Corey Ray – The organization is high on this righty with his mid 90’s fastball and average change up while he continues to refine his curveball. Things started to click for Ray as the season finished, putting away 10.8 hitters per 9 over his final five starts this year, allowing just two runs in that span of 29 innings. The Texas A&M product can run his fastball as high as 96-97 mph, but generally works in the low to mid range with it. The control, which had been fringy, got better during that stretch run, walking six in 29 innings which was considerably better than his 2.9 per 9 over the year. With a frame of 6’4, 175 lbs, he has the body needed to pile up innings in a starter role should he continue to improve his below average curve.

A year of working with Luebber in NW Arkansas is maybe the answer to improving that curveball and keeping Ray in the rotation as a mid to backend starter. Should that not work out he definitely has the fastball needed to become a seventh or eighth inning type reliever.

Pedro Fernandez – On the down low, Fernandez had a pretty solid season when he was on the mound for the Royals affiliates, limiting hitters to a 1.04 WHIP in Wilmington before graduating to the Naturals. Once with NW Arkansas, Fernandez ran into some injury issues that cut his season short and likely gave an idea of what his future looks like. Working with a fastball that ranges 92-94 mph, a solid average change up and developing low 80’s slider, Fernandez is probably too small at 6′ 180 lbs to stay in his starter role. Even still, the control is sound and he’s able to spot his fastball while showing a propensity to miss bats his entire way up the chain. The move to the slider was the added step to help him get more advanced hitters out a second and third time through an order, but a move the pen could free him up to work in the mid to upper 90’s with his fastball, while leaning on the pair of secondary offerings to earn outs.

This is a bargain level Herrera right here with a chance to be the Royals future eighth inning setup man if he can stay healthy.

Brandon Downes – The usual Royals draft strategy is seen with Downes, taking a college hitter with upside in the hopes he finds that that thing that clicks it all together. In Downes, the Royals have an athletic center fielder who can play an average or better outfield while simultaneously adding some power from the right side. Unfortunately, the problems from his Virginia days remain, as Downes continues to struggle making contact, striking out in nearly 32% of his plate appearances in 2016. Things aren’t all bad as Downes provided a .159 ISO rate in Wilmington while playing in a tough hitting park for right-handed hitters, a move to Double-A could show off that power even more.

Long-term, Downes could turn into a Drew Stubbs-like center fielder, working against lefties who he has hit 10 home runs off in 230 AB’s over the past two seasons.

Evan Beal – This South Carolina righty has been a pitcher the Royals have liked since first drafting him in the 8th round of the ’11 draft, before redrafting him in the 21st round of 2014. The control was an issue in college and a struggle at first when he arrived to pro ball, but he’s seemed to correct that problem and had a strong season in ’16 for the NW Arkansas Naturals and Wilmington Blue Rocks while also earning a quick appearance at Omaha in between. A two-pitch pitcher with a fastball that peaks around 96 mph while working mostly in the 92-94 range that pairs well with his slider. Not incredibly overpowering with that mix, the slider operates in the low to mid 80’s has been an effective weapon against both righties and lefties, limiting left-handed bats to just a .208/.298/.396 line this past season.

He doesn’t profile as the elite relievers the Royals have produced in the past, but Beal still has a shot to be a 6th/7th inning type who can take advantage of the spacious K.

Anderson Miller – The Royals third round pick of their rather uninspiring 2015 draft is raw but talented as a former two-way player. At 6’3, 210 pounds, Miller has power in his smooth, but somewhat long swing at times. Still, when short, he has a quick bat and speed that produce results from a corner outfielder with the athleticism to develop into a plus corner defender. A former pitcher in college, Miller could work in the low 90’s from the mound, leaving him with a plus outfield arm. A patient approach at the plate lead Miller and his swing into some bad positions this past season, striking out 101 times in just 340 plate appearances.

A hamate bone injury cost Miller more than a month last summer. Generally a hitter’s power takes a little more than a year to fully return after that type of injury. If I was to pick a hitter off this list to breakout, it would be Miller.

Kyle Bartsch – the Royals liked Bartsch quite a bit after drafting him in the seventh round in 2013, enough that J.J. Picollo picked him as a potential breakout performer that year in my season preview article. Not long after, they traded Bartsch for Reymond Fuentes who earned a brief cup of coffee with the big league club in KC this past season while the lefty was washing out with the Padres. A renewal with the Royals and pitching coach Steve Luebber corrected Bartsch and his good moving low 90’s fastball with three offspeed pitches in his curve, slider and change up all of which can profile as average at times. The profile reads like that as a LOOGY, and that is what I consider him going forward, but it should be noted that righties hit just .162 once he rejoined the Royals org.

The Royals haven’t employed a true LOOGY since Yost took over the manager duties.

Jake Newberry – The Royals have been patient with Newberry after taking him in 2012 in the 37th round, a process that started to show off good results from the bullpen this past season. Working his fastball in the mid 90’s with a power slider, Newberry missed bats this past year at a near 8.4 K/9 clip while allowing just over 1 WHIP. A move to Double-A should challenge Newberry this next season.

Yunior Marte – I’ve been higher on Marte than most in the past with his loose arm, athleticism and change up combined with a solid two-seam fastball. Extending him out as a starter and long man went better in Lexington this past season, but still wasn’t the desired results. Should the Royals move him into a full time one-inning bullpen role he could explode with a fastball that can hit 97 mph and a solid change to go with the two-seam that works in the low 90’s. In that role I believe he could be a dynamic weapon with two good fastballs and an average change up.

Foster Griffin – Taken in the first round of the ’14 draft, Griffin’s fastball hasn’t ticked up as hoped, leaving it in the 88-90 mph range as opposed to the mid 90’s as hoped when they drafted him. The control is lacking with his fastball despite the velocity and it doesn’t move much, his arm lacks speed likely leaving the pitch in this below average rate. The change up can be Griffin’s best pitch with some arm-side fade, but he needs another tick on his fastball to allow it to play up. The lefty tosses a pair of breaking balls with his curve and slider with the curveball being a loopy big pitch that isn’t likely to earn many outs. The slider is a low 80’s breaker with that can come in with late break and earn a bit more weak contact. That pitch combined with the fastball and his plane on some days can earn plenty of groundballs.

The lefty needs more fastball and command to become someone worth watching for the future.

Glenn Sparkman – He would be in this grouping, had he not been picked in the Rule 5 draft. I expect he will be returned to the Royals unless the Blue Jays want to pay the $100k bounty for him.

Feature Photo – Pedro Fernandez via Ken Inness milb.com

HR Roll Call Travis Snider (1)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Travis Snider 2-3 HR, BB, 4 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Kyle Bartsch 4 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB 2 K 7-2 GO-FO 49p/31k

Colorado Springs Sky Sox 13 Omaha Storm Chasers 9

The Storm Chasers have been left a little shorthanded after all the injuries in Kansas City and it showed Thursday night. After building a commanding 9-2 lead in Colorado Springs, the starter, bullpen and defense that had players playing in unfamiliar positions ran into trouble before giving up the lead and eventually the win. Lefty Jonathan Dziedzic couldn’t prevent the Sky Sox from making the comeback, giving up nine hits and three walks in giving up nine runs. Reliever Benino Pruneda struggled mightily with the strike zone, walking three in just one and one-third innings and taking the loss partly due to a fly ball to Angel Franco that was dropped in the outfield to surrender three runs. It was Franco’s first game ever playing in the outfield. The Storm Chasers have now dropped seven of their last eight games played.

Boxscore Link

Zane Evans 2-4 2 R, RBI
Hunter Dozier 2-4 2b, R, RBI
Travis Snider 2-3 R, HR, BB, 4 RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 5 San Antonio Missions 1

The Naturals got a big relief appearance from lefty Kyle Bartsch when starter Alec Mills was forced to leave early after a ball deflected off his hand. Bartsch, who recently rejoined the Royals organization, gave the Naturals four innings in which he gave up just one run via a solo home run in the 5th inning. Prior to Kyle rejoining the Royals, he had a 8.31 ERA in his 10 appearances as part of the Padres Double-A farm system. He’s given up just that one run in his 9.2 innings and five appearances with the Naturals. On the offensive side, the bottom half of the lineup was the catalyst to the Naturals sweeping the Mission as Bubba Starling scored a pair of runs after connecting on a two extra base hits during the game. First baseman Frank Schwindel had another good night, driving in three runs with a sac fly and a two run single.

Boxscore Link

Cam Gallagher 2-3 R, BB
Corey Toups 2-5 R
Ryan O’Hearn 1-3 R

Lynchburg Hillcats 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 2

The Rocks were left punchless in game two of their series with Lynchburg Thursday, connecting on just six singles and scoring two runs in the loss. Starter Josh Staumont continued his personal battle with the strike zone, walking four in four and one-third innings and giving up three hits and two runs in that time to take the loss. The smoke throwing righty did manage to put seven down via the K as he hit the zone with 50 of his 93 pitches.

Boxscore Link

Josh Staumont 4.1 IP 3 H 3 R 2 ER 4 BB 7 K 4-3 GO-FO 93p/50k
Robert Pehl 2-3 RBI
Humberto Arteaga 1-3 RBI, BB, SB (10)

HR Roll Call: Brett Eibner (9), Brandon Downes (2)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Brandon Downes 4-5, HR, 2R, 4 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Jake Newberry 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 4-1 GO-FO, 34p/23k

The Royals signed lefty Kyle Bartsch after the San Diego Padres released him this week, assigning him to NW Arkansas. Originally drafted by the Royals in 2013, Bartsch was traded to the Padres for outfielder Reymond Fuentes.

Omaha Storm Chaser 5 Reno Aces 4

The Chasers couldn’t get much offense going early but hung around long enough to chip away late and earn a comeback win. Lefty Mike Minor was made his third rehab start, stretching out to the 82 pitch mark while giving up five hits, including a pair of doubles, while giving up four runs. They say after Tommy John that control is the last thing to come and that certainly seems to be the case for Minor after walking three more on the evening, upping his total to eight walks in 17.2 rehab innings so far. (Editor’s Note: Thanks to Sean for catching that Minor is indeed not coming off Tommy John. It’s just so common these days that it’s almost reflex to say a guy had it.) After a Brett Eibner home run in the 8th cut the lead in half the Chasers used some small ball to load the bases. A pair of bunt singles by Carlos Diaz and Reymond Fuentes preceded a swinging bunt hit by Jorge Bonifacio to load the bases with no outs in the 9th. Run-scoring singles by Eibner and Hunter Dozier quickly tied it up before a one out sacrifice by Travis Snider gave Omaha their first lead of the game. The Aces would threaten in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of singles versus Malcom Culver, but strikeouts of Ed Lucas and Peter O’Brien by the hard throwing righty would shut the door.

Boxscore Link

Reymond Fuentes 3-5, R, SB (5)
Mike Minor 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 5-0 GO-FO, 82p/50k
Hunter Dozier 1-5, RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 2 Tulsa Drillers 0

With a normal starting pitcher unavailable on Friday, the Naturals turned to the bullpen to take on the Drillers in the first game of the series. Four different pitchers combined to work nine shutout innings while navigating around seven hits and four walks. The Naturals offense did just enough to earn the win, getting a pair of sac flies from Ramon Torres and Zane Evans in the 3rd and 8th innings to score two runs. A 1-10 effort with runners in scoring position prevented the Naturals from expanding on their lead, but the two runs were enough as the foursome finished off the shutout.

Boxscore Link

Kevin McCarthy 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 K
Ryan O’Hearn 1-3, BB
Terrance Gore 2-3, R, 2SB (3)

Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Carolina Mudcats 2

A big night by Brandon Downes carried the Rocks to a convincing 8-2 victory over the Mudcats. It was Downes’ grand slam in the third that staked the Rocks to a 4-0 lead. Two innings later Downes was scoring after a Wander Franco triple as part of a three run inning that expanded Wilmington’s lead on the night to 8-2. Those runs were plenty for relievers Jake Newberry and Mark McCoy as the pair finished the final five innings of the game scoreless. Starter Josh Staumont struggled with the zone as usual, walking six in four innings and allowing a pair of runs to score on back-to-back bases loaded walks.

Boxscore Link

Alfredo Escalera 3-4, R, RBI, CS (2)
Josh Staumont 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 5 K, 2-4 GO-FO, 88p/41k
Roman Collins 2-4, R, RBI

More than a few players don’t excite the experts yet still end up making it in the game. Some even have a big, big impact along the way in terms of value and cost savings while they are young.

That brings us to one of the Royals options for right field, making a move toward breaking with the club following the injury to Jarrod Dyson. A former first-round pick with the Boston Red Sox, Reymond Fuentes is a cousin of former Royal Carlos Beltran and attended the same high school as Beltran. At the time of Fuentes draft, a second Royals connection developed as he drew comparisons to Johnny Damon as a player with a plus hit tool and plus-plus speed. The bloodline didn’t develop quite to the Beltran level, and the comp to Damon hasn’t come through either.

One season after being drafted by the Red Sox, Fuentes was traded as a part of the Adrian Gonzalez deal to the San Diego Padres. Once in the Padres organization Fuentes continued to progress, earning a brief callup in 2013 and leaving him on the verge of a job in the bigs. That all changed in ’14 when a new front office took over and they began looking at a Royals lefty, Kyle Bartsch, as a trade target. The Padres agreed to exchange Fuentes for the reliever who had just finished a season in High-A Wilmington. The move left the bloodline Royal, who was comped to a Royal, in an organization that seemed a perfect fit.

Via J.J. Picollo – “Knowing our roster situation and that Fuentes had options, we liked the upside of getting an everyday player in exchange for a lefty that profiled as a reliever.”

So what type of player can we hope Fuentes becomes?

To that question I looked at a player that the Royals had and let become a free agent not too long ago, Gregor Blanco. When I brought up that name with Picollo he agreed and said that is who the Royals front office often bring up in talks about Fuentes. The two players’ profiles are somewhat similar in that they both had good contact rates in the minor leagues, have limited power, and use speed as their main tool in their arsenal. Both players also have average arms, making center and left-field their best positions which is a downer for Fuentes considering the Royals already have Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon manning those outfield spots. The advantages from my eyes are that Fuentes enjoys slightly better raw speed and more power than Blanco while the Giants outfielder possesses a better overall plate approach which converts into a likely higher on base percentage outside batting average.

Picollo – “Fuentes has the ability to play center in our big park but with Cain there already Reymond can make us better defensively in right.”

PECOTA projects the two players TAv nearly identical with a .254 for Blanco versus a .253 for Fuentes with just a 0.6 WARP projected value to Fuentes 0.5. All of that is pretty favorable for Fuentes considering Jarrod Dyson is projected for a .232 TAv and 0.7 WARP with nearly 200 more plate appearances to his credit.

Could Fuentes be a better option than Dyson over the course of the season? That could definitely be the case, and PECOTA agrees quite thoroughly, rating Fuentes Peak 5 year upside significantly higher than Dyson’s. Much of those numbers could be due to Fuentes not having the opportunity to fail in the same way Dyson has thus far, but they also speak to Dyson’s limited offensive upside. While Dyson one of the vocal leaders in the clubhouse Picollo offered that Fuentes fits in quite well in that aspect bringing a “happy go lucky attitude day to day to the clubhouse”.

These comparisons may not be the greatest for Fuentes’ future considering the Royals didn’t necessarily see the value in Blanco when they let him become a free agent for no return and haven’t given Dyson a chance to have a full time job until this season at age 31. Still, at 25 years of age with a chance to play, Fuentes has an opportunity to grasp hold of at least a platoon role that offers more playing opportunity as a left-handed hitter while also putting himself in the mix for a future center field job.

The Royals should consider getting a healthy look at Fuentes at the start of the regular season while Dyson recovers from his injury. At worst, they can fall back to Dyson, and at best they could have an in house 2-3 WARP player who is controllable at a minimum contract and could help Kansas City over the next few seasons. That’s not too shabby of a deal for an organization considering all they had to give up was a High-A LOOGY.

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Profile Photo: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports