HR Roll Call: Bubba Starling (1), Angelo Castellano (1)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Angelo Castellano 2-4, 3R, HR, 4 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Josh Staumont 6 IP, 1 H, 0R, 2 BB, 12 K, 4-2 GO-FO, 92p/58k, 16 swinging strikes

Quotes from Josh Staumont’s start

Cam Gallagher on when he knew Staumont had going on: “I was catching him in the bullpen, and that was some of the most electric stuff that I’ve seen.”

“His fastball is electric, and he could go five innings with just that but his curveball and changeup were both on tonight and he pounded the strike zone, got ahead and put away hitters when he needed to.”

Staumont on bouncing back from a rough outing: “You always want to prove you deserve to be where you are.” 

Staumont on his changeup: “We had a pretty big emphasis on it this offseason, switching from a split-change to a circle change. It allows me to be more consistent with it, leaving it down in the zone to play it off my fastball and curve.”

Brian Poldberg on what he said when Staumont walked his second hitter of the 6th inning: “This is your game, and this is your guy. When the manager is coming out there usually the guy is thinking the worst. This was his game to lose and early in the year, I like to put guys in that situation to see how they handle it. It gives them a chance to prove themselves.”

Omaha Storm Chasers 3 Round Rock Express 0

Fire was thrown on Thursday night in Papillion. Starter Josh Staumont piled up 12 strikeouts in six innings of work, using all three of his pitches in an efficient 92 pitch outing that featured 58 strikes. In three different innings, Staumont struck out the side in order, putting down nine of the first twelve hitters he faced. The righty hit 98 mph on the gun in the first inning and 97.5 mph in the sixth while working his curve in the mid 80’s and featuring an improved circle change in the low 80’s. A groundball single through the right side in the fifth and two walks in the sixth, the second of which looked more like he was squeezed by the ump were the only blemishes on his line.

The Rangers affiliate ran out Dillon Gee and the veteran nearly kept pace with Staumont, giving up just a fourth-inning run via a Jorge Bonifacio RBI double. A Roman Torres RBI single in the seventh scored another run for Omaha before a Bubba Starling blast in the eighth pushed the lead to 3-0. Lefty Matt Strahm worked two perfect innings in relief with three strikeouts before Bobby Parnell closed out the game in the ninth with the Chasers 16th team strikeout of the night.

Boxscore Link

Matt Strahm 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1-2 GO-FO, 20p/14k
Jorge Bonifacio 1-4, 2b, RBI
Bubba Starling 2-4, HR

San Antonio Missions 5 NW Arkansas Naturals 4 F/14

The Naturals lost a 14-inning affair on a ball that shortstop Humberto Arteaga couldn’t handle Thursday night. Prior to that run coming across in the last inning, the Naturals bullpen had tossed eight and two-third scoreless innings after starter Matt Tenuta had given up four runs. The offense went 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position in the loss.

Boxscore Link

Samir Duenez 2-6, R, 3b, 2 RBI, BB
Alfredo Escalera 3-7, 2R, RBI
Reid Redman 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0-2 GO-FO, 34p/22k

Potomac Nationals 6 Wilmington Blue Rocks 4

Prospect Scott Blewett got touched up for six runs (five earned) in 4.1 innings to take his first loss at High-A. The Wilmington lineup fared okay, connecting on nine hits, but the 0-for put up by their fourth and fifth place hitters limited their opportunities to cash in more. Outfielder Elier Hernandez snapped out of 2 for 30 slump with a three-hit night that featured a double and three driven in. The loss drops Wilmington to 2-5 on the season.

Boxscore Link

Elier Hernandez 3-4, 2b, 3 RBI
D.J. Burt 2-3, 2R, 2b, HBP
Scott Blewett 4.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 8-1 GO-FO, 2 HR, HBP

Lexington Legends 14 West Virginia Power 5

The Legends offense gave the home-opening crowd plenty to cheer about, pounding out 16 hits and 14 runs in a rout. Eight of the nine Legends hitters collected a hit in this one with the only Emmanuel Rivera going hitless. Seven hitters collected two hits with Angelo Castellano pacing the offense with four RBI and an absolute bomb to left in the fourth to finish off a six-run inning that pushed the lead from two runs to eight.

Starter Gerson Garabito gave up three runs in the third, but worked through it to get the victory while striking out seven hitters in five innings.

Boxscore Link

Khalil Lee 2-5, 2R, 2-2b, 2 RBI, 3K
Gabe Cancel 2-4, 2R, 2b, RBI, BB
Gerson Garabito 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 4-1 GO-FO, 85p/54k

The starting pitching is the one spot on the team where youth and inexperience at the AAA level is featured on the club. The Chasers have seven combined AAA starts from their group of youngsters headlined by Miguel Almonte that also includes Jon Dziedzic, Luke Farrell and Brooks Pounders to begin their season. The one veteran in that rotation is John Lannan, the former Washington Nationals left-handed starter who the Royals signed in the offseason. The one obvious omission from the rotation is that of Kyle Zimmer who remained at extended spring training in Arizona with continued shoulder problems.

The bullpen features a nice mix of former major league relievers and a few talented arms and should be one of the assets that manager Brian Poldberg gets to use throughout the season. The strength there definitely relies in the left-handed arms of Scott Alexander and Brian Flynn, both of whom could ride the I-29 bus between Omaha and Kansas City this season. Along with those two lefty power arms, Malcom Culver and Aroni Nina will pair to give a different look for hitters from the group of veteran relievers that features Brian Duensing, David Huff, Clayton Mortensen and Peter Moylan. Of course, Duensing is returning home as a former Cornhusker and Millard South graduate whose high school is just six miles away from the current Storm Chasers stadium.

Much like the pitching group, the position group is full of former major league players and a few others who have had plenty of success at the AAA level. The outfield is loaded with potential players who could fill in at the big league level during the season this year. The biggest named prospect is newbie Jorge Bonifacio who had a solid spring training for the big league club. The biggest challenge for manager Brian Poldberg could be finding at bats for the many players who have had success at the AAA level in the past couple of seasons.

The Chasers and the three other Royals affiliates start their minor league season today with the following starting pitchers taking the mounds for their respective teams.

Miguel Almonte Omaha vs New Orleans Zephyrs (Miami Marlins)
Alec Millers NW Arkansas vs Frisco Rough Riders (Texas Rangers)
Zach Lovvorn Wilmington vs Potomac Nationals (Washington Nationals)
Scott Blewett Lexington vs Lakewood Blueclaws (Philadelphia Phillies)

Side Notes
Wilmington skipper Jamie Quirk said his starting rotation in Wilmington will consist of opening day starter Lovvorn followed by Pedro Fernandez, lefty Matt Tenuta, Ashton Goudeau and Colin Rodgers. Early in the season, at most minor league levels, the Royals tend to piggyback starting pitchers as they build up to their pitch count totals. Watch to see if one of piggyback relievers ends up being a better option to start as that all shakes out.

The Lexington pitching squad features a couple live arms in Julio Pinto and Yunior Marte who have popped up in a minor way in prospect circles for their live arms. Add Franco Terrero to that list as someone to watch. According to one Royals official he has a quick arm, developed his change up at the Royals Dominican Academy and started to improve his breaking ball last year during the Arizona Summer League season. Signed for under $10,000 Terrero is earning comps to Kelvin Herrera.

Watch for the minor league daily recap Diamonds in the Rough written by @ShawnRebman

Feature Photo Cody Decker hitting a double during spring training – Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports