With many good seasons at the lower levels, quite a few names could take the top spot for the Royals Minor League Player of the Year. The candidates that came up in the discussion included last year’s winner Frank Schwindel, who continued to play well at Triple-A for Omaha. The Lexington Legends advanced to the South Atlantic championship series with multiple members enjoying good seasons, including MJ Melendez with his 19 HR and 42% caught stealing rate and teammate Brewer Hicklen who excelled at Low-A before some struggles with Wilmington. Those candidates all had worthy seasons but one player stood just slightly taller than those to us at BPKC.

Shortstop Nicky Lopez had plenty of eyes watching him at the start of this season with one big question needing to be answered. Prospect analysts wanted to know if Nicky’s strong Wilmington showing in 2017 was real or were the difficulties he ran into at Double-A more of an indicator of his true talent level?

That question was quickly answered for Lopez as he repeated Double-A to open the year, hitting .331/.397/.416 in his 73 games for Northwest Arkansas before pushing his way to the next level. That line doesn’t tell the entire story for Lopez though, as he actually got off to a slightly slow start with a .214 average in his first 19 games. From that point, his bat caught fire, hitting .370/.421/.474 from April 28th to June 23rd–a stretch of 54 games. He reached base two or more times in more than half of those games (29) while connecting on two or more hits in 21 of the games to force his way to a promotion. In Omaha, Lopez more than held his own, hitting .278 in 57 games with the Chasers while continuing to control the strike zone with 27 walks against 29 strikeouts. Those walks added to his 33 free passes at Double-A against just 23 strikeouts to finish with 60 walks against 52 strikeouts. With Omaha, the shortstop also started to exhibit more power, hitting seven home runs with the Chasers which were just three fewer than he had hit in his previous 264 minor league games.

All told, Lopez carried a .382 on-base percentage for the season, tied for second-best in the organization by a full-season player. Leading the organization in hits (155) and walks (60) led to Nicky reaching base 215 times via hit or walk which ranks as the ninth best-combined total since the beginning of the GMDM era.

Most Hits/Walks combined since 2007
Eric Hosmer 235 – 2010
Kila Ka’aihue 230 – 2008
Johnny Giavotella 229 – 2010
Wil Myers 226 – 2010
Wil Myers 225 – 2012
Clint Robinson 222 – 2011
Clint Robinson 221 – 2012
Clint Robinson 218 – 2010
Nicky Lopez 215 – 2018
Kila Ka’aihue 213 – 2009

What stands out most on this list for Lopez is the fact that he’s one of just two middle infielders in the group, with his stellar defense at the most difficult spot on the field standing head and shoulders above the rest. Playing 94 games at shortstop, Lopez committed just five errors during the season while showing his steady hands and arm at the position, while adding in 32 errorless games at second base. This combination of defense and on-base skill put his 2018 season above the rest in the organization.

Yefri Del Rosario Photo via Doc Riddle

Minor League Pitcher of the Year – Yefri Del Rosario – A late flourish to Del Rosario’s season pushed him ahead of Richard Lovelady, JC Cloney, and Gerson Garabito for this award. Starting his season in June at the Low-A level, Del Rosario struggled in two of his first three starts before embarking on a dominant stretch of over two months. From June 28th until his first start in the South Atlantic League playoffs, Del Rosario has allowed more than three earned runs in just one start. During that time, which includes 13 starts, the still 18-year old put up a 1.93 ERA while striking out 8.19 per 9 innings against a 1.02 WHIP. On top of that, he’s been even more dominating the last month-plus, giving quality starts in six of his last seven starts with just three earned runs allowed in that stretch. A truly great season for a pitcher who is still so young.

Team of the Year – Lexington Legends – The Legends were not only the winningest team in the minors for the Royals this season, but they were also the most exciting to watch. Whether it be Seuly Matias and MJ Melendez leaving the yard with their many home runs, or the late additions of pitching prospects Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch, the Legends won often and in extremely enjoyable fashion.

Featured Photo Minda Haas Kuhlmann

@ClintScoles

• I’m both surprised and not surprised that Frank Schwindel didn’t get a callup when the Omaha season ended. I had heard some things a couple weeks ago that indicated to me that he had a really good shot to be in the big leagues, so in that way, it’s surprising. But then when I think about it a little more, it’s really not. I’ve mentioned in this space that even with what O’Hearn has done, I still think Schwindel was the more deserving player at the time to get called up, but he was passed over. He also was eligible for the Rule 5 draft last year, coming off a .329/.349/.541 season and was passed over by every team. Yes, the Royals have some easy 40-man moves they could make to get him in the big leagues now, but looking forward, there will be a squeeze on the roster after the season when 60-day DL guys need to be activated. They have two pending free agents on the entire roster and a nearly full roster. Add in the four guys on the 60-day DL who will need to be added back and there’s already a crunch because subtract those two free agents and add the four DL guys and you’re over 41. Yes, there is absolutely dead weight. You could DFA guys like Nate Karns and Jesse Hahn and try to bring them back on minor league deals. Cheslor Cuthbert appears to have played his last game for the Royals. Andres Machado, Burch Smith, Ramon Torres, Paulo Orlando and Bubba Starling are easy drops if you need the space, but they’ll also need 40-man space for a Rule 5 guy next year if they go that route or any free agents they sign to shore up the bullpen. My guess here is that with O’Hearn hitting the way he has and Dozier stepping it up that the Royals decided to roll the dice and assume they could keep Schwindel without making their 40-man decisions any tougher over the next six months. I’d have brought him up, but it’s easy to see why they didn’t.
• Acquiring Ben Lively from the Phillies is a vaguely interesting move for a team that is evaluating starters the rest of the season and probably into next year. He’s probably more Sam Gaviglio than Jakob Junis, but it’s still a worthwhile gamble to take for a team that isn’t going anywhere for a couple seasons. He had his moments last year for the Phillies with a 4.26 ERA in 88.2 innings, but he didn’t strike out enough hitters and had a basically appalling seven percent swinging strike rate. This year, he wasn’t especially good, but the sample is skewed by one of his five starts being a massive disaster. He does a pretty good job of throwing strikes and seems like a guy who can get you deep into a game occasionally. His fastball isn’t special, sitting 91-92 and maybe touching 94 at times and his bread and better is his slider, which has been good for a 36.4 percent whiff percentage. The biggest issue I see is that his pitches tend to flatten out, which is both good and bad because it may be a mechanical issue that I’m certainly not smart enough to figure out. Or it may be that he’s just not good enough. I don’t mean to make it seem like he has to be great to justify the acquisition or anything, but hey, it’d be nice. Like I said, this is exactly what they should be doing, so I’m curious to see if they just liked him for depth or if someone sees something in him they believe they can unlock.
• Lexington won their first playoff game on Wednesday night, and it was really fun to watch because of how they won it. First, Jackson Kowar had a really nice playoff debut, going five innings in just 57 pitches and striking out five without a walk. After striking out just eight batters in his first 17 innings (with 10 walks), he let it fly and now in his last four starts, he’s gone 14.1 innings with 10 hits allowed, two runs and just two walks with 19 strikeouts. That’s what you want from a top draft pick. And to do it on a playoff stage is impressive. But maybe even more impressive is what Nick Pratto is doing. He went 2-for-3 with a home run and two stolen bases in his first playoff game as a pro, which is just maintaining what he’s done since the start of August. In 32 games, he’s hit .374/.439/.659 with 10 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. His BABIP is insane at well over .400, but it’s so nice to see him breaking out. I think his start to the season really took him off the radar, and he’s doing everything he can to get back on it. I’m not sure much would surprise me with him, but it’s nice to see him performing so well.
• Man, what a weird year for Jorge Bonifacio. He looked like one of the two best players on the team in spring training (with Whit), then obviously got popped for the PED suspension that cost him half the season. Then he comes back and hits .288/.351/.451 in 13 games before the break and it looked like he would build on some nice things in his rookie year and that very good spring. Then he spent 16 games just ice cold, hitting .109/.210/.164 and it sort of looked like maybe he was actually a product of those PEDs and he wasn’t worth figuring out the roster for moving forward. So naturally, he’s hit .292/.365/.431 since and has been more than serviceable offensively (though with much lighter power than you’d like). The Statcast data for him isn’t good. His average exit velocity is way down. His hard hit rate is way down. His barrel rate is way down. His launch angle is way up, but not in a good way. Some underlying numbers, though, are quite good. His walk rate is up by about one percent. His strikeout rate is down by about two percent. He’s swinging at fewer pitches outside the strike zone and making contact on more pitches inside the strike zone. One of the biggest differences in his batted ball profile is that he’s pulling way more pitches and not using the middle of the field as much. And he’s hitting considerably worse on balls he pulled. In 2017, he hit .500 with a 1.118 SLG on pulled balls. This year? It’s still obviously impressive, but his average is down to .425 with a .750 SLG. I’m not sure that means he shouldn’t be working to pull the ball as much, but it is interesting. Either way, it’s a weird year and I’m not sure we actually learned anything about him, which kind of stinks.

OMAHA STORM CHASERS

The Chasers had a down and up season, starting off 8-17 in April as the team’s offense struggled early in the season. From that point, the Chasers played one game above .500 the rest of the way. They did this despite an offense that finished second to last in OPS and a pitching staff that finished in the same spot with strikeouts. Why did the team succeed? Defense is likely the biggest reason. On any given night, the Chasers often fielded major league caliber shortstop defenders in at least three if not four spots around the infield and sometimes a spot in the outfield. All around, their defense was high quality and the pitching staff saw a benefit most nights, while the promotion of Nicky Lopez and the steady bat of Frank Schwindel carried the offense on most nights in the second half.

Position Player
Frank Schwindel – One year after being named the BPKC Minor League Player of the Year, Schwindel was nearly as good with a full season in Omaha. The 1B/DH led the Chasers in nearly every offensive statistic, setting a franchise record with 38 doubles while also leading the squad with 24 home runs and 93 RBI. All told, Schwindel led the team in hits, runs, home runs, doubles, and RBI while also leading in many advanced hitting categories among qualified hitters on the team. The average for Schwindel took a dip this year to no one’s surprise after an expected dip in BABIP, but he did a decent job countering with an increase in walk rate (2.9%-6.1%). Defensively, Schwindel remains somewhat rough at the position but he has shown improvement and completed the season without making an error in the field this year.

Pitcher of the Year
Richard Lovelady – For the second year in a row, a left-handed relief pitcher took the pitcher of the year award for the Chasers. This season it was reliever Richard Lovelady who, much like the team, got off to a slow start before hitting his stride and dominating much of the season. The reliever at the end of May had a 4.21 ERA with under a K per inning but from June 1st on, the lefty limited the PCL to a 0.82 WHIP, a 1.51 ERA and 9.5 K/9. The sidearmer dominated lefties as one would expect with a .157 average against, but more than held his own against right-handed hitters a .587 OPS against him for the season. These numbers helped Lovelady become the most consistent member of the bullpen for the Chasers, giving them 73 innings  while leading the team in saves.

NW ARKANSAS NATURALS

During both the first and second halves of the season, the Naturals put themselves in big holes with a bad month of baseball before turning it on only to fall just short of the postseason. The first half saw NW Arkansas tie Arkansas for first place only to lose in the difference-making game. To start the second half, the Naturals got off to a brutal 4-22 start which put them 15 games back of first place Tulsa. The pitching would get hot from that point leading the Naturals back to within three games before a few late season losses left them five games back and at .500 for the year.

Position Player
Jecksson Flores – This one was difficult as shortstop Nicky Lopez fit the criteria for playing with the Naturals for 73 games while leading the squad in OBP and dominating during May and June with a .363 average prior to his promotion to Triple-A. Even with those numbers, Flores is the player who stirred the drink more than any other on the Naturals roster. He became the first Naturals hitter to lead the Texas League in hitting since Clint Robinson in 2010. The most consistent member of the lineup, Flores led the team in hits, average and doubles while finishing second on the club in runs scored, stolen bases and OPS. In addition to offensive stats, Flores played all over the field defensively for the squad playing 44 at second base, 40 games at third, 22 at shortstop and 14 more in the outfield to prove the ultimate weapon all over the field.

Pitcher of the Year
Yunior Marte – The Naturals couldn’t find consistent starting pitching for much of the year and were led by relievers for much of the season. No reliever was put to use more often than Marte who finished second on the team in appearances while leading the bullpen with 80.1 innings thrown. Marte also led the bullpen in strikeouts (8.96 SO/9) and WHIP (1.22) while putting up a 2.91 ERA. The righty was able to do this by dominating opposite-side hitters, limiting lefties to a .186/.286/.291 slash line against him while holding his own against same-siders with a .241 BAA. The Dominican born Marte has proven to have a rubber arm in his career with the Royals and may get a look by another team in the Rule 5 draft this offseason.

WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS

The Rocks season was a bit uneven with the team finishing eight under .500 during the first half of the season due to a poor May that saw them go 9-20. The second half saw the club jump out to a lead in the division the with the addition of Blake Perkins before the offense went missing during the middle of August, leading to a 12 game losing streak that cost the club the second half title, finishing five games behind Lynchburg.

Position Player of the Year
Khalil Lee – This one was a difficult call with the usual lack of offense in Wilmington. At different times it seemed like D.J. Burt might get the call, but a rough August drove his numbers down, while an injury may have prevented Emmanuel Rivera from taking the award despite a late charge (.913 OPS in August). Both of those players finished just short of Lee however, as the outfielder played 71 games and led Rocks in qualified OPS by that standard. In his games with the Rocks he did a number of impressive things, but reaching base was the tops as he carried a .402 OBP despite turning 20 just this past June. Lee did this with a .270 average while also earning 41 free passes in his 71 games played. The numbers were relatively balanced for Lee with his .811 OPS balancing with a .804 road OPS, something that can be difficult to do for hitters in the spacious home park. In addition to the OBP, Lee was efficient on the bases, stealing 14 bases in 17 tries while scoring 42 runs and driving in 41. All of this was done while playing primarily in centerfield for Wilmington before his promotion to Double-A.

Pitcher of the Year
Gerson Garabito – Wilmington’s pitcher of the year Garabito led the Carolina League in ERA among starting pitchers while finishing third in innings and fifth in total strikeouts. That 142.1 innings was significantly higher than his previous career high (80.2 in ’16). The right-hander struggled with his walk rate (4.6 BB/9) but he was able to mitigate the damage with just 117 hits given up and finishing well with a 7.3 K/9 rate. These numbers would lead the team’s starters in starts, strikeouts, WHIP, wins, and innings pitched. Most of these numbers were compiled on a strong finish for Garabito which saw him go 6-1 with a 2.24 ERA over his final 14 starts, setting him up for a promotion to Double-A next season.

LEXINGTON LEGENDS

Easily the best team in the Royals farm system this past season was the Low-A Lexington Legends, with the club finishing 16 games over .500. The Legends finished tied for second in the first half of the season before winning the second half, despite starting that half with a six-game losing streak. They did this on the back of the league’s second-best offense while the pitching staff finished in the middle as a whole but looked quite dominant at times with many members of a talented starting staff.

Position Player
Brewer Hicklen – Another difficult call on this one with Seuly Matias hitting 31 home runs in just 94 games alongside MJ Melendez and his 54 extra base hits. Despite those numbers, the most well-balanced player on the offense was outfielder Brewer Hicklen. The former UAB football recruit led the Legends in OPS with his .930 while also leading the team with his 29 stolen bases. He did this despite playing in just 82 games and not getting regular playing time with the team until the start of May. What Hicklen did best this past season was dominate southpaws, hitting .315/.389/.649 with 18 of his 43 extra base hits coming off of them. In all, it was an impressive season showcasing the power and speed tools that Hicklen possesses in his 6’2, 208 lbs frame.

Pitcher of the Year
Carlos Hernandez – The Legends had a number of pitchers who had quality seasons for the club whether it was Andres Sotillet, who earned a promotion to Wilmington, or Yefri Del Rosario and his strong finish to lead their qualified starters in ERA. Just missing the cut was Daniel Lynch who made nine starts while also being limited in innings after his college season. Even with those quality candidates, Hernandez was a step above the qualified group with his team-best WHIP and K/9 while his 3.29 ERA trailed only Del Rosario’s. The powerful right-hander finished with an outstanding flurry in his final six starts, tossing four starts of seven innings with an ERA of 1.41 against a WHIP below 1.00. A family issue slowed Hernandez out of the gate, not getting his first start until early May before an injury stopped his season short in August. In between though, he showed his powerful fastball, improving breaking ball and feel for a change can dominate hitters at times.

Follow more minor league content via Twitter @ClintScoles

Richard Lovelady photo by Minda Haas Kuhlmann.

HR Roll Call: Paulo Orlando (11,12), Samir Duenez (10), Jecksson Flores (7), Alfredo Escalera 2 (4,5), Chase Vallot (14), Nick Pratto (14)

Sunday BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nick Pratto 2-4 R, 2-2b
Monday BPKC Hitter of the Day: Alfredo Escalera 2-4 2HR

Sunday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Josh Dye 5 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 6 K 1-1 GO-FO 72p/50k
Monday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Ofreidy Gomez 7 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 2-8 GO-FO 77p/49k

76-60 2nd Half Champs
Sunday Greenville Drive 7 Lexington Legends 4
Monday Greenville Drive 6 Lexington Legends 4
Avg Brewer Hicklen .307
HR Seuly Matias 31
RBI MJ Melendez 73
Wins Garrett Davila 7
ERA (minimum 50 IP) Holden Capps 2.98
Saves Tad Ratliff 10

The Legends were outslugged over the weekend as they rested their prime pitchers in waiting for their first playoff appearance in 12 years. First baseman Nick Pratto kept his hot hitting going with two hits in each game with a home run on Monday and pair of doubles on Sunday.

Nick Pratto: 4-9 3R, 2-2b, HR, RBI
Cal Jones: 3-8 RBI, CS
Sebastian Rivero: 2-4 2 RBI

68-72 Overall 3rd place
Sunday Game 1 Potomac Nationals 1 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0
Sunday Game 2 Wilmington Blue Rocks 3 Potomac Nationals 2
Monday Potomac Nationals 5 Wilmington Blue Rocks 4
Average Travis Jones .298
HR Gabe Cancel, Kort Peterson 8
RBI Gabe Cancel 73
Wins Gerso Garabito 8
ERA Garabito 3.16
Saves Bryan Brickhouse 14

The Rocks finished off their season losing two of three games, the last one an extra-innings loss to the Nationals. All three starters allowed just one run in each game with Josh Dye earning his first High-A win following the Burlington season with a spot start. Reliever Tyler Zuber blew Monday’s game with three runs allowed in the tenth inning on three hits and a walk.

Josh Dye: 5 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 6 K 3-4 GO-FO 72p/50k
Andres Sotillet: 7 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 4 BB 7 K 6-3 GO-fO 109p/69k
Ofreidy Gomez: 7 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 2-8 GO-FO 77p/49k

70-70
Sunday NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Arkansas Travelers 3 F/10
Monday Arkansas Travelers 8 NW Arkansas Naturals 3
Avg Nicky Lopez .333
HR Alex Liddi 23
RBI Liddi 72
Wins Emilio Ogando 11
ERA Pedro Fernandez 2.81
Saves Jake Newberry 12

The Naturals split their weekend games to finish and even 70-70 for the season. Starter Scott Blewett gave NW Arkansas a quality start on Sunday before Ian Kennedy was roughed up on Monday. The Sunday game featured a Jecksson Flores game-tying home run in the ninth for the infielder who won the Texas League batting title.

Alfredo Escalera: 2-7 2HR, 2 RBI, K
Jecksson Flores: 1-6 HR
Samir Duenez: 2-3 HR

66-74
Sunday New Orleans Baby Cakes 6 Omaha Storm Chasers 4
Monday Omaha Storm Chasers 6 New Orleans Baby Cakes 5 F/10
Avg Humberto Arteaga .292
HR Frank Schwindel 24
RBI Schwindel 93
Wins Jon Dziedzic, Trevor Oaks 8
ERA Richard Lovelady 2.47
Saves Lovelady 9

The Chasers split their final weekend with an extra-inning win and a blown lead on Sunday. First baseman Frank Schwindel connected on five hits in the two games with a pair of doubles. Those doubles were his 37th and 38th of the season which broke Omaha’s franchise record for a season that had stood since 1983. Closer Richard Lovelady completed his ninth save of the season to finish with an ERA of 2.47 on the season.

Jake Kalish 5 IP 8 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K 3-4 GO-FO 85p/55k
Frank Schwindel 5-10 2R, 2-2b, 3 RBI
Nicky Lopez 1-9 2R, RBI, BB, SB

Idaho Falls Chukars 4 Ogden Raptors 2

The Chukars kept pace with first place Grand Junction with a slim win on Monday. Starter Kris Bubic worked five innings with seven strikeouts giving up just a second inning two-run home run as his only blemish. The Chukars quickly answered in their half of the second inning with a Hunter Strong RBI double and a Rubendy Jaquez run scoring single. Royals seventh-round pick Tyler Gray toss four scoreless innings in place of Bubic, working around three walks and earning the win with Offerman Collado’s two-run single in the sixth inning.

Rubendy Jaquez: 2-2 RBI, BB
Kris Bubic: 5 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 4 BB 7 K 3-1 GO-FO 90p/51k
Tyler Gray: 4 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 3 BB 3 K 6-3 GO-FO 72p/42k

Sunday Boxscores
Monday Boxscores

• As the Royals do embark on September callups, quite a few potential additions need to have 40-man roster spots before they can be called up. They did free one on Wednesday with the Duda deal, and it might go to someone like Frank Schwindel, but Jorge Soler coming off the 60-day DL mid-week will require another move, so let’s just say the Duda spot goes to Soler for the purposes of his discussion. Where are they going to find the spots for Schwindel, Josh Staumont (who has to be added anyway to avoid being exposed to the Rule 5), Nicky Lopez, Richard Lovely, Arnaldo Hernandez and anyone else who might be deserving? Well obviously some trades might happen, and maybe they’ve already happened between me writing this and you reading this. So that’ll help. One spot seems easy. According to his Instagram, Eric Stout is out for the season. Put him on the 60-day DL and there’s an easy spot for Schwindel. Bubba Starling is another guy who makes sense as either a DFA or a 60-day spot, but he did just come back for a rehab assignment in Idaho Falls, so maybe he won’t actually get transferred to the longer disabled list. Other than that, it comes down to letting a player go. I’d just cut bait on Jason Hammel, Alcides Escobar and Drew Butera, but I’m not sure the team would at this point. If they decide to add Jecksson Flores, maybe they’d cut bait on Ramon Torres? Andres Machado seems to have taken a step back this season, so he’s another possible guy. I think the real answer here is that there are players not on the 40-man roster who do not have to be added in the offseason to protect them from the Rule 5 who might not get a shot at the big league roster in September. But we’ll see what they decide.
• I think I went about two weeks without praising Adalberto Mondesi in this space, so I’m going to have to make up for some lost time now. I’m certainly not going to put him on the same level as Mike Trout or Robinson Cano as some member of the Kansas City media has done recently (do they drug test because they should), but I will say that he’s showing why everyone loved him before he struggled in the big leagues. For the season, he’s hitting .267/.289/.453. The OBP is very underwhelming, which is a problem to keep an eye out for, but the power is very real with 16 extra base hits and an ISO of .186. But I believe it’s better than that. I think something clicked with him early in his time up this year and since that trip to Milwaukee, he’s played 41 games and is hitting .286/.306/.493 with 15 extra base hits in 146 plate appearances. But it’s not just that. He’s 17 for 21 in steals this year. The metrics indicate he’s playing a fantastic shortstop as well. And something interesting is that he seems to be hunting more strikes and more fastballs. The walks aren’t there yet, but he’s doing damage to the ball a lot more this season. His average home run is traveling 412 feet. He’s going to need to walk more, but even if he doesn’t, if he continues to flash the power, the speed and the defense, he can certainly get by. He won’t be a tier one star or anything without walking more, but if you give me a shortstop who can play that kind of defense, steal 50 plus bases (which is certainly possible and plausible for him) and hit 20 homers with 30 doubles, I’m happy to work around the lack of walks. He needs to stay on the field, but the potential is really starting to shine.
• The Arizona Fall League rosters were announced yesterday, and it’s no surprise that Khalil Lee will be on it from the Royals. He’s definitely the headliner as the team’s best prospect (in my opinion) and because he hasn’t played in a few weeks. It’ll be an opportunity to see him in action and hope he can build on some solid things he had done in a short time at AA. I think he has a shot, if he’s truly healthy, to look really good and turn some heads down there. His power should play up in that atmosphere and maybe he can have an eye opening season like Nicky Lopez last year. Meibrys Viloria is another interesting name as he was added to the 40-man last year when they probably didn’t really need to, but has had a bit of an uneven season offensively this year. The OBP and contact skills are there, but if the power doesn’t develop, he’s likely nothing more than a backup. Lee is the only player on the Surprise Saguaros roster who is younger than Viloria, so it’ll be a nice test for him. And the third big-ish name is Scott Blewett who needs to be added to the 40-man this year to avoid being eligible for the Rule 5. It’s just never really come together for him, so this is his chance to prove his worth to an organization that just drafted a bunch of pitchers who will be competing with Blewett next season in the system. The rest of the roster includes a speedster in Nick Heath and a couple interesting enough relievers in Grant Gavin and Walker Sheller. And hey, with Bo Bichette and Vladito on the roster, I’m guessing they’ll be on MLB Network a fair amount to watch.
• Hunter Dozier has a funny way of seeming like he’s going better than he is. I legitimately thought he was hot the other day until I looked up his numbers over the last few games and saw that he’s hitting just .268/.316/.423 in August, which I guess is a big improvement over his season numbers, but it just seemed like better than that. And this was actually before he went four for seven with two doubles, so his numbers were even lower then. The thing is that his Statcast numbers do make it seem like he should be better. There are obvious perils with looking at average exit velocities, launch angles, etc., but I’m going to do it anyway. He, on average, hits the ball harder than the average big leaguer. He makes hard contact more often than the average big leaguer. He has a really good average launch angle of 13 degrees. And he barrels the ball 10 percent of the time, which is why above league average. He swings and misses at breaking balls way too often (46.4 percent) so that’s causing him issues, but I’m more than okay with him getting two or three months at least next year to hold down third base and let Kelvin Gutierrez continue his development in AAA. If he can figure out a way to be passable against breaking balls, his ability to hit fastballs and off speed stuff (and recognize them) gives me hope. It’s not hope I’d carry if the Royals were expected to be good, but they have time to see if he can figure it out and they absolutely should.

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Cal Jones 2-4 2R, HR, 2 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Yefri Del Rosario 7 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 9 K 4-6 GO-FO 86p/65k

Lexington Legends 7 August GreenJackets 0

The Legends, on the cusp of their first playoff appearance since 2006, used a full team effort got them one step closer on Thursday night. Starter Yefri Del Rosario continued his run of excellent pitching putting together perhaps his best start yet. Twirling seven scoreless innings, Del Rosario set a new career high with nine strikeouts while pounding the zone with 65 strikes on just 86 pitches while working around four hits and a walk. After a pair of scoreless innings, the Lexington offense broke the tie with a Cal Jones home run in the third inning before breaking it open with a six-run fourth frame. Outfielder Kyle Isbel’s two-run double in that fourth inning capped the scoring in the inning and the game. The win combined with a Greenville loss lowered the Legends magic number to just one game.

MJ Melendez: 1-3 R, BB
Nick Pratto: 1-4 R
Kyle Isbel: 1-4 2b, 2 RBI

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5 Lynchburg Hillcats 0

Wilmington’s best starting pitcher, Gerson Garabito, was just that in a must have spot for his club in the finale versus Lynchburg. Going six and one-third innings, the righty worked around four hits and a walk while striking out seven, lowering his ERA to 3.16 while adding on to his career high in innings (142.1). The offense got a pair of runs in the second inning with last night’s hero Vance Vizcaino driving in Emmanuel Rivera and Meibrys Viloria with a single. That score held up until the eighth inning when Rudy Martin plated three with a double to centerfield.

Gerson Garabito: 6.1 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 7 K 5-4 GO-FO 91p/60k
Meibrys Viloria: 2-3 2R, BB
Rudy Martin: 1-5 2b, 3 RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 8 Tulsa Drillers 4

The Naturals offense employed a patient approach to keep their season alive against first-place Tulsa, walking seven times as part of their good night on offense. After giving up three runs in the first three innings, starter Jace Vines settled in to give his club a quality start by working into the seventh inning. Three different Naturals walked twice in the game while they broke open the 3-3 game by scoring five runs between the fourth and fifth innings. Back to back singles by Alex Liddi and Anderson Miller plated three in the fourth before a Mejia groundout and a Duenez single in the fifth pushed the advantage to 8-3. Those eight runs were plenty as the Naturals bullpen of Gabe Speier and Walker Sheller tossed the final two and two-thirds with just a run allowed to secure the win.

Samir Duenez: 2-4 R, RBI, BB
Kelvin Gutierrez: 1-3 R, RBI, 2BB
Jecksson Flores: 0-2 2R, 2BB, SB

Omaha Storm Chasers 11 Colorado Sky Sox 5

After starting pitcher Aaron Brooks got the call to the big league’s prior to the game for Milwaukee, the Sky Sox turned to struggling reliever Tim Dillard to make the spot start. The Chasers took advantage, tagging the sidearm reliever for a run in the first inning and nine more in the second inning to blow open the game 10-0. Chasers starter Jon Dziedzic took advantage tossing four no-hit innings before surrendering his first hit and runs in the fifth. The game was pretty meaningless to the Sky Sox who lead the division going into the night and will decide their season’s fate with a five games series against Tulsa starting tomorrow night.

Jon Dziedzic: 5 IP 2 H 3 R 3 ER 4 BB 3 K 3-8 94p/53k
Frank Schwindel: 1-3 R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB
Nicky Lopez: 3-5 2R

Idaho Falls Chukars 8 Ogden Raptors 6

The Royals 6th round draft selection Zach Haake made his Idaho Falls debut on Thursday, tossing two and two-thirds innings with a hit, a walk and a run allowed while on the hill. Idaho Falls had already given their pitching staff a lead with three runs in the first inning as Nathan Eaton hit his second home run in as many days to plate two runs before a Jose Caraballo double scored Bubba Starling to make it 3-0. The Chukars tacked on single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings after Ogden had pulled with a run to take a 6-3 lead. Reliever Jose Rodriguez struggled in the eighth inning though, giving up two hits, three walks, and two runs before Andrew Edwards, back on a rehab stint, tossed a wild pitch to even the game. The Chukars despite giving up the lead had the answer the very next inning as a pair of doubles from Nathan Eaton and Brady Cox broke the tie before Hunter Strong’s single tacked on an insurance run. Edwards would close out the game with a perfect ninth to keep the Chukars playoff hopes alive.

Zach Haake: 2.2 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 K 3-1 GO-FO 46p/27k
Nathan Eaton: 2-5 2R, HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Hunter Strong: 2-4 2R, BB, RBI

Thursday Boxscores

Start with those currently on the 40-man roster. A last-place team can always use a few extra arms and Jason Adam, Glenn Sparkman, Scott Barlow, Trevor Oaks and Eric Stout (though he is on the disabled list) have all logged big league time this summer. All have had varying degrees of success at both levels, but being on the 40-man gives them an edge over someone like Richard Lovelady. Lovelady doesn’t even need to be placed on the 40-man for another year. He’s not Rule 5 eligible until after the 2019 season.

The same thing is happening over on the position player side of the roster. Someone like Nicky Lopez, who is having a fine season split between Double and Triple-A, certainly is making a case for a call-up. Yet he’s not on the 40-man and, like Lovelady, isn’t Rule 5 eligible for another year. Someone who is eligible for the Rule 5 is Frank Schwindel. He was eligible last year, but went undrafted. But all that means is that the Royals will need to find a spot for him on the 40-man in late November.

We will see an exodus from the disabled list. Jorge Soler has reported to Omaha for a rehab assignment. He has been the designated hitter for back to back nights for the Storm Chasers, the role he will fill once he returns to Kansas City. Plus, he’s on the 60-day DL, so someone currently on the roster will have to be moved to get Soler back to active status. Ian Kennedy is likely to make a rehab start this week. He’ll get a few major league innings once he’s ready, but won’t cost anyone their spot on the 40-man. 

The point is, these roster decisions aren’t easy or straightforward, even when the calendar turns to September. It’s not as simple as the Royals releasing guys like Alcides Escobar or Jason Hammel. You may disagree, but stuff like that just isn’t done. You don’t want to be that team that just releases veterans because the rosters are expanding and you want to look at some kids. The time to release guys like Escobar and Hammel, if that’s the road you decide to take, is in July or August. Not now. Appearances matter. The Royals will create 40-man roster space this winter through the sundry offseason moves, but for the moment, the roster is full and the Royals don’t have a lot of room to maneuver.

One way the Royals could find an opening would be if they dealt Lucas Duda. Duda has been a league-average bat overall, but he’s really destroyed right-handed pitching this year. In 239 plate appearances against righties, Duda is hitting .267/.335/.479 with 11 of his 13 home runs. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Duda has cleared waivers, freeing the Royals to deal him to any team interested.

There must not be much of a market at the moment and it takes two to trade. The Royals haven’t been shy about trading their assets this year, and while Duda isn’t as sexy as a Mike Moustakas, he still would provide some value as a platoon bat down the stretch. You have to assume the Royals are actively shopping him at this point. He’s making a base of $3.5 million and has earned $200,000 in plate appearance bonuses so far. (He will cash in another $100k with another nine plate appearances.) If he’s traded, I would assume the new team would be responsible for the pro-rated portion of his base salary (around $550,000 for the season’s final month) and any new plate appearance incentives he reaches. That’s not going to get you any kind of interesting prospect, but still, the Royals need to move him to maybe free up a roster spot for one of those potential September call-ups.

The youngsters and the newcomers need to play, and for the most part, they will. But roster decisions made in January can have an impact in September. The Royals will need to get creative to optimize playing time for their future. The kids are coming. It just may not be happening as quickly as everyone would like.

BPKC Hitter of the Day: MJ Melendez 2-4 2 HR, 2 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Stephen Greenlees 3.2 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K 0-4 GO-FO 50p/34k

Augusta GreenJackets 5 Lexington Legends 4

Lexington starter Jackson Kowar wasn’t quite as sharp as he had been in his previous two starts as the right-hander gave up a run in his two and one-third innings of work. The righty, after working a perfect first inning, gave up a hit and a walk in the second before getting out of the jam. In his final inning of work, Kowar struckout the first hitter allowed a single and walked a hitter before being lifted for Garrett Davila who allowed one of the runners around to score. After a couple of scoreless innings, Davila ran into trouble in the sixth inning with a single and a walk sandwiched around a couple of outs. Manager Scott Thorman elected to go to the bullpen with Robert Garcia but the power lefty struggled with his control, walking a pair of batters and uncorking a wild pitch and a wild throw that allowed two runs to come in to tie the game. After a third walk, another wild pitch gave Augusta the lead. Outfielder Brewer Hicklen connected on a solo home run the very next inning to tie the game. It was Lexington’s third home run of the night having already received the 18th and 19th home runs of the season from MJ Melendez earlier in the game. Tied 4-4, the Legends ran into some misfortune as a Nick Pratto throw to second in an attempt to double off a runner would bounce off the back of Heliot Ramos, allowing him to get to third base. One hitter later a sacrifice fly would give Augusta the lead. That lead held up until the ninth where Kyle Isbel would make a play for the fourth home run of the game for Lexington but his fly and the Legends comeback bid would die at the wall to end the game.

Brewer Hicklen: 3-4 HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Nick Pratto: 1-3 R, BB, 2K, SB (21)
Jackson Kowar: 2.1 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 3 K 3-1 GO-FO 51p/30k

Lynchburg Hillcats 10 Wilmington Blue Rocks 7

The Wilmington bullpen couldn’t hold a two-run lead and may have put the team’s season on the brink with their loss on Tuesday. After starter Andres Sotillet’s struggles continued with five runs allowed in the first two innings the Rocks offense countered with seven runs of their own including a pair of two-run home runs by Emmanuel Rivera and D.J. Burt. Despite that 7-5 lead reliever Corey Ray and Anthony Bender struggled in the seventh innings, giving up a solo home run, two walks, and three consecutive singles during the four run inning. That lead would be enough with Wilmington’s offense getting stymied over the last four innings in the loss. The loss put Wilmington five games back with just seven games to play.

Emmanuel Rivera: 3-5 HR, 2 RBI, CS
D.J. Burt: 1-4 HR, 2 RBI, BB, SB (31)
Meibrys Viloria: 1-4 2R, BB

Tulsa Drillers 6 NW Arkansas Naturals 5

The Naturals Scott Blewett struggled early with three runs allowed in the first inning before settling in for an eight-inning start. The big righty would give up two more runs in that time but each time the offense would have the answer, scoring single runs in the first three innings and a pair in the seventh to tie things back up. Tied 5-5 in the ninth, reliever Franco Terrero failed to get an out, giving up a pair of singles before committing a throwing error on a safety squeeze which allowed Tulsa to walk the game off for the win. The loss pushed the Naturals season one step closer to ending, now 4.5 games back of the Drillers for first place with seven games to play.

Erick Mejia: 1-4 2R, 2b, BB, SB (34)
Samir Duenez: 1-3 RBI, BB
Jecksson Flores: 1-2 R, RBI, BB, SB (26)

Colorado Springs Sky Sox 4 Omaha Storm Chasers 3

Reliever Richard Lovelady blew his third save of the season after allowing two runs in the seventh inning in the first game of the series with Colorado Springs. The two runs put Omaha down 4-3 after Frank Schwindel and Donnie Dewees had hit a pair of home runs to give the Chasers the lead. Down 4-3 in the ninth Omaha would move the tying run 90 feet away but Jorge Soler struckout to end the game and eliminate the Chasers from the playoff race.

Nicky Lopez: 0-3 BB
Frank Schwindel: 2-4 HR
Donnie Dewees: 2-4 HR, 2 RBI

Bluefield Blue Jays 5 Burlington Royals 4

The Royals starter Malcolm Van Buren’s struggles continued on Tuesday night. After working three shutout innings that featured six strikeouts, his control wavered in the fourth. A pair of walks sandwiched around a double and a single ended his day with one out in the inning and eventually four runs to his line. Those runs and another in the sixth inning off reliever Jose DeLeon put Burlington behind 5-0. A three-run rally in the sixth inning that featured RBI hits by Eric Cole and Brhet Bewley and another run in the seventh got the Royals within a run but they were unable to get the last run in the loss.

Eric Cole: 1-4 R, RBI
Brhet Bewley: 2-3 RBI, SB (7)
Isaiah Henry: 1-4 R 3K

Grand Junction Rockies 5 Idaho Falls Chukars 3

Playing for a chance to take the wildcard lead in Pioneer League playoffs, the Chukars didn’t get a good start from Kris Bubic. The Stanford lefty worked just three innings, walking five hitters and hitting another in that time while also giving up three hits to allow four runs in that time. Those runs countered Chase Vallot’s two-run home run in the second inning. The Chukars scored in the fourth frame to pull within a run but could get no closer in the loss.

Chase Vallot: 1-3 2R, HR, 2 RBI
Jose Caraballo: 1-3 BB
Kris Bubic: 3 IP 3 H 4 R 4 ER 5 BB 3 K 2-3 GO-FO 72p/41k

Tuesday Boxscores

In no particular order, here are 10 good things that have happened to the Royals in 2018:

1. The one-year contracts worked just like they should (mostly). Jon Jay and Mike Moustakas were signed in the early spring for two reasons: provide some reasonably good baseball ability, then get traded for prospects. They held up their end of the bargain (Moose’s WARP as a Royal this year: 2.6, Jay’s: 1.0), and the Royals acquired Elvis Luciano and Gabe Speier for Jay and Jorge Lopez and Brett Phillips for Moustakas. The latter two are in the majors already (and Phillips, thanks to his defense, appears to be at least a useful piece—if he hits, he could be very good). The former two are lottery tickets, probably, but that’s OK since it was highly unlikely Kansas City would receive a top prospect for four months of Jon Jay. For purposes of this point, we’ll ignore that other one-year contracts for Alcides Escobar and Lucas Duda are still on the books. Hey, there’s still a few days to trade those guys!

2. Speaking of trades, the Royals seemed to deal Kelvin Herrera at just the right time. And they got Kelvin Gutierrez, Blake Perkins, and Yohanse Morel for him. Herrera went on the disabled list after posting a 4.50 ERA for the Nationals, just returned to the active roster, and got hurt again Sunday. Meanwhile, Gutierrez has hit .281/.338/.419 for Northwest Arkansas and could be manning third base in Kansas City in the near future. Perkins has a .243/.369/.311 line in Wilmington, but more exciting is that he is, by accounts I’ve seen, playing good defense in center field and is also walking a lot: 46 BBs in 250 plate appearances. And Morel? Well…he’s got an interesting name. He’s also pitched 11 games at the Rookie ball level, so who knows?

3. The Royals didn’t just make trades to supplement the future. They also traded with Cincinnati to get Rule 5 selection Brad Keller and went to the waiver wire to add Rosell Herrera. Keller is just 22 and has shown some promise as a starter (3.69 ERA in 15 starts, covering 83 innings). I don’t think he’s a future ace, but he seems to have a role somewhere on a big league staff. Herrera had a decent start to his Royals career but has slumped recently. Still, he has speed and could be a useful utility player/depth piece. That’s OK, because this year should be all about finding talent in unexpected places and then seeing if it can play in the majors.

4. Whit Merrifield has proven his 2017 season was no fluke, hitting .307/.374/.441 so far this season. That’s nice because it’s always good to have at least one player worth watching in the present, and because he could be a very nice trade chip this winter, should the Royals choose to go that direction. I would hate to see him go, but he turns 30 next January, meaning he is unlikely to be this good when the Royals are ready to contend (even the best-case scenario probably puts this in 2021). And he’s still not arbitration-eligible, meaning he is a good, cheap player. His age means he won’t fetch a top-notch prospect probably, but he could still bring back some valuable younger talent.

5. Adalberto Mondesi looks like a pretty good player. Yes, the four(!) walks in 160 plate appearances is a concern, but the four home runs and 17 stolen bases (with three caught stealing), along with the flashy defense, look promising. The Royals could and should be playing him more often, but the early returns are good.

6. The Royals had lots of draft picks this year: four in the first round, six in the top 100, nine in the top 200. That’s a good way to revitalize a farm system in a hurry. And they are almost certainly going to have the first or second overall pick next year. A couple of this year’s early picks, pitcher Daniel Lynch and center fielder Kyle Isbel, are off to good starts, too—Lynch is 5-0 with a 1.46 ERA at Class A Lexington, and Isbel has a 1.063 OPS for Idaho Falls at the Rookie level. The emphasis the Royals placed on college players in this draft means we should be seeing some of these guys in the majors in two or three years.

Um, let’s see…wow, I just had to decide to find 10 good things, not six, didn’t I? Hmm…ok, here’s one.

7. Players already in the system have had some breakout years. Seuly Matias belted 31 homers for Lexington before suffering a season-ending finger injury over the weekend; he’s still only 19 (he turns 20 on September 4). Khalil Lee got everyone’s attention with an .808 OPS at pitcher-friendly Wilmington in High-A ball. He struggled a bit after a promotion to Northwest Arkansas but had an .842 OPS in the last couple of weeks before he went on the disabled list on August 3. MJ Melendez (.807 OPS at Lexington, and he’s also 19) and Nicky Lopez (.819 OPS at Omaha) have also had nice years. One season after being demoted from Omaha to Northwest Arkansas, Ryan O’Hearn made it to the majors and has already launched six home runs in 69 plate appearances. And his co-first baseman at Omaha, Frank Schwndel, has hit .285/.337/.507 this year. He should be in the big leagues soon.

Uhhh…

8. No one died in the Great Kauffman Stadium Flood of 2018.

9. The Royals got one year closer to having massive contracts for Alex Gordon and Ian Kennedy off the books. Gordon only has one more year on his deal, which is worth $20 million annually (plus a mutual option, which at this point I would hope would not even be a consideration for the front office). Kennedy now has two years left at $16.5 million per year. And hey, Gordon has actually been not terrible this year. Not good, mind you (.239/.320/.349), but not as bad as he was in 2017.

And finally…

10. They probably won’t have a worse record than the 1962 Mets, the standard for futility in the modern era with a 40-120 record. Just three more wins to insure they don’t reach 120 losses. I feel fairly confident they can do it.

Phew! Made it!

Please understand, none of this excuses the results this season. I do believe this team has underachieved. Not that they should have been contenders, but they shouldn’t be losing 115 games, either. I think most people and projection systems had them between 90-100 losses, meaning this is on pace to be a 15-20 game underachievement. On the whole, this year is unacceptable. But just because it’s unacceptable doesn’t mean everything is awful.

Saturday BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nathan Eaton 4-5 R, 2b, 3b
Sunday BPKC Hitter of the Day Rudy Martin 3-5 2R, 2b, HR, 3 RBI

Saturday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Josh Dye 5 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K 5-3 GO-OF 71p/51k
Sunday BPKC Pitcher of the Day Josh Staumont 2.2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 1-1 GO-FO 35p/27k

Saturday Lexington Legends 2 Hagerstown Suns 1
Sunday Hagerstown Suns 10 Lexington Legends 5

Despite a split over the weekend, the Legends find themselves three games up in the loss column with eight to play to win the second half division title. Saturday’s game featured a pair of good starting outputs as Yefri Del Rosario kept his run of good starts (1.98 ERA last 9 starts) with six innings of one-run pitching. For six innings Del Rosario was outdone though as Hagerstown starter Andrew Lee no-hit the Legends until the seventh. In that seventh inning, a leadoff walk by MJ Melendez started the inning before Nick Pratto’s blast to the left of centerfield gave Lexington a 2-1 lead with their first hit of the game. The bullpen shut things down and Lexington earned the win despite just three hits in the game. Sunday’s affair didn’t feature as much pitching with Lexington starter Charlie Neuweiler giving up seven runs in just three and one-third innings including a pair of home runs. The Legend scored five runs off the Sun’s starter in just three-plus innings but it wasn’t enough as the bullpen kept them off the board the rest of the way.

Nick Pratto: 2-6 HR, 3b, BB, 3K
MJ Melendez: 2-7 2R, HR, 2b, 2BB, 2 RBI
Janser Lara: 2 Ip 0 H 0 R 1 BB 2 K 3-0 25p/16k

Saturday Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Salem Red Sox 2
Sunday Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Salem Red Sox 3

A sweep of Salem over the weekend ended Wilmington’s abysmal 12 game losing streak that likely cost them a shot at the division title. The offense scored eight runs in all three games with an 11 hit output on Saturday making a winner of Gerson Garabito despite five innings in which he walked three and struckout just one. The righty did limit the damage to just one run while Gabe Cancel and Travis Jones paced the offense with two hits and two runs scored each. Sunday’s game saw Dan Tillo get his first victory since June 17th as the lefty worked into the seventh inning with five strikeouts while navigating seven hits with two runs allowed. Outfielder Rudy Martin did much of the offensive damage, finishing a triple short of the cycle while accounting for four of the Wilmington’s eight runs. Leadoff man Blake Perkins pitched in a four-hit effort as well. The Rocks trail Lynchburg by five games with nine left to play although their next four comes against the first place squad.

Rudy Martin: 5-10 3R, 2b, 3b, HR, 5 RBI, 3K
Emmanuel Rivera: 4-9 R, 2-2b, SB
Dan Tillo: 6.2 IP 7 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 5 K 9-2 GO-FO 89p/59k

Saturday NW Arkansas Naturals 3 Arkansas Travelers 1
Sunday NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Arkansas Travelers 3 F/10

A weekend sweep kept the Naturals season alive for now. Both games featured quality starting pitching as Jace Vines gave the Naturals five innings with just a run allowed on Saturday before Emilio Ogando toss his fifth consecutive quality start on Sunday. A throwing error in the third inning on Saturday put a pair of runners in scoring position and first baseman Samir Duenez made the Arkansas pay with a two-run single. A wild pitch gave them insurance in the sixth and the bullpen did some lifting with four scoreless innings. Sunday’s game saw Ogando’s streak of 31 innings scoreless pitching end in the first inning when a passed ball allowed an unearned run. Two innings later the lefty gave up an earned run as he completed six innings of two-run ball with just three hits allowed. Trailing 2-0 into the seventh the Naturals got a run with an Anderson Miller rbi double before scoring two more in the eighth on Jecksson Flores RBI single and Samir Duenez’s sacrifice fly. The Travelers answered that with a run in the ninth off Franco Terrero to send the game into extra innings. In extras, Erick Mejia doubled in the free runner for the Naturals and Grant Gavin secured the win with a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a groundout. The win pulled the Naturals even with Arkansas for second place with an opportunity to overtake them on Monday before a five-game series with first place Tulsa.

Samir Duenez: 2-7 R, 3 RBI, BB
Jecksson Flores: 3-9 R, 2b, RBI
Emilio Ogando: 6 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-4 GO-FO 74p/45k

Saturday Omaha Storm Chasers 3 Iowa Cubs 2
Sunday Omaha Storm Chasers 7 Iowa Cubs 2

The Chasers used home runs to take the weekend games over Iowa. Shortstop Nicky Lopez hit his third home run in six games as part of a three-run sixth inning. That made a winner out of Jon Dziedzic as the lefty didn’t give up a hit until one out in the sixth inning. Reliever Richard Lovelady finished things up with two and one-third innings with just one hit allowed to secure the save. With Glenn Sparkman back from Kansas City on Sunday, the Chasers bats showed they could hit like major leaguers as Paulo Orlando connected on a three-run home run to go with Frank Schwindel’s 23rd home run of the season. Six of the seven runs came late which made a winner out of Josh Staumont who tossed two and two-thirds innings of perfect ball with five strikeouts.

Richard Lovelady: 2.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K
Frank Schwindel: 2-7 HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Glenn Sparkman: 5.1 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 5 K 9-1 GO-FO 78p/57k

Saturday Burlington Royals 11 Kingsport Mets 2
Sunday Burlington Royals 9 Kingsport Mets 5

A very offensive weekend for the Royals as they piled up 20 runs on 26 hits against the Mets rookie squad. Starter Josh Dye earned the win for his one run (0 ER) five-inning effort that featured five strikeouts while lefty Marcelo Martinez earned Sunday’s win with a quality start over six frames. Saturday’s game featured a seven run sixth frame that included a Michael Emodi three-run home run to blow things open. Looking for the weekend sweep the top five hitters in the lineup each had multi-hit games on Sunday to pace the way for a win.

Jose Marquez: 3-9 3R, 3b, 3 RBI
Eric Cole: 4-10 R, 3 RBI
Isaiah Henry: 3-4 2R, 2 RBI

Saturday Grand Junction Rockies 9 Idaho Falls Chukars 5
Sunday Idaho Falls Chukars 3 Grand Junction Rockies 1

The Chukars defense let down start Jon Heasley Saturday as four defensive miscues led to five unearned runs in just four and two-thirds innings despite just four hits allowed. The offense missed plenty of opportunities, going just 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position in the loss. Sunday’s starter Rito Lugo gave the Chukars his third consecutive outstanding start with six innings with just a run allowed while striking out eight. The lefty has now put away 24 hitters via strikeout in his 18 innings of work in the Pioneer League. The Chukars scored a pair in the fifth on a balk and a Julio Gonzalez double before adding an insurance run in the eighth via a groundout by Kyle Kasser that scored Jesus Atencio after his leadoff double.

Nathan Eaton: 6-9 R, 2-2b, 3b, K
Rito Lugo: 6 IP 6 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 8 K HR 4-3 GO-FO 86p/60k
Jon Heasley: 4.2 IP 4 H 7 R 2 ER 2 BB 4 K 8-5 GO-FO 84p/55k

Friday Boxscores
Saturday Boxscores