BPKC Hitter of the Day Isaiah Henry 2-4 2R, 3b, RBI, BB, K

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Nolan Watson 6 IP 3 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 4 K 3-6 GO-FO 72p/49k

Gm1 Lakewood BlueClaws 3 Lexington Legends 2 F/10
Gm2 Lakewood BlueClaws 1 Lexington Legends 0 F/8

The Legends offense struggled in their two-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies Low-A club on Saturday night. With just eight combined hits in 18 innings of action the Legends normally potent offense managed just two runs in the two games with Nick Pratto connecting on his ninth home run in the first game and Cal Jones driving in the other run, both in the fourth inning of game one. With a lack of offense, Charlie Neuweiler took a no-decision despite setting a career high with nine strikeouts, allowing two runs in six innings with two runs allowed on four hits and a pair of walks. The Legends took a loss in the first game when their offense failed to score the free runner in the eighth and ninth innings, taking the loss in the ninth when Lakeland scored on a sac fly. During game two 1st round pick Jackson Kowar was more effective than he had been previously, working three and two-thirds innings without a run allowed. The right-hander worked primarily with his four-seam fastball that was registering 95-98 mph on the scoreboard (typically hot 1-2 mph) while mixing in approximately 10 other secondary offerings on his 67 pitches. The former Gators pitcher walked three hitters while striking out three against one hit allowed. Like the first game, this one went to extras where the Legends failed to score in the eighth and Lakewood walked it off with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Charlie Neuweiler 6 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 2 BB 9 K 3-2 GO-FO 87p/56k
Jackson Kowar 3.2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 3 BB 3 K  4-1 GO-FO 67p/39k
Nick Pratto 3-7 HR, RBI, K, CS

Gm 1 Frederick Keys 2 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1
Gm 2 Wilmington Blue Rocks 4 Frederick Keys 2

The Rocks Dan Tillo has struggled with his control recently, walking four or more five times since June 12th including six walks last start. With that trouble, Tillo quickened his pace and went more on the attack this time out instead of nibbling. With that, the lefty was able to toss six innings with just a run allowed on seven hits and a pair of walks. Despite Tillo’s work, Wilmington was tied through seven innings as the only run provided by the offense was via a D.J. Burt rbi single. The game went to extras where a double off Anthony Bender scored the free runner before the Rocks went scoreless to drop the game. Game two was a little different for Wilmington as the offense was a tad more lively with nine hits and four runs with four different Rocks driving in runs. Starter Nolan Watson gave his squad his fourth quality start in five tries with just an unearned run allowed in six innings. The right-hander gave up just a first-inning single before a pair of singles sandwiched around a wild pitch and a passed ball helped score an unearned run in the sixth for his only run allowed. Reliever Julio Pinto gave up a run in the ninth before getting the final out to secure the win. The Rocks have a three-game lead in the division at the end of play on Saturday.

Dan Tillo 6 IP 7 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 5 K 5-3 GO-FO 101p/63k
Brewer Hicklen 2-5 R, 2-2b, BB, SB
D.J. Burt 2-7 2 RBI, 3K

Saturday NW Arkansas Naturals 1 Springfield Cardinals 0

The Naturals won a pitching duel on Saturday behind a resurgent Foster Griffin. After carrying a near eight-run earned run average during May and June Griffin has found himself his last four starts out including this one. Matching Springfield starter Evan Kruczynski with scoreless inning the lefty was doing what he did last year, mixing and matching while creating groundball outs. Striking out six hitters with 61 strikes on 93 pitches the lefty worked around seven hits and a pair of walks over seven shutout innings. Scoreless into the Naturals put the only run on the board with a two-out triple by Jecksson Flores prior to a rbi single by Samir Duenez. That proved to be the winning run with Griffin and reliever Pedro Fernandez shutting out the Cardinals offense.

Samir Duenez 1-3 RBI
Jecksson Flores 2-4 R, 3b, SB (19)
Pedro Fernandez 2 IP 0 H 0 R 1 BB 2 K 1-1 GO-FO 23p/12k

Salt Lake Bees 4 Omaha Storm Chasers 3

The Chasers struggled to score runners in scoring position, going 1 for 7 on Saturday night in a narrow loss. The Angels Triple-A squad didn’t do much better (2 for 7) but got some help with a Sam Selman wild pitch scoring a run in the eighth which ended up making the difference in the game. After pulling within a run and placing the tying run at third base with one out, Donnie Dewees grounded into a double play to end the rally and ultimately hand the Chasers a defeat after a 1-2-3 ninth.

Nicky Lopez 0-4 R, BB, 2K, CS
Frank Schwindel 2-4 R, 2b
Zach Lovvorn 6 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 3 BB 4 K 2-2 GO-FO 53p/33k

Idaho Falls Chukars 4 Grand Junction Rockies 3

Despite being limited to just four hits the Chukars were able to give J.C. Cloney his ninth win of the season thanks to a couple of errors by Grand Junction. The Pioneer League’s best pitcher lowered his ERA to 1.93 with six scoreless innings while scattering five hits and a walk over six innings. Idaho Falls scored a run in the first after a single by Tyler James, an errant pickoff moved him to second and a pair of groundouts brought him around. That score remained until the sixth when an error and a pair of wild pitches helped tack on an additional two runs following a triple and a rbi single by Kyle Kasser. Infielder Nathan Eaton walked, stole second and moved to third on an errant throw by the pitcher before scoring on a wild pitch. Reliever Stephen Greenlees struggled in the in the seventh, allowing three runs on three hits and walk before Jose Ramirez bailed him out and tossed the final two innings scoreless to secure the save.

J.C. Cloney 6 Ip 5 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K 5-4 GO-FO 86p/58k
Tyler James 1-3 R
Andres Martin 2-3 R, 3b

Saturday Boxscores

In this article, we’ll review rounds 11-20 and will look at rounds 21-40 a little later today.

Quick Analysis
Best Pick: Nick Pratto
Favorite Pick: Michael Gigliotti
Most Physical Position Pick: Brewer Hicklen
Biggest Upside: M.J. Melendez
Might Surprise Top 10 Rd: Tyler Zuber
Might Surprise Rd 11-40: Bryar Johnson

Check out previous Royals draft pieces:

Rounds 1-4
Rounds 5-10
Interview with Lonnie Goldberg

11. Sal Biasi RHP 6′ 190 lbs Penn St. 9/30/95 Signed $125k 

In Biasi, the Royals are getting a stocky right-handed college starter who works his fastball in the low 90s while topping out at 95 mph. A durable and dependent starter at pitcher at Penn State, Biasi took the hill for 27 starts the last two years with consistency and an ability to keep the ball low in the zone. This attribute helped him limit the home runs he allowed while striking out more than a hitter per inning the last two seasons.

Biasi has a body similar to that of Jake Junis, so perhaps the Royals believe they can refine his three-pitch mix to help him become a back end starting pitcher. If  he’s unable to make that step, then Biasi’s fastball and curveball combination could play up in the pen.

Analysis – An innings eater body who you hope can refine the changeup to become an impact pitcher.

12. Collin Snider RHP 6’4 200lbs Vanderbilt University 10/10/95 Signed $125k

Inconsistency has been the name of Snider’s game in college during the Vanderbilt season and in summer league seasons. After two solid seasons from the Vanderbilt bullpen, Snider struggled this past season after an up and down summer in the Cape Cod League. Hopes of refining and tightening the slider along with the changeup could help him in the bullpen or even as a starter in the minor leagues.

d1baseball.com – Snider is high-waisted with a very strong lower half and long limbs, and his arm action looked very free and easy on Saturday. He generated good plane on his consistent 91-93 mph fastball and he showed easy life through the zone. He varies his breaking ball from a truer 82-84 mph short, above average two plane slider to a shorter 10-4 curveball at 80-81 mph. Snider also sprinkled in a big league average 85-86 mph changeup, a pitch he retained his arm speed and slot with consistently. He pounded away at the lower part of the zone in this one for most of the summer, throwing all three pitches for strikes.

Analysis – He looks like organizational depth with a lottery ticket as a bullpen piece.

13. Cason Sherrod RHP 6’4 215 lbs Texas A&M 6/25/96

Sherrod is a hard thrower who can run his fastball as high as 98 mph while working mostly in the mid 90s from his physical 6’4 215 lbs frame. The right-handed reliever is hearing impaired which lagged his on field development when he was younger, but it has shown no signs of holding him back in college. The control has wavered this season, walking 24 hitters in just 43 innings this season for the College World Series participant Aggies.

The arm action is long which likely leads to the difficulty in repeating the delivery. To go with his fastball that features armside run, Sherrod tosses a hard breaking curveball in the high 70s to low 80s that can be above average at times.

Analysis - You can’t go wrong adding a hard thrower. Clean up the delivery and the Royals could have a nice bullpen piece here.

14. Isaiah Henry CF 6’3 185 lbs North Shore H.S. Houston, TX 3/22/99

Henry has extreme athleticism with a short stroke but impactful bat speed that could present a solid gap to gap power if he can develop more strength and bat control down the road. Considering the bat speed, the arm strength at 95 mph off the mound, and the running speed, Henry has more than a few tools from which to build on in a development program.

Perfect Game – He is also a 70-grade runner with a long and angular build and plenty of bat speed and leverage in his right-handed swing to drive the ball into the gaps. Henry has also been a football standout at a football oriented high school, so his relative lack of repetitions and experience both as a hitter and on the mound is understandable. 

Analysis - Getting Henry away from Alvin Community College shouldn’t be that difficult, and this type of athlete isn’t falling off trees. Big time upside here in the 14th Round by the Royals.

15. Robert Garcia LHP 6’3 220 lbs UC Davis 6/14/96

Garica is a lefty who throws his fastball in the 88-92 mph range and as high as 94 mph from the left side. In addition to the fastball, he mixes in a low-80s slider and a changeup that also registers in the low 80s.

After a strong season in ’16, Garcia’s numbers backed up despite a decent Cape Cod season the summer prior.

Analysis – A good frame that needs a secondary pitch to come forward.

16. Chris Hudgins C 6’1 190 lbs Cal State Fullerton 3/2/96

Teams always need quality catching depth, and that’s what Hudgins offers as a decent catch and throw backstop. The catcher features some decent power but hasn’t been able to get to it much in his career at Cal State.

Analysis – He’s an organizational catcher.

17. Julio Gonzalez SS 5’10 185 lbs Florida Gulf Coast 6/14/95 Signed $125k

After a couple seasons at Seminole State JUCO, Gonzalez got the bump to FGCU. Coach Tollet knew he was getting a solid defender at shortstop from the alma mater of Manny Machado’s high school, but likely got more than he bargained for at the plate.

A patient hitter with as many walks as strikeouts, Gonzalez shows off a gap to gap approach at the top of the order that allowed him to put up a nearly identical line in his first year of Division I ball despite the jump in competition.

Analysis – Adding a solid middle of the infield defender with a patient plate approach is a smart move for any organization.

18. Marlin Willis LHP 6’4 195 lbs McEachern HS Powder Springs, GA 6/5/98

A high school left-hander with a commitment to Georgia State, Willis features a tantalizing frame for a future starter and relatively clean mechanics. He features a fastball that currently works in the high 80s while topping out at 91 mph, and the lefty also works a curveball that needs refinement. The length of delivery, ability to repeat his mechanics and athleticism gives a team something to dream on here.

Analysis – If they’re able to sign him, then this is a nice developmental piece to add.

19. Korry Howell SS 6’2 175 lbs Kirkwood Community College 9/1/98

A 6.5 runner in the 60, Howell showed off his great speed at the JUCO ranks this season, setting a Kirkwood record with 43 stolen bases. Not just a speedster, Howell paced his team with a .394 average while also ranking second in home runs on the club with six this season out of the leadoff spot.

Perfect Game – Howell is a very athletic shortstop at present; though some feel that his likely future home is center field. He’s a plus runner with the instincts to be a base-stealing threat at the next level; along with some raw bat speed and projectable power potential. 

Analysis – Strong all-around tools to provide an impact in the middle of the diamond. Solid get with projection in this round.

20. Bryar Johnson RHP 6’3 200 lbs Carolina Forest HS Myrtle Beach, SC 8/17/99 Signed $125

This right-handed pitcher with a physical body features a fastball that he currently pumps into the high 80s to just into the low 90s while topping out at 91 mph at present from a high 3/4 delivery. Alongside the fastball, Johnson features a tight breaking curveball that he tosses in the high 70s. The righty is able to manipulate the breaking ball and turn it into a slurve offering featuring tight movement or making it a larger curve version with 12-6 movement.

It sounds like adding him to the organization is a real possibility, which could be a plus considering the age as he’s not yet 18. His ability to manipulate spin and short quick movement with arm speed makes him intriguing.

Analysis – Despite the round, I believe this is an upside play with a real chance to develop considering the acumen for spin next to the quick arm. If he gets a tick up in velocity the Royals could really have something here.