HR Roll Call Jorge Bonifacio (16), Brandon Downes (9), Luis Villegas 2(2)

BP KC Hitter of the Night – Luis Villegas 2-5 2 HR, 5 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Night – Matt Tenuta 6 IP 6 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 5-3 GO-FO 91p/61k

Omaha Storm Chasers 6 Memphis Redbirds 4 F/10

The two PCL clubs scored a pair of runs each in the first three innings, only to go silent before a big tenth inning home run. Omaha’s Whit Merrifield doubled and scored on a Jorge Bonifacio single in the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. After Memphis tied the game in the second Omaha took the lead back in the third following a throwing error on a Bonifacio ball that allowed Rey Fuentes to come around. That lead was short lived after a Randal Grichuk two out solo home run in the bottom half of the frame. From there the pitching staffs grabbed hold of the game, tossing up zeroes until they reached extra frames. In extras the Redbirds were unable to turn a possible inning ending double play on a Fuentes’ ball hit to the shortstop, allowing Bonifacio to come to the plate after a Hunter Dozier walk. The Omaha outfielder made Memphis and pitcher Juan Gonzalez pay, hitting a hanging breaking ball out to left for a grand slam. The win went to Edward Mujica after working around a two run home run in the bottom of the tenth.

Boxscore Link

Jorge Bonifacio 2-5 HR, 5 RBI
Hunter Dozier 1-3 R, 2b, 2 BB
Reymond Fuentes 1-4 2R, BB

Arkansas Travelers 3 NW Arkansas Naturals 1

The Naturals Jake Junis set a season high in strikeouts during the finale with Arkansas but it wasn’t enough after the Travelers catcher got to him a couple of times. A hanging curveball was knocked down the line and kept fair off Jose Briceno’s bat in that third while back to back doubles in the fifth by Caleb Adams and Briceno accounted for both runs in the fifth after Zach Welz knocked in Briceno with a single. It was a season high nine strikeouts by Junis as he was able to mix up his slider, curve and fastball with regularity, giving up five hits and a walk. The Naturals offense helped saddle Junis with the loss after their bats went silent following a run in the first inning.

Boxscore Link

Jake Junis 6 IP 5 H 3 ER 1 BB 9 K 7-1 GO-FO 98p/64k
Corey Toups 3-4 R, 2b
Miguel Almonte 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 2 K 18p/12k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 13 Salem Red Sox 2

The Rocks exploded Tuesday to salvage the final game of their three game series with Salem. A pair of hitters did much of the heavy lifting as Brandon Downes and Luis Villegas combined for three home runs and eight of the thirteen runs driven in on the night. Those runs propped up lefty Matt Tenuta, who worked through six innings scoreless while scattering six hits and striking out three hitters to earn his fifth win of the season. It was Downes homering in the third as part of Wilmington’s four run frame and Villegas with a three run shot in the sixth as part of a five run inning. Six different hitters had two or more hits in the win.

Boxscore Link

Samir Duenez 3-4 4R, 2b, 2 RBI, R
Brandon Downes 2-5 R, 2b, HR, 3 RBI
Robert Pehl 3-5 R, 2 RBI

Rome Braves 3 Lexington Legends 1

The Legends couldn’t complete a sweep of Rome due to a former 1st round picks excellence against them Wednesday afternoon. Lefty Kolby Allard, the 2015 14th overall pick, worked Lexington over for six and one-third innings, striking out 11 batters against just three hits and a walk. The only run allowed came from back to back infield hits to start the seventh inning with DJ Burt coming around for the lone Lexington run. With the offense being dominated the loss was pinned on rehabbing Glenn Sparkman who looked better in his latest outing but still allowed eight hits over six innings, giving up three runs in that time.

Boxscore Link

Glenn Sparkman 6 Ip 8 H 3 ER 1 BB 9 K 4-1 GO-FO 87p/64k
DJ Burt 1-4 R
Yunior Marte 2 IP 2 H 0 R 2 BB 2 K

AZL Royals 4 AZL White Sox 0

Starter Anthony Bender gave the Royals five scoreless innings, leaving with the lead against the Whit Sox. The righty allowed just two singles, only one of which left the infield while walking one and striking out three on the night. The one walk doubled his season total in 19.2 innings of work in Arizona for the hard throwing righty. Fellow ’16 draftee accounted for three of the four AZL runs, doubling and scoring in the fourth before driving in a run on a single in the eighth and coming around as part of a two run single by Robby Rinn. Royals righty Julio Pinto worked 3.2 innings perfect before yielding a hit and a pair of walks and giving way to Matt Wynne who got the final out of the night.

Boxscore Link

Anthony Bender 5 IP 2 H 0 R 0ER 1 BB 3 K 6-3 GO-FO
Khalil Lee 2-4 2R, 2b, RBI
Robby Rinn 2-4 3 RBI

DSL A’s 4 DSL Royals 2

The DSL squad dropped a game to the A’s when the bullpen couldn’t close out a small lead that they were given. Three runs over the final two innings turned a 2-1 lead into a 4-2 defeat as the offense couldn’t put a run on the board following a two run first inning.

Boxscore Link

Rubendy Jaquez 1-4 R SB (3)
Yerelmy Garcia 6 IP 5 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K
Raymond Lopez 1-4 2 SB (20)

Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Hot Hot Hot
Despite some struggles in winning at the minor league levels there are a few bats that are doing well across the organization.

Lexington Legends – Anderson Miller has hit well since rejoining the Lexington squad, hitting .318 in 11 games with five doubles. The 2015 3rd round pick has a smooth swing and easy athleticism. Look for him to get a promotion to High-A relatively soon.

Wilmington Blue Rocks – Alfredo Escalera had an absolute brutal April to start the season but has recovered nicely, hitting .314/.381/.403 since that time. The 21 year old outfielder could begin to show some more power as he ages and gets out of Frawley field next season.

NW Arkansas Natruals – After the longest home run drought in his young minor league career (25 games) Ryan O’Hearn has found the power stroke once again this past week, crushing three longballs in seven games. The lefty has been remarkably consistent against both righties and lefties, hitting .316 versus same siders and .310 versus right-handed pitchers coming into June 16th.

Omaha Storm Chasers – Really, no one in Omaha is excelling with the bat, but Hunter Dozier did hit a pair of home runs on his current roadtrip. The third baseman has some crazy home/road splits with Omaha, hitting .351/.381/.688 on the road and just .169 at home. Werner Park is extremely friendly to right-handed hitters with gusting winds to left but something hasn’t meshed for Dozier in his 16 games.

Not Milling around in Double-A

Alec Mills becomes the first Double-A starting pitcher to get the bounce to Triple-A Omaha after another stellar start to his season. With four solid pitches, the right-hander continues to build on his career that started as a walk-on in college before getting drafted in the 22nd round of the 2012 draft. A true scouting success story for the Royals organization, Mills has had as much success at the Double-A level as any pitcher to ever go through the Texas League since they started the Naturals franchise. The last 33 starts for Mills over 181 innings have been outstanding, tossing nearly a K/inning against just 26 walks issued and 3.03 runs allowed per nine innings.

Triple-A can be a test as young pitchers faceoff against more experienced hitters who aren’t as apt to sway from their plan. However, a guy like Mills, with excellent control and a four pitch mix, should be able to handle his business. A good finish in Omaha could have him in a position to compete for a starting role in Kansas City as soon as next year. That is something the Royals desperately need; an in-house candidate that can toss starting innings and save payroll money.

Draft Signings

A few of the Royals draft picks have already been inked with some of the contracts announced.
With the announced values of $3,240,500 on the Royals five picks and the money over $100k towards, Vance Vizcaino, Dalton Griffin and Geoffrey Bramblett, the Royals have approximately $307,330 to play with for the rest of their Top 10 rounders and overages for other picks.

2nd Rd Pick A.J. Puckett – $1.2M (slot $963,700)
3rd Rd Pick Khalil Lee – $750k (slot $579,700)
4th Rd Pick Jace Vines $375k (slot $433,900)
5th Rd Pick Nick Lopez – $243k (slot $324,800)
6th Rd Pick Cal Jones – $250k (slot $243,300)
7th Rd Pick Travis Eckert – $50k (slot $186,500)
8th Rd Pick Chris DeVito – $125k (slot $174,100)
9th Rd Pick Walker Sheller – $115k (slot $162,700)
10th Rd Pick Richard Lovelady – $100k (slot $156,600)
11th Rd Pick Vance Vizcaino $125k (slot $100k)
12th Rd Jeremy Gwinn Signed, Terms Undisclosed
13th Rd Logan Gray Signed, Terms Undisclosed
14th Rd David McKay Signed, Terms Undisclosed
15th Rd Mike Messier Signed, Terms Undisclosed
16th Rd Pick Nick Heath – Signed. Terms Undisclosed
17th Rd Pick Dillon Drabble – Signed. Terms Undisclosed
21st Rd Dalton Griffin – $105k (slot $100k)
22nd Rd Cody Nesbit – Signed, Terms Undisclosed
24th Rd Mike McCann – Signed, Terms Undisclosed
25th Rd Robby Rinn – Signed, Terms Undisclosed
28th Rd Yordany Salva – Signed, Terms Undisclosed
29th Rd Grant Gavin – Signed. Terms Undisclosed
30th Rd Geoffrey Bramblett $102,500 (slot $100k)
34th Rd Nathan Webb – Signed. Terms Undisclosed
35th Rd Mark Sanchez – Signed, Terms Undisclosed
36th Rd Alex Massey – Signed, Terms Undisclosed
37th Rd Justin Camp – Signed, Terms Undisclosed

Cover Photo May 18, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Alec Mills (63) delivers a pitch in the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Boston won 5-2. Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports