Royals and think that with the other move with the Padres, they’re in the driver’s seat for another trip to the postseason.

HR Roll Call: Gabe Cancel (10), Joe Dudek (5), Robby Rinn (3), Seuly Matias (3)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Gabe Cancel 2-3, 2R, HR, 2b, 2BB, 2 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Franco Terrero 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1-2 GO-FO

San Antonio Missions 2, NW Arkansas Naturals 0

The Royals received Rule 5 pick, Glenn Sparkman, back from Toronto after he struggled in his brief relief role. It should be intriguing to see if the Royals keep him in that position or move him back to starting, which he has done primarily with the Kansas City minor league clubs. In this one, the Naturals failed to push a run across despite plenty of opportunities, going 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position. Starter Corey Ray took the loss, despite just two runs allowed in six innings.

Boxscore Link

Nicky Lopez 1-3, 2 BB, SB (17)
Samir Duenez 0-4, BB, K
Anderson Miller 1-4, hitting .302 at Double-A
Corey Ray 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3-7 GO-FO, 87p/55k, E (pickoff)
Glenn Sparkman 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2-3 GO-FO, 32p/21k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 7, Potomac Nationals 3

A two-run double by Roman Collins in the sixth gave Wilmington a lead they built on to secure a series win over Potomac. Starter A.J. Puckett earned the win after allowing three runs over five innings, giving up a two-run home run to Taylor Gushue in the fourth inning and an RBI single in the fifth to Austin Davidson. Wilmington’s D.J. Burt singled in a pair in the ninth, stole a base and scored on a throwing error.

Boxscore Link

D.J. Burt 1-4, R, BB, 2 RBI, SB (27)
Chris DeVito 0-4, K
Chase Vallot 1-2, R, 2 BB
A.J. Puckett 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 6-4 GO-FO
Franco Terrero 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1-2 GO-FO

Emmanuel Rivera, Meibrys Viloria and Gabe Cancel (Photo David Rearic)

Greenville 8, Lexington Legends 7

For the second time this year, the Legends got after first round pick Jason Groome, scoring four runs (3 ER) in 2.1 innings off the lefty, but this time were unable to hang onto the lead. After establishing a 4-1 lead, Legends lefty Garrett Davila struggled, giving up seven runs (5 ER) on 10 hits in five innings. A late solo home run off Anthony Bender proved to be the winning margin as the Legends scored a run in the ninth but stranded the bases loaded.

Boxscore Link

Khalil Lee 0-3, K, ejected
Gabe Cancel 2-3, 2R, HR, 2b, 2BB, 2 RBI
Emmanuel Rivera 2-5, R
Meibrys Viloria 3-5, 2 RBI, 0-1 SB/Att

Danville Braves 4, Burlington Royals 3

The Royals got a game-tying home run from Seuly Matias in the seventh, but for the second day in a row stranded a runner in scoring position with no outs late. And for the second night in a row, it was Isranel Wilson connecting on the game-winning hit, this time an inside the park home run in the seventh was the difference maker.

Boxscore Link

Seuly Matias 3-5, HR, 2 RBI
Michael Gigliotti 1-3, R, BB
Sebastian Rivero 0-5, 2K

Orem Owlz 8, Idaho Falls Chukars 4 

Julio Pinto hit a batter and walked six in the first inning while recording one out and hitting the zone 17 times on 43 pitches. That inning put the Chukars behind 4-0 and from there the teams played to a 4-4 tie.

Boxscore Link

Robby Rinn 1-4, HR, 2 RBI
Julio Pinto 0.1 IP, 0 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 0 K, 0-1 GO-FO, 43p/17k
Vance Vizcaino 2-4, R, RBI, 2 SB (9)

AZL Reds 11, AZL Royals 4

A rough first appearance from third round pick Dan Tillo, as the lefty was able to retire just two hitters while giving up five runs on five hits. The loss was the sixth in a row for the Royals squad who have struggled to pitch at the rookie levels. Starter Malcolm Van Buren was slightly better in this start, earning two Ks and giving up two runs in three innings as he continues to build back from Tommy John.

Boxscore Link

Nick Pratto 0-5, 2K, E (5)
Esteury Ruiz 2-5, 2R, 3b, RBI, SB (5), E (1)
MJ Melendez 1-3, R, RBI, BB
Charlie Neuweiler 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 5-0 GO-FO
Malcolm Van Buren 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2-2 GO-FO
Dan Tillo 0.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1-0 GO-FO

DSL Marlins 4, DSL Royals 3

The Royals lost in extra innings again, this time as they failed to push their free runner across in the tenth and eleventh innings.

Boxscore Link

Reynin Reynoso 1-6, RBI

HR Roll Call Jorge Soler (7), Bubba Starling (4), Ruben Sosa (3), Khalil Lee (9)

BPKC Hitter of the Day Angelo Castellano 4-5 R, RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Foster Griffin 7 IP 3 H 1 R 0 ER 2 BB 6 K 8-4 GO-FO 92p/59k

Omaha Storm Chasers 7 New Orleans Pelicans 1

The Chasers provided the offensive firepower while the pitching staff limited New Orleans to just one run.

After Jon Dziedzic gave up a solo home run in the second inning the Omaha offense scored a pair courtesy a Mike Aviles error, a run scoring single from Garin Cecchini and a sac fly from Terrance Gore.

The Chasers opened up the game in the third inning, scoring three runs courtesy of three home runs. Newcomer Ruben Sosa opened the inning with his first home run as a member of the Storm Chasers before Jorge Soler cleared the fence in left-center. After a walk to Ryan O’Hearn outfielder, Bubba Starling finished the scoring in the frame with his fourth home run of the season to push Omaha up 6-1.

Relievers Matt Peterson and Seth Maness combined with Dziedzic to keep the Marlins Triple-A affiliate off the board the rest of the night while Raul Mondesi capped the scoring for Omaha with a rbi single in the seventh.

Boxscore Link

Raul Mondesi 2-4 RBI, SB (14)
Jorge Soler 1-3 HR, 2K, BB
Bubba Starling 1-4 2R, HR, 2 RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 5 Springfield Cardinals 1

The Naturals received another outstanding start to finish off the series with Springfield and get back into a first place tie with the St. Louis Double-A squad.

One night after a complete game shutout by Corey Ray lefty Foster Griffin tossed six straight shutout innings to start the night. Attacking with his fastball and curveball Griffin walked just one before a fifth inning leadoff double put a runner in scoring position for the first time on the night for Springfield. That jam was navigated with an inning eating double play to keep the Naturals ahead.

NW Arkansas had built a lead in the first inning with a rbi sac fly by Mauricio Ramos and a single by Humberto Arteaga that scored Samir Duenez. That hit by Arteaga was one of two on the night to continue a stellar season of hitting at home for the shortstop, improving his home average to .362 on the year in 29 games.

The Naturals tacked on runs in the second and third inning, in the third, it was Ramos again driving in a run this time with a single. Those runs would be more than enough for Griffin and the Naturals as the lefty would allow just an unearned run in the seventh frame before turning things over to the bullpen.

The bullpen closed things out with Pedro Fernandez working a clean inning before Sam Selman k’d two to finish off the game. The two strikeouts by Selman gives him 44 in 27.1 innings this season, possibly putting him in a position to earn an audition at the major league level later this season.

Boxscore Link

Sam Selman 1 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K 20p/13k
Humberto Arteaga 2-4 RBI
Samir Duenez 1-3 R, BB

Buies Creek Astros 7 Wilmington Blue Rocks 4

The Blue Rocks had their four game win streak snapped after another inconsistent start from A.J. Puckett.

The Pepperdine product was in trouble throughout this one, giving up at least two hits in every inning that he completed before leaving with one on and no out in the fifth. A solo home run scored gave the Astros a 1-0 lead in the first before Puckett navigated back to back singles in both the second and third innings. In the fourth frame though Puckett was unable to get out of the trouble he caused, walking the leadoff batter and hitting a pair of batters around two singles allowed. Two more singles allowed by A.J. lead to four Buies Creek runs in the inning to push their advantage to 5-0.

Wilmington would charge back with four runs from the fifth through seventh innings. That would be as close as the Rocks would get however as reliever Yunior Marte’s control wavered leading to four walks and a couple runs allowed by the usually reliable relief pitcher.

Boxscore Link

A.J. Puckett 4 IP 11 H 5 R 5 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-3 GO-FO 96p/62k
Nicky Lopez 2-4 2b, 2RBI, BB
Anderson Miller 2-5 R, RBI

Lexington Legends 4 Hickory Crawdads 3

The Legends were three outs away from dropping their fourth game in a row Friday night on the road in Hickory.

Up to that point the only run, Lexington had scored was on a home run from leadoff hitter Khalil Lee, the 18-year-olds ninth of the season.  Prior to that home run, the Crawdads had taken a 2-0 lead with a rbi double from Yeyson Yrizarri and another single that brought him home one hitter later. Another rbi double by the Rangers Low-A squad in the fourth inning off Lexington starter Andre Davis pushed the score to 3-1.

That score held up until the ninth inning when the single train got started for the Legends. Leadoff man Rudy Martin started things off for Lexington with a line drive to right before Lee pushed him into scoring position with another single. Shortstop Angelo Castellano connected on his fourth hit of the night to score Martin, push Lee to third and pull the Legends within a run. A sacrifice fly by Gabe Cancel brought home the tying run before an attempted play at the plate missed out and allowed Castellano to get in and Lexington to take the lead.

After a blown save in his last outing, Grant Gavin worked a scoreless outing by sandwiching a pair strikeouts around a double to secure the win.

Boxscore Link

Khalil Lee 2-5 2R, HR
Angelo Castellano 4-5 R, RBI
Andre Davis 4.2 IP 7 H 3 R 2 ER 1 BB 2 K 4-3 GO-FO 63p/39k

DSL Rays1 6 DSL Royals 4

The Dominican Royals squad took the lead three different times on Friday but were unable to hold onto it.

The Rays1 evened up the score in the sixth innings before taking the lead and eventually tacking on an insurance run to earn a series split.

Boxscore Link

Felix Familia 2-4 R, RBI, BB
Rubendy Jacquez 2-5 R, RBI
Reynin Reynosa 2-4 2R, 3b

Mondesi Photo Via Minda Haas Flickr

Raul Mondesi – The Royals top shortstop in the minor leagues has put together his most impressive stretch of hitting in his career since being sent down. With his two hits on Sunday, Mondesi pushed his hitting streak to 17 games which includes multiple hits in each of his last four games and a .406 average during the streak. The positives to note in the streak for Mondesi is the lack of bunt attempts by the speedster as he has virtually cut out that part of his game while also working the ball to the middle of the field and opposite way more than he had from the left side.

Brian Poldberg on Mondesi “I know up there they wanted him to bunt a lot, so when he first got here he was looking to bunt and hit second. We wanted him to change his thought process and look to hit first and bunt second. He’s come around. He’s got his confidence and has a different stride about him, knowing he belongs.” 

Raul Mondesi on his play – “I keep working on the little things and I’m feeling pretty good at the plate right now. I’ve been working the ball the other way and adjusting to the pitch. They sent me here to work on my hitting and I’m just trying to help the team win and keep working.”

Saturday Omaha Storm Chasers 10, Round Rock Express 0 Boxscore Link
Sunday Omaha Storm Chasers 7, Round Rock Express 5 Boxscore Link HR Ryan O’Hearn (7)

The Chasers carried over their big bats and stellar starting pitching from Friday to Saturday’s series opener with Round Rock. Starter Luke Farrell went a season-high seven innings while allowing just three hits and no runs in that time. The offense backed him up with plenty of run support, scoring ten runs in six innings while connecting for 13 hits in the process to lead to the easy win.

The Chasers built a big lead early Sunday night, then hung on to a win. The suddenly hot bats scored seven runs from the second through fifth, getting a solo home run from Ryan O’Hearn and a two-run triple by Raul Mondesi as part of the run explosion. Spot starter Onelki Garcia helped his club while he was on the mound with five innings of one-run ball before turning things over to a bullpen that made it interesting late. It was Garcia’s first affiliated start in three years, earning the win in the process.

Saturday NW Arkansas Naturals 3, Midland RockHounds 2 Boxscore Link
Sunday NW Arkansas Naturals 10, Midland RockHounds 6 Boxscore Link HR Samir Duenez (7)

Shortstop Humberto Arteaga had a big day at the plate, coming up with three hits to drive in a pair of runs while also scoring the Naturals third – and winning – run. Starter Emilio Ogando made those three runs stand up with a pair of relief pitchers helping out. The lefty worked seven innings of one-run ball with just a pair of walks and four hits allowed to improve to 3-2 with a 2.28 ERA at Double-A.

The Naturals reached base 18 times with eight walks accumulated alongside their ten hits in their Sunday win. A five-run third frame and four-run seventh did most of the damage for the Double-A club, with Samir Duenez clubbing a three-run home run as part of the third inning rally. Starter Corey Ray missed out on the win after allowing four runs in his five innings when reliever Jake Kalish gave up a pair of runs to knot the action up at six apiece in the seventh frame. Reliever Pedro Fernandez’s 2.1 IP of shutout ball put things on ice for the win.

Saturday Wilmington Blue Rocks 7, Potomac Nationals 6 Boxscore Link HR Travis Maezes (2)
Sunday Wilmington Blue Rocks 4, Potomac Nationals 3 Boxscore Link

On Saturday, the Rocks staged another come from behind win over Potomac. Trailing 6-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth, Wilmington scored on a throwing error against a sac bunt by Wander Franco. From there, the bats of Nicky Lopez and D.J. Burt added two more runs. A Lopez triple plated Franco before Burt’s double scored Lopez. Reliever Franco Terrero secured the save in the ninth for the Blue Rocks.

More come from behind fun on Sunday for Wilmington as the Rocks starter A.J. Puckett gave up three runs in his five innings on the mound. The righty surrendered four consecutive hits to start the game, allowing two runs before settling down and getting out of the inning. The 2016 draft pick allowed another run in the fourth frame when he gave up a pair of two-out hits, the second of which was a run scoring single by Victor Robles. Trailing 3-0, the Rocks first six hitters in the seventh inning reached base with RBI singles by Anderson Miller, Wander Franco and Chris DeVito to take a 4-3 lead and the eventual win after Richard Lovelady closed the door. Reliever Yunior Marte earned the win with his three innings of shutout pitching, striking out three against one hit allowed.

Game 1 Columbia Fireflies 3, Lexington Legends 0 F/7 Boxscore Link
Game 2 Lexington Legends 2, Columbia Fireflies 1 F/7 Boxscore Link

The Legends split a doubleheader on Sunday after their game was rained out on Saturday.

Neither game featured much offense, with just six combined runs in the two games. In game one, a mistake by Legend pitcher Travis Eckert led to a three-run home run by Mets Low-A prospect Dash Winningham to give the Fireflies a 3-0 win. Despite that mistake, Eckert put together a solid line in the loss going six innings with nine strikeouts.

In game two, lefty Andre Davis went toe to toe with Columbia starter Harol Gonzalez. The two pitchers allowed just one run each until Manny Olloque’s one-out double in the bottom of the seventh walked things off for the Legends. For Davis, it was one his better starts of the year with the lefty spinning seven innings with a career best 11 strikeouts in the win.

HR Roll Call: Ramon Torres (5), Cam Gallagher (1), Anderson Miller (7), Chase Vallot (5), Nicky Lopez (2), Wander Franco (2), Joe Dudek (1)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nicky Lopez 2-4, 2R, HR, 3b, 2 RBI, BB, SB (9), CS (6)

BPKC Pitchers of the Day: A.J. Puckett 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 BB, 4 K, 6-4 GO-FO, 88p/43k

Lexington Legends 7, Hickory Crawdads 1

The Legends put together a four-run inning early which, with a solid pitching performance, was more than enough to win the first game of their series with the Low-A Rangers club.

Starter Travis Eckert combined with a pair of relievers to limit Hickory to just one run on five hits. The threesome limited the Crawdads to just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position thanks in part to nine strikeouts. Reliever Jesse Camp made his first appearance of the year for the club, tossing two scoreless with three strikeouts before giving way to Matt Wynne.

The Legends offense used a four-run third inning that featured a two-run triple by Manny Olloque to build their lead. The bottom third of the Lexington lineup would continue doing work the very next inning when Joe Dudek hit his first home run of the season to push the lead out to 6-1. Catcher Meibrys Viloria continued his hot hitting in the month with a pair of hits including his 10th double of the season.

Boxscore Link

Meibrys Viloria 2-4, 2R, 2b
Joe Dudek 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
Travis Eckert 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 87p/56k, 4-7 GO-FO

Wilmington Blue Rocks 10, Frederick Keys 1 

The Blue Rocks broke out the big sticks to finish off their four-game series win in Frederick.

Shortstop Nicky Lopez opened up the game with a leadoff home run as part of a four-run first inning that also featured Chase Vallot’s fifth home run of the season. Wilmington wasn’t done there as Anderson Miller and Wander Franco each homered in the third to push the lead out to 7-0.

With all that offense, starter A.J. Puckett was able to take advantage despite battling with the strikezone. The righty spun six no-hit innings despite six walks and just 43 strikes among the 88 pitches he threw. Still, Puckett navigated around his own problems earning six groundouts and striking out four to keep the Keys hitters in check.

Reliever Gabe Cramer came in and gave up a solo home run to break up the no-hitter. The reliever would give up a second hit while also striking out five to up his total to 27 in 13.2 innings for the Blue Rocks this season. The win evened Wilmington’s record at 21-21.

Boxscore Link

Chase Vallot 1-3, 2R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Anderson Miller 1-4, HR
Yunior Marte 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1-0 GO-FO, 16p/12k

Springfield Cardinals 4, NW Arkansas Naturals 0

The Naturals hitting woes against the Springfield Cardinals continued on Monday to end their four-game series.

This game featured just four hits for the visiting team, as the home Cardinals rapped a pair of home runs off reliever Reid Redman to go along with seven hits and two runs off starting pitcher Emilio Ogando. The Naturals failed to connect on an extra base hit while going 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. The loss dropped them into second place, one game behind Springfield.

Boxscore Link

Samir Duenez 0-3, BB
Jack Lopez 2-4
Emilio Ogando 5 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 1-5 GO-FO, 84p/48k

Omaha Storm Chasers 5, Reno Aces 3

The Chasers evened up their homestand with a late comeback win against the Pacific Coast League’s top hitting club.

Starting pitcher Eric Skoglund wasn’t deterred by facing such a powerful lineup, attacking the zone with 76 strikes on 103 pitches while giving up three runs in seven innings. The Chasers needed length from their starter considering the pitching staff was shorthanded with pitchers in Kansas City, and on the DL, and with rain causing havoc during this homestand. The lefty was up to the task, striking out a season-high nine hitters in seven innings. Skoglund was using a fastball that reached as high as 95 mph while employing a slider that he’s been working on with his pitching coach.

After falling behind 2-0, Omaha shortstop Ramon Torres hit his fifth home run of the season to slice the lead in half. The Aces pushed their lead back to two runs with Christian Walker’s solo home run in the sixth. Trailing 3-1 the Chasers evened things up in their half of the seventh with a two-out rally that started on a Terrance Gore bunt single and ended with a Torres two-run single to right.

With the game even into the eighth, Ryan O’Hearn doubled to lead off the inning, advanced to third on Bubba Starling’s sacrifice bunt to set up an opportunity for catcher Cam Gallagher. The backstop who has struggled at the plate for much of the season jumped all over a first-pitch fastball by Ruby De La Rosa, sending it 370 feet into the leftfield stands to give Omaha a 5-3 lead and the eventual win.

Boxscore Link

Eric Skoglund 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 4-6 GO-FO, 103p/76p
Ryan O’Hearn 3-4, R, 2b
Ramon Torres 2-4, R, 3 RBI

HR Roll Call Raul: Mondesi (4), Chris DeVito (12) 

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Raul Mondesi 3-5, 3R, HR, 2-2b, 3 RBI, SB, BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Eric Skoglund 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 4 K, 10-3 GO-FO, 93p/58k

Game 1
Tacoma Rainiers 7, Omaha Storm Chasers 2

The first game of the doubleheader between the Royals and Mariners Triple-A affiliate featured power by the Rainiers and more lackluster offense on the part of the Chasers.

The Chasers couldn’t get the offense going early, failing to score in the first four innings, while Tacoma opened up their half of the first inning with a two-run home run by Dan Vogelbach. The score remained 2-0 until the fourth frame when an error by Raul Mondesi on a throw from deep in the hole opened up an inning that eventually featured a three-run home run by Dario Pizzano to push the score to 5-0.

The Chasers got on the board in their half of the fifth with an RBI triple from Corey Toups before Ramon Torres made the score 6-2 with a run-scoring single in the sixth inning.

The Rainiers capped the scoring with a mammoth 445 foot home run by Leonys Martin in the seventh to finish off the final inning of the shortened doubleheader.

Boxscore Link

Corey Toups 2-3, 2b, 3b, RBI
Raul Mondesi 1-3, R, 2b
Ramon Torres 2-3, 2b, RBI, hit streak at 11 games

Game 2
Omaha Storm Chasers 4, Tacoma Rainiers 2

In game two, the Chasers starter did a good job of limiting damage while the Royals Raul Mondesi did some damage of his own.

In the first frame, Mondesi created some offense on his own, walking to take first, quickly stealing second and scoring on a Ramon Torres single.

Starter Eric Skoglund was solid, tossing a complete game in the seven-inning shortened game, but the lefty did get knocked around for a pair of back to back solo home runs in the third that gave Tacoma a 2-1 lead. From there, Skoglund found a groove working the final five innings with the minimum hitters faced, allowing just a walk in the sixth that was quickly erased by a double play.

Fortunately for Skoglun, his shortstop, Mondesi, was there to quickly tie things up in the bottom half of the third with a solo home run. With the game knotted up, it was Mondesi once again in the fifth inning with a double to bring in a pair of Chasers; eventually giving them enough runs for the win.

Boxscore Link

Bubba Starling 1-1, 2BB, 2 CS
Ramon Torres 1-3, RBI
Parker Morin 1-2, R

NW Arkansas Naturals 4, Arkansas Travelers 1

The Naturals got a run-scoring bunt and bases clearing double by Donnie Dewees in the second inning and made that stand up for the win.

Starter Emilio Ogando earned his second Double-A victory despite just one strikeout. The lefty spun six innings while navigating around six hits thanks to six groundouts which included a pair of double plays. From there, relievers Reid Redman and Sam Selman shut the door, with Selman striking out four hitters in just 1.2 innings.

The first place Naturals will attempt to finish off the four game series sweep tomorrow.

Boxscore Link

Donnie Dewees 1-5, 2b, 2 RBI
Elier Hernandez 1-3, R
Samir Duenez 0-5, K

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5, Potomac Nationals 2

The Blue Rocks kept their winning ways going in Potomac on Wednesday night, getting plenty of extra base pop along the way.

The Rocks offense connected for seven doubles and a home run from Chris DeVito to put five runs across despite a 4 for 18 night with runners in scoring position. Second baseman D.J. Burt came through with a pair of doubles that plated solo runs in the seventh and ninth innings to push out their advantage.

The Royals 2016 2nd round pick A.J. Puckett was the beneficiary of all the offense as the right-handed starter found a groove after allowing a first-inning solo home run. From there, the righty stayed on schedule, allowing just a fourth inning walk before a double in the sixth came around to score.

Reliever Gabe Cramer earned the save while striking out four over the final 2.2 innings. Those four K’s pumped the righties total to 22 on the season in just 11.2 innings of work while sporting a sub 1 WHIP.

Boxscore Link

Gabe Cramer 2.2 IP, 1 H, o R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2-2 GO-FO
A.J. Puckett 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 12-0 GO-FO
D.J. Burt 3-5, 2-2b, 2 RBI, SB (12)

HR Roll Call Peter O’Brien (3), Donnie Dewees (2), Alfredo Escalera (1), Ruben Sosa (1)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Donnie Dewees 2-4 2R, 3b, HR, BB, 2 RBI, SB (2)

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Josh Staumont 6.2 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 12 K HR WP 4-2 GO-FO 107p/72k

Game 1
Omaha Storm Chasers 2 Oklahoma City Dodgers 1

The Royals Josh Staumont felt in control of all three pitches during his Monday start versus the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate. With his fastball featuring more movement than usual, he was able to limit the opponent to just four hits while striking out 12 in an efficient 6.2 innings. The 72 strikes in 107 pitches were both career highs for Staumont who earned 17 swinging strikes with his one hiccup coming on a Willie Calhoun home run in the third inning.

Oklahoma City’s Justin Masterson had a no-hitter through four innings before Dean Anna broke it up in the fifth inning with a leadoff single. Following a double play in that inning, Omaha started to get to the veteran major leaguer, connecting on three consecutive hits in the inning to score in that frame before Jorge Soler got nailed at the plate to end the inning.

The game went to the bottom of the seventh when a pop-up off the bat of Billy Burns dropped on the mound prior to Raul Mondesi’s bunt single and the eventual walk-off bases loaded hit by Paulo Orlando.

Boxscore Link

Raul Mondesi 2-4 R, E (1)
Paulo Orlando 2-4 2 RBI
Al Alburquerque 0.1 IP 1 H 0 R

Game 2
Omaha Storm Chasers 2 Oklahoma City Dodgers 1 F/11

Game two lacked offense as well with the Chasers scoring a run in the first inning on a Paulo Orlando sacrifice fly and a home run by the Dodgers Ike Davis in the fifth inning. The two teams got through 9 innings in a much different way with Oklahoma City striking out just once in that times while the Storm Chasers lineup was flailing about with 16 strikeouts in that same amount of time.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the 11th inning when Peter O’Brien sent all 3,096 fans home with a walkoff bomb to centerfield.

Boxscore Link

Raul Mondesi 1-3 BB, Sac bunt, 2K, 3SB (3)
Peter O’Brien 1-5 HR, 4K
Ryan O’Hearn 0-5 4K

NW Arkansas Naturals 7 Tulsa Drillers 6

The Naturals hung on for a series-deciding win Monday in Tulsa. Things got off to a good start for NW Arkansas when Donnie Dewees hit one that barely cleared the left-field wall for a home run. It was so close a call that Tulsa manager Ryan Garko disagreed before being given the opportunity to check the placement out himself on his way back to the clubhouse via the umpire. The Naturals would push their lead to 2-0 on the very next batter following the argument when Alfredo Escalera hit a no-doubt homer to left, his first of the season.

The lead would be pushed to 3-0 in the 4th and was looking quite comfortable with starter Miguel Almonte dominating through four innings until running into trouble in the 5th. In that frame, the righty would give up a one-out double and a walk prior to allowing his second home run of the season off the bat of Jacob Scavuzzo. Two more doubles in the sixth and seventh would help dent the scoreboard a couple more times off Almonte before ending his day at a season high 6.2 innings.

A three-run seventh frame by the Naturals helped stake Almonte to a lead and an insurance run in the eighth gave them a needed insurance run.  That run came in handy as reliever Tim Hill quickly gave up a triple and a single to see their lead sliced in half to just one run at 7-6. Manager Vance Wilson called on Jake Newberry and the righty did the job getting a flyout and a fielder’s choice play at the plate prior to a lineout to Ruben Sosa to end the game.

The Naturals three home runs in the game were by three players that had combined to just one coming into the game.

Boxscore Link

Ruben Sosa 2-4 HR
Alfredo Escalera 2-5 HR, 2 RBI
Miguel Almonte 6.2 IP 6 H 5 R 4 ER 3 BB 9 K 2 WP 5-4 GO-FO 117p/71k

Salem Red Sox 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 3 F/10

The Wilmington team has faced Salem in four games so far this year after the first game of their series on Monday with the bullpen failing to secure leads in the last three.

In this one, A.J. Puckett worked five scoreless innings until the sixth. With a one-run lead, Puckett ran into problems, allowing a run and facing a bases loaded jam. Fortunately for the righty, though he was able to buckle down and earn a pair of strikeouts prior to a force out get out of the inning without any further damage.

The Blue Rocks took leads in the 4th, 6th and 7th only to watch pitchers give up tying runs. In each of the last two instances, it was bullpen members who surrendered leads. In the ninth inning, Richard Lovelady retired the first two hitters of the inning only to give up a single, a hit by pitch and a game-tying single before finishing the inning.

In the tenth inning, Andres Machado gave up a pair of doubles to allow Salem to take the lead. The home squad would get a runner on with Anderson Miller extending his on-base streak to 16 games, but fail to score in dropping the game.

Boxscore Link

A.J. Puckett 6 IP 6 H 1 R 1 ER 4 BB 6 K 7-1 GO-FO 102p/59k
Chase Vallot 2-5 2b, RBI
Nicky Lopez 2-5 RBI

HR Roll Call: Chris DeVito (4), Angelo Castellano (2)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Angelo Castellano 2-3, 2R, HR, BB, RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Colin Rodgers 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 3-2 GO-FO, 56p/35k

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 7, Wilmington Blue Rocks 3 

A.J. Puckett, the Royals 2016 2nd round draft pick, continued his run of poor even-numbered starts in Myrtle Beach in game two of the Blue Rocks series. If you haven’t seen this before then just take a look at Puckett’s record in odd-numbered starts (0.92 ERA) versus his stats (6.82 ERA) in even-numbered appearances. He doesn’t have the type of fastball to not command it from the get-go, or at least quickly realize he doesn’t have the command and decide to lean on a secondary pitch to get through a lineup.

That was the case in this one as the righty struggled to command his stuff, leaving it over the plate or up in the zone where the Cubs affiliate took advantage, scoring six runs in the first two innings. They got to him for 10 hits in four innings to score all seven runs (5 ER). When the righty wasn’t missing his spot, his defense was disappointing him with misplays and misreads behind him.

On offense, the Blue Rocks put together a three-run third inning with the help of a RBI double by Nicky Lopez, but were unable to dent the scoreboard any further.

Boxscore Link

A.J. Puckett 4 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 6-2 GO-FO, 76p/48k
Nicky Lopez 1-4, R, 2b, RBI
Chase Vallot 0-4, 4K

Augusta GreenJackets 10 Lexington Legends 3 

There is no sugar coating it. The Legends team is playing ugly, young baseball. They committed four errors on Wednesday morning, which lead to three unearned runs, all while employing a terrible quick-swing approach at the plate. On the mound, Nolan Watson gave up eight hits in six innings, while relievers Vance Tatum and David McKay got tuned up for four home runs and seven runs in the final three innings of a 10-3 drubbing. Infielder Angelo Castellano broke up 16 perfect innings by Augusta pitching with a home run in the fourth, and first baseman Chris DeVito hit his fourth home run of the season in the ninth frame.

Boxscore Link

Chris DeVito 1-4, HR, 2 RBI
Nolan Watson 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 5-5 GO-FO, 93p/64k
Ricky Aracena 0-3, 3K

Nicky Lopez – The Creighton shortstop isn’t off to a spectacular offensive start .267/.343/.333 but he continues to play stellar defense and control the zone offensively. Not likely to be the impact offensive shortstop that you see other teams carry Lopez could be a solid defender and bottom of the order hitter which is as much as some others have shown in the system.

Miguel Almonte – We often look at Almonte as one of the Mr. Disappointments in the Royals system. The last two seasons have been disappointing no doubt, but we must remember that he just turned 24 years old on April 4th and there is still time to fix some of his problems. The Royals resident “Mr. Fix It” Steve Luebber is the one they employ for these task as he has done in the past with Yordano Ventura, Josh Staumont and few others and thus far his returns with Almonte are encouraging. With Almonte’s 6 inning 1 run start on Thursday his statline reads at a 1.42 ERA with a K per inning through 12.2 innings. Definitely an intriguing start for the talented right-handed pitcher.

Others with good starts
A.J. Puckett 3 starts 18 K’s in 17 inning with a 1.59 ERA at High-A
Ryan O’Hearn – Steady Eddie keeps hitting for power with quality AB’s .304/.361/.589 w/ 4 HR.

Stock Down
Garrett Davila - It’s early but the lefty with plus pitchability from most observors has’t pitched with the control that you would like to see, walking 9 in just 14 inning. It’s highly doubtful that he can survive with that type of control and command with a fastball that is average if not a tick below.

Chase Vallot – I know I’m beating a deadhorse here but I just don’t think this guy is a catcher longterm. The league is running wild (15 steals) and he continues to struggle to receive some behind the dish. To put that in some context in nearly 160 more innings Wil Myers had thrown out 10% more runners while making four less errors and allowing two more passed balls. Most didn’t see him as a big league catcher at the time. The bat is lagging also .182/.327/.318 with 1 home run.

Ricky Aracena – The Latin shortstop continues to show very little with the bat, hitting just .116/.116/.116 through 14 games. The speed of his game was a bit overhyped at the time of his signing and the lack of an advanced plate approach hurts further with a lack of pop. The defense has looked slightly cleaner in the early going compared to what he showed last year in Idaho, but he’s still made four errors in 12 games.

Others with rough starts
Nolan Watson nearly a 2 WHIP in just 18.2 innings with a 6.75 ERA.
Bubba Starling hitting just .159 in 44 AB
Yender Caramo with a rough start after a stellar spring 15 hits, 7 run in 9.1 innings

The affiliates went 1-2 with a rainout at Double-A.

HR Roll Call Ryan O’Hearn (4), Jorge Soler (1)

BPKC Hitter of the Day Jorge Soler 2-3 HR 3 RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day Jon Dziedzic 7.1 IP 7 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 7 K 4-6 GO-FO 100p/62k

Omaha Storm Chasers 6 Round Rock Express 2

In his first rehab game with Omaha Jorge Soler went 2 for 3 with a three run home run while starter Jon Dziedzic navigated around seven hits in a one run seven inning start.

Boxscore Link

Ryan O’Hearn 2-3 HR
Billy Burns 1-3 R, 2 BB, SB (6)
Cam Gallagher 1-4 R, 2b

Winston-Salem Dash 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1

Very little offense for Wilmington with the club collecting just four hits in this one. Starter Cristian Castillo took the loss while allowing three runs on nine hits and a pair of walks in his five and two-third innings.

Boxscore Link

Elier Hernandez 2-4 2b
Cristian Castillo 5.2 IP 9 H 3 ER 2 BB 3 K 4-5 GO-FO 84p/55k
Wander Franco 1-4

Columbia Fireflies 6 Lexington Legends 0

The Legends were limited to just four singles in their shutout on Friday. Starter Nolan Watson dropped to 0-3 while getting touched up for 10 hits in just four and one-third innings. The Legends yielded a perfect night by Tim Tebow as the one time QB was 3 for 3 with a walk and a double.

Boxscore Link

Nolan Watson 4.1 IP 10 H 4 ER 1 BB 2 K 6-3 GO-FO 93p/56k
Khalil Lee 1-4
Chris DeVito 1-4