HR Roll Call Dusty Coleman (2)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Dusty Coleman 2-2 HR, 2 RBI, BB

BP KC Pitcher of the Day –  Peter Moylan 1 IP 0 H 1 BB 1 K

Omaha Storm Chasers 8 Memphis Redbirds 4

Veteran lefty John Lannan did what he usually does – give up a number of hits due to his less than inspiring stuff while navigating through a lineup. On this day he was able to get away with it as Memphis was unable to connect on anything but singles while also being unable to bunch them together in his six innings of work. Of the three runs allowed by Lannan, two came via his own mistake when he uncorked a wild pitch in the 3rd and another that drew dirt via a passed ball in the 4th, scoring baserunners from 3rd both times. Lannan was rewarded by the Chasers offense with eight runs; included in that a five-run 2nd inning, all coming with two outs. Shortstop Dusty Coleman got the inning started with a two run home run prior to a string of five hits that featured a Hunter Dozier RBI double. Only Balbino Fuenmayor went hitless in the lineup, missing a chance at his first home run of the year when the wind blowing to the south knocked it down at the wall.

Boxscore Link

Jorge Bonifacio 2-4 2 R, 1 BB
Jose Martinez 2-5 R, 2b, 2 RBI
Hunter Dozier 1-4 2b, RBI

Frederick Keys 7 Wilmington Blue Rocks 2

The Rocks tied a game after trailing for 7 innings only to watch Frederick score five unanswered runs in the bottom half of the inning and cruise to a win. The Rocks put up just six hits on the night while going 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Up to that point in the 7th inning, Wilmington had gone scoreless in 15 consecutive innings in the series. The loss for the Rocks was their fifth in a row to the Keys after taking two of three versus them in mid-April.

Boxscore Link

Ashton Goudeau 4 IP 5 H 4 ER 1 BB 6 K
Robert Pehl 1-3 2b, RBI
Alfredo Escalera 1-3 BB

HR Roll Call – Cheslor Cuthbert (5), Jose Martinez (2), Brett Eibner (2)

BP Kansas City Hitter of the Day – Brett Eibner: 3-6, 2B, HR

BP Kansas City Pitcher of the Day – Colin Rodgers: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

  Oklahoma City Dodgers 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 3 (12 innings)

Despite loading the bases with one out in the 12th inning, the Chasers were unable to come back a second time, as a nice play robbed Whit Merrifield of what could’ve been a game-tying single to end the game. Six Dodgers’ pitchers allowed 12 hits and issued six walks on the evening, but Omaha went 0-12 with runners in scoring position, and left 16 men on base. They got a robust 0-18 line from the bottom four spots in the order tonight, and sequencing can be hard when that happens. The three runs they did score were courtesy of three solo home runs. Cheslor Cuthbert hit his fifth of the season in the fourth inning, while Jose Martinez and Brett Eibner went back-to-back in the seventh to tie the game at three. Eibner now has two dingers in his last two games. Both teams had baserunners in every extra inning, but neither cashed in until OKC scored on two walks with the bases loaded, courtesy of Malcolm Culver.

Boxscore Link

Cheslor Cuthbert: 3-6, HR
Jose Martinez: 3-6, 2B, HR
Brett Eibner: 3-6, 2B, HR
Whit Merrifield: 2-6, SB (now 16-16 on the season)

  Wilmington Blue Rocks 1 Potomac Nationals 5

Another frustrating night for the Blue Rocks’ offense resulted in the team’s 10th loss to the P-Nats this season. Nationals’ starter Luis Reyes struck out eight in 5.2 innings, and their bullpen tacked on four more, so even though the Rocks had 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position, they only collected one hit. Corey Toups led off the game with a double, and added another in the fifth inning, but the rest of the lineup could never get him across. Wilmington did have a chance to do some damage in the fifth, when they loaded the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, Elier Hernandez’s struggles continued, as he grounded out to end the threat. Colin Rodgers struck out six in 5.1 innings, allowing just two runs.

Boxscore Link

Corey Toups: 2-5, 2 2B
Roman Collins: 2-3, 2B, BB, 1 RBI
Elier Hernandez: 1-5, 2 K, hitting .158/.210/.263

   Lexington Legends 2 Hickory Crawdads 6

The Legends were unable to get anything going against Crawdads’ starter Erik Swanson, and only collected four hits on the evening. A five-run outburst off of Foster Griffin in the first inning was more than enough to keep Hickory on top. Griffin had only allowed one run before getting the second out of the inning, then, this sequence happened: single, balk, single, stolen base, single, single. It’s like the Royals were cloned and placed in the South Appalachian League, only to face Griffin. The tall lefty did settle down to get through five innings, but the damage was done. The Legends had just two innings with multiple baserunners, and didn’t have a single extra-base hit. D.J. Burt and Cody Jones each stole a base, though, so that’s something.

Boxscore Link

Xavier Fernandez: 2-4
D.J. Burt: 1-4, SB, 2 RBI
Foster Griffin: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

HR Roll Call – Jorge Bonifacio (1) Clint Barmes (1) Jose Martinez (1) Frank Schwindel (1) Carlos Garcia (1) Brandon Dulin (1) Chase Vallot (1) 

BP KC Hitter of the Day NWA Ark – Frank Schwindel 2-4 HR, 3 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day NWA Ark – Alec Mills 6 IP 2 H 0 R 1 BB 9 K

Round Rock Express 6 Omaha Storm Chasers 4

After a horrible start to the season, Miguel Almonte made progress in start number two versus the Round Rock Express on Tuesday. The Royals 6th ranked prospect by Baseball Prospectus had a great feel for his slider early which allowed him to cruise through the first four innings of the game. That groove would escape him in the fifth inning however as he lost his fastball location to the arm side and struggled to escape trouble that his defense created with back to back errors by Dusty Coleman and Cheslor Cuthbert, the latter’s fourth of the young season. Those mistakes combined with three walks in the inning by Almonte led to three Round Rock runs, giving them a 3-2 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the day. Round Rock tacked on 2 more in the 5th and another in the 9th to post a 6-4 victory. It was an extremely sloppy game by the Chasers as they committed four errors on defense while also making a couple mental mistakes at the plate with ill-planned bunt attempts.

Third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert left the game for precautionary reasons after taking a groundball off the side of his head.

Boxscore Link

Miguel Almonte (L, 0-2) 4.2 IP 1 H 3 R 0 ER 3 BB 7 K 86 P 48 strikes 7 GO 2 FO
Jarrod Dyson 2-5 SB
Jorge Bonifacio 2-4 HR (1)
Whit Merrifield 2-5 RBI, E-4 hitting .348 currently
Brian Flynn 3 IP 5 H 2 ER 1 K
Joey Gallo 2-5 R
Jurickson Profar 0-4 RBI, BB

NW Arkansas 9 Midland RockHounds 2

The Naturals jumped all over Midland starter Chris Jensen, scoring seven runs in four innings on their way to an easy win. Catcher Zane Evans got the scoring started in the 1st with a two-run bases loaded double and was brought home two batters later on a Frank Schwindel two-run single. The Naturals would tack on another pair the next inning, and Schwindel would homer in the 3rd to pace starter Alec Mills with a 7-0 lead. Those were more than enough runs as Mills backed up his solid first start of the year with 6 innings of scoreless ball that included 9 strikeouts and just 2 hits and one walk allowed.

Boxscore Link

Raul Mondesi 1-5 2 SB, 3b, R
Bubba Starling 0-1 3 R, 2 BB, SB made a nice catch up against the fence to rob a double
Frank Schwindel 2-4 HR 3 RBI
Alec Mills 6 IP 2 H 0 R 1 BB 9 K 81 P 60k 3 GO 1 FO

Carolina Mudcats 15 Wilmington Blue Rocks 4

An ugly game for the Wilmington Blue Rocks bullpen Wednesday as they allowed 14 runs after Colin Rodgers gave them 4 scoreless innings. The three victims to the assault were pitchers Matt Alvarez, Ian Tompkins and Mark McCoy, all of whom permitted at least five baserunners between hits and walks allowed. The Rocks mustered four runs on offense thanks in part to a 3 hit night from Corey Toups that included a pair of triples.

Boxscore Link

Ryan O’Hearn 1-3 RBI
Brandon Downes 1-3 2b, BB, R, SB
Colin Rodgers 4 IP 1 H 0 R 3 BB 1 K 68/36 P/K 4 GO 5 FO

Game 1

Lexington Legend 9 Augusta GreenJacket  8

Starting a game down 7-0 probably isn’t the best idea, but it didn’t seem to hurt Lexington on Wednesday after resuming and winning their rain shortened Tuesday night affair. The Legends, who have scored at least 5 runs in every game so far this season, used a five run 6^th inning and got a pair on a two out Samir Duenez double in the 7^th to win a 9-8 contest. Reliever Emilio Ogando did most of the work, pitching five innings of one run ball to give the offense the time to rev up and comeback after starter Julio Pinto put them in a hole on Tuesday.

Boxscore Link

Julio Pinto 2 IP 5 H 7 R 6 ER BB 3 K 54 P 37k 4 GO 0 FO
Emilio Ogando 5 IP 4 H 1 ER BB 4 K
Brandon Dulin 2-5 HR (1) 2 RBI
Samir Duenez 2-4 2b 2 R 3 RBI BB
Amalani Fukofuka 2-4 R RBI BB hitting .381

Game 2

Lexington Legends 4 Augusta GreenJackets 3

The Legends were limited to less than 5 runs for the first time this year but the 4 they scored in a shortened 7 inning game was enough to sweep the day. The Legends mustered just four hits in the night-cap but used walks and base stealing to their advantage to cross the plate three times prior to a Chase Vallot mammoth home run to finish the scoring and secure the win.

Boxscore Link

Scott Blewett  – 5 IP 5 H 3 ER 2 BB 3 K 1 HR 69 P 42 K 6 GO 3 FO HBP
Chase Vallot – 1-2 BB HR (1) hitting .500 so far on 16 AB
Anderson Miller – 2-3 RBI
DJ Burt – 0-2 R, SB
Marten Gasparini – 0-2 R SB

Yesterday, we took a look at some prospects to keep an eye on in the lower levels of the Royals’ farm system. Now it’s time to move on to the upper levels. Many of the organization’s top prospects will see some time in Omaha this year, which makes this Omaha resident extremely happy. But before we get to that roster, let’s check out the Double-A squad.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Raul Mondesi (SS): As the team’s number one prospect, Mondesi may not be in Springdale for long. If he starts to put things together, he’ll soon find himself in Omaha, or even Kansas City this summer.

Bubba Starling (OF): The Gardner native is another guy who could be moved up a level early on, if he can build upon his successful 2015 campaign. His home park(s) this summer could be a nice setting for his power numbers to get even better.

Matt Strahm (LHP): Easily the biggest breakout prospect from last season, Strahm will be getting his first taste above A-ball. The lanky lefty struck out approximately all the batters in 2015, and he just struck you out while you read that. Go back to the bench and think about what you’ve done.

Alec Mills (RHP): In his first full season following Tommy John surgery, Mills mowed down hitters in the Carolina League. The Texas League should present more of a challenge for this 24-year old strike-thrower.

Jorge Bonifacio (OF): Emilio’s younger brother appeared to slim down some during the offseason, and after a great showing this spring (1.085 OPS), hopefully the 17-home run power from last year sticks around.

Ramon Torres (SS/2B): He isn’t going to wow anyone with his tools, but Torres is just a solid player all around. He also makes a ton of contact, which is fun to watch.

Ryan O’Hearn (1B): He doesn’t make nearly as much contact as Torres, but when O’Hearn does make contact, that too, is fun to watch. Because the ball tends to fly a very long way.

Hunter Dozier (3B): After back-to-back disappointing showings at Double-A, this seems like a pivotal year in Dozier’s development. He’ll need to fix some issues with his approach and swing, but there’s still potential in there somewhere. Maybe.

Omaha Storm Chasers

Kyle Zimmer (RHP): He’s the best pitching prospect in the system, with overpowering stuff and good command, and here’s the part where I’m contractually obligated to insert the phrase “if he can stay on the mound” before mentioning Zimmer has ace upside.

Miguel Almonte (RHP): I feel like the Almonte bandwagon dwindled after a rough big-league debut, but I’m still buckled in for the ride. He’s got a 91 mph changeup, for goodness sake.

Brett Eibner (OF): Questions still remain about his durability, but in 2015 Eibner flashed the performance his athleticism has hinted at for years. If you’re watching a Chasers’ game, it’s impossible to miss Eibner. The tools are still loud, and the hair is still fantastic.

Terrance Gore (OF): He might start the year in Kansas City, but I’d expect to see more of him in Omaha this summer. I don’t think you can truly appreciate Gore’s speed from watching video. It’s something you need to experience first-hand, with the palpable anticipation any time he’s on the bases. It’s remarkable.

Jose Martinez (OF): He hit .384 last year, and still the most impressive thing I saw Martinez do in 2015 was play second base. He’s 6’7″. It was like Terrance Gore standing on Jose Altuve’s shoulders, trying to field grounders.

Balbino Fuenmayor (1B): Maybe my favorite story of the 2015 season was cut short when Fuenmayor injured his knee last July, but thanks to a strong rehab, he’s back in position to try and push his way onto a major-league roster for the first time in his career.

Cheslor Cuthbert (3B): His swing and defense looked better in 2015 than any time I had seen him play prior to that, and at 23 years old, there could be the potential for even more.