• I think I may have talked about this before, but it’s probably worth going over again. There are a few guys the Royals have who will be out of options in 2019 that might things a little complicated. Cheslor Cuthbert is the most obvious because he’s been out of them for two years and stuck on a roster where he really doesn’t fit, but there are others joining him now. Paulo Orlando cannot be sent down again, which makes him a prime DFA candidate (along with his poor play obviously). Rosell Herrera is also out of options, so he might struggle to last the year, especially once Nicky Lopez is brought up. Two others who are interesting are Ramon Torres and Bubba Starling. Given the makeup of the likely 2019 roster, I actually think Torres makes more sense than Herrera, but the Royals love the infield/outfield versatility Herrera brings. Starling, to me, should be the first guy DFAed. I don’t care where he was drafted, where he was born or who he rooted for growing up. That time has passed for him. On the mound, it’s less cumbersome as Brian Flynn and Jorge Lopez are the only pitchers of note out of options. Flynn, to me, is a solid but easily replaced reliever (of course last year’s bullpen might say otherwise on the easily replaced part), but Lopez’s options mean he has a big league role somewhere in 2019. My guess is he opens as the fifth starter but ends the year in the year in the bullpen. If you’re looking ahead to 2020, Samir Duenez will be out of options and with Ryan O’Hearn’s emergence, he might be a candidate to be removed at some point in 2019.
• The Wily Peralta deal makes a lot of sense to me even if you don’t believe he can repeat what he did last year (and I don’t). They were bringing him back no matter what because he was one of the few relievers last season who didn’t turn everything he touched into garbage. So instead of paying him $3 million in 2019, they cut that salary by $750,000 and for his troubles added an extra quarter million to what he would have taken home by giving him a $1 million option buyout. The great thing about that contract is that it doesn’t stop them from doing anything else and if he’s good, they can move him, but if he’s bad, they can move on from him very easily. With all those walks, my guess is that bad is the bet here, but it’s nice to have a guy who at least had some success. Plus, Dayton Moore hadn’t given out a contract with a mutual option in a minute, so he had a chance to scratch that itch. Everybody wins.
• I’ve spent a lot of time talking about bargain-type relievers who the Royals could look to in order to shore up their bullpen. And while I think that’s the direction they’ll go, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few starters who could fill the role of the final starter in the rotation. What that would do is push all the candidates for that spot to the bullpen to help that unit out. I’ve talked a lot about my thoughts on Jorge Lopez and how I think he’s ultimately a reliever, but Heath Fillmyer fits well there as well with how good his slider was in the big leagues. No, the Royals aren’t going to be in on Patrick Corbin or anything (though they did talk about him in a trade a couple years ago), but a look at the bottom of the barrel of free agent starters could lead them to a veteran on a small enough deal that you figure why not. Some options are James Shields, Miguel Gonzalez (if he’s healthy), Josh Tomlin (woof), Hector Santiago, Jaime Garcia and maybe even a Drew Pomeranz if he ends up cheap enough. One other name to keep an eye on is Erasmo Ramirez. I don’t have any inside information here, but he seems like a Royals target and the reports indicate the Mariners are moving on from him and will be DFAing him shortly. I wouldn’t like that move much, but it does seem like a Dayton special.
• This isn’t Royals-centric, but I keep thinking about Manny Machado’s free agency and I can’t wrap my head around why any team would give him $300 million or more. He’s a fantastic player. At third base, his defense is in the top three in baseball and he can really hit. Maybe he can handle shortstop for a few more years too as he did look better there once he went to the Dodgers. But I feel like there’s too much of an emphasis being placed on his age when he hasn’t really shown that he’s a “best player in baseball” sort of guy for very long. I’ll say it again so that I don’t hammered for saying I don’t think Machado is good. I think he’s truly great. But he’s a real piece of work and even though he’s entering just his age-26 season, I’m just not sure I’d commit that kind of money to him. He’s a year removed from hitting .259/.310/.471. Maybe I’m underselling his age here and it probably won’t matter because he’s going to get 10 years and $326 million or something (so he gets the biggest contract ever), and it’ll have an opt out after three years that he’ll take, so the team will “only” give him $90 million or whatever, but I’m just struggling with the idea that he’s a guy you’d want your team to give that kind of money to. I’m going to repeat this one more time for the people in the back. He’s a truly fantastic player, but he has too many red flags for me to want to give him that money.

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nick Pratto 3-5 R, 2b, RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Marcelo Martinez 6 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 10 K 6-2 GO-FO 93p/67k

Lexington Legends 7 Asheville Tourists 6 F/11

Outfielder Seuly Matias was back in the lineup for the Legends on Tuesday after tweaking his back during a game on August 1st. With the outfielder’s timing likely being off, his teammates had to carry the offensive load, in particular, Nick Pratto with the first baseman connecting on three hits, scoring a run and driving in another. Lexington built a 3-0 lead with single runs in the first, second and fourth innings. Starter Garrett Davila gave back two runs, tossing a wild pitch that scored a run in the fifth before a solo homer off him in the sixth. The teams would exchange runs over the next few innings with two runs by the Rockies Low-A squd in the seventh and a solo home run in the ninth allowing them to send it into extra innings. Again the two teams would exchange runs in the tenth with each squad scoring their free baserunner. In the eleventh inning catcher, Sebastian Rivero would pick off the lead runner at 3rd base to help end that inning without a run allowed. The catcher would again play a factor in the bottom of the inning as the free baserunner, moving to third on a sac bunt by Carlos Diaz before scoring on Kyle Isbel’s sacrifice fly to center to walk the game off for the Legends.

Sebastian Rivero: 2-5 2R
Seuly Matias: 0-5 R, 3K
Cal Jones: 2-4 2R, RBI

Salem Red Sox 7 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0

The Rocks were shut down in the first game of their series in Salem on Tuesday. Starter Ofreidy Gomez struggled mightily in his two innings to start, allowing six runs including his 10th home run allowed this year. The 6-0 deficit was too large for the offense to overcome as they mounted just six hits and three walks as they failed to threaten the three Red Sox pitchers.

Tyler Zuber: 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K 1-1 GO-FO 14p/11k
Gabriel Cancel: 2-4 2b
Emmanuel Rivera: 2-4

Omaha Storm Chasers 5 Salt Lake Bees 0

Newly acquired pitcher Jorge Lopez was efficient in finding his groove on Tuesday afternoon for the Storm Chasers. The former Brewers reliever making his second start for Omaha gave up just three singles and a walk. Backed by an Humberto Arteaga double in the second and a solo home run by Paulo Orlando in the fourth inning, Lopez found his own groove in that fourth, striking out six of the final nine hitters he would face in his five and two-thirds innings. With a getaway day and a day off tomorrow manager, Brian Poldberg let loose with the bullpen with five different relievers getting work in replace of Lopez to finish off the shutout with just three hits and a walk the rest of the way with the offense adding on additional runs including a Ramon Torres two-run home run.

Frank Schwindel: 1-4 R, RBI – 15 game hitting streak
Jorge Lopez: 5.2 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 7 K 3-5 GO-FO 73p/50k
Jesse Hahn: 0.2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K 17p/10k

Burlington Royals 2 Danville Braves 1

For the second start in a row, left-hander Marcelo Martinez was absolutely dominant for Burlington. Striking out 10 or more for the third time this season he pounded the strikezone with 67 strikes on 93 pitches while earning six groundouts and 10 strikeouts. After allowing just one hit last time out, I Martinez kept the opponent hitless in this one while working around a pair of walks. The Royals scored a pair of runs in the second inning with a Freddy Fermin RBI double and a Braves that allowed Fermin to score. The no-hitter shutout lasted until the eighth inning when reliever Ted Cillis gave up a rbi single to Zack Soria to cut the lead in half but reliever Kyle Hinton worked a scoreless ninth to secure the win.

Juan Carlos Negret: 1-4 2K
Freddy Fermin: 2-4 R, RBI
Rhett Aplin: 2-4 R

Tuesday Boxscores

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Angel Medina 2-3 4R, HR, 3b, 3 RBI, 2 BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Daniel Lynch 5 IP 3H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 3-4 GO-FO 51p/40k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 7 Lynchburg Hillcats 6

Rocks starter Daniel Tillo struggled with his control once again as he walked five hitters in five innings and hit one more during his five-inning start. Two of those free passes helped toward a three-run first inning in which Tillo gave up a two-run triple and an RBI double before settling some. In the fourth, he allowed his tenth home run of the season to put the Rocks down 4-1. In the fifth inning, Wilmington countered with an RBI double by Blake Perkins and Gabe Cancel’s single that scored him. The Rocks trailed 6-3 into the ninth but they countered with four runs getting rbi hits from Vance Vizcaino and Blake Perkins to score two before Gabe Cancel doubled in two more to take a 7-6 lead. Reliever Julio Pinto loaded the bases with no outs with two hits and a walk allowed but his replacement Tyler Zuber entered and saved the game for the Rocks, getting a forceout at the plate, a strikeout and a flyout to right to end it in winning fashion.

Blake Perkins: 2-4 2R, 2b, 3b, 2 RBI
Dan Tillo: 5 IP 4 H 4 R 4 ER 5 BB 4 K HBP 7-3 GO-FO 88p/53k
Gabe Cancel: 3-5 2-2b, 3 RBI

Game 1 San Antonio Mission 4 NW Arkansas Naturals 3 F/8
Game 2 San Antonio Mission 4 NW Arkansas Naturals 3

Starter Arnaldo Hernandez struggled with his control, walking four while allowing seven hits in six innings. Five of those hits were singles that led to three runs against him to put NW Arkansas down 3-0. The Naturals countered with a run scoring single by Khalil Lee and a two-run home run by Alex Liddi to tie things up, but the Naturals couldn’t score in extras and reliever Andres Machado walked in a run for a Padres affiliate win.

The second game was much like the first except the Naturals built a 3-1 lead through eight innings only to watch struggling relievers Franco Terrero and Bryan Brickhouse give it away in the last two innings. The young Terrero has given up five runs in his last two outings after four scoreless while Brickhouse has yet to collect himself at the Double-A level with seven runs given up in two and one-third.

Khalil Lee: 2-6 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB
Anderson Miller: 2-7 2 R, 2b
Jecksson Flores: 2-7, BB, SB

Omaha Storm Chasers 3 Memphis Redbirds 0

The Chasers needed Zach Lovvorn for a start to replace Trevor Oaks after his promotion. The right-hander worked around four hits and three walks with just one strikeout over six scoreless innings. Outfielder Paulo Orlando hit a two-run home run and scored his second run after doubling to help towards the Chasers three runs. Relievers Josh Staumont and Richard Lovelady tossed the final three scoreless in between a rain delay to earn the win.

Richard Lovelady: 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 0 K 2-0 GO-FO 13/8 p/k
Paulo Orlando: 2-4 2R, 2b, HR, 2 RBI
Cam Gallagher: 1-4 RBI

Suspended Gm Princeton Rays 11 Burlington Royals 10 F/11
Princeton Rays 11 Burlington Royals 9 F/10

The Rays scored three runs in the 11th inning of the suspended game after tying things up in the ninth to take a commanding lead. The Royals got within a run with a Jose Marquez RBI single with one out single but they failed to tie the game with a strikeout by Juan Carlos Negret and a Freddy Fermin groundout.

In the regularly scheduled game, Daniel Lynch tossed five scoreless with just three singles with five strikeouts to position himself for his first win. The offense capably backed Lynch with a pair of home runs by Angel Medina and Jose Marquez in the first two innings to put four runs on the board. The Royals added a pair of runs in the third inning and another in the fifth to build a 7-0 lead. The bullpen couldn’t hold that lead, giving up eight runs over the final three innings to even the game at 8-8. In extras, the bullpen continued their struggles, giving up three runs in the tenth to lead to another Burlington loss.

Jose Marquez: 2-5 HR, 2 RBI

Orem Owlz 7 Idaho Falls Chukars 0

Newcomer Kris Bubic gave up three runs (2 ER) in his first appearance in the Royals org. The lefty gave up three hits and walked a pair while the defense struggled behind him. His replacement Tyler Gray gave up four runs in two and one-third innings while the Chukars offense mustered just six hits in the shutout.

Kyle Isbel: 0-4
Kris Bubic: 2.2 IP 3 H 3 R 2 ER 2 BB 1 K 6-1 GO-FO 47p/28
Reed Rohlman: 2-3 BB

Thursday Boxscores

Friday Probables
Omaha – TBD
NW Arkansas – Emilio Ogando 4-5 6.71 ERA 2.19 WHIP
Wilmington – Jace Vines 2-8 5.25 ERA 1.62 WHIP
Lexington – Charlie Neuweiler 0-1 4.20 ERA 1.40 WHIP
Burlington – Marcelo Martinez 0-2 1.64 ERA 0.73 WHIP
Idaho Falls – Connor Mayes 2-1 6.08 ERA 1.73 WHIP

Which was good!

Three innings later, the Astros scored more runs on one swing of the bat than the Royals did in the entire game, which was less good and also certainly more familiar. And that swing by Evan Gattis proved the difference in a 7-3 Kansas City loss at the K on Friday night.

The Royals were fortunate to not face Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander in this series, but it’s not like Charlie Morton of the 7-1 record, 2.82 ERA and a bunch of other advanced stats that would be fun to look up if I wrote about the Astros. But I don’t, so I admire what they’ve done from afar.

However, it was the Royals that struck first in the third inning off the bat of a man that is auditioning for a playoff run. With Paulo Orlando (one-out single) and Abraham Almonte (one-out walk) on base, Mike Moustakas stroked a double down into the right field corner to score both and give the Royals a crooked number on the board for the first time since Sunday.

The lead was… short-lived. Two batters into the top of the fourth, Alex Bregman homered off Jakob Junis. Two batters later, Carlos Correa’s 12^th homer of the season—a 455-foot moonshot to left—tied the game.

Morton, who was pretty good and pretty sharp most of the night, completely lost the handle in the fifth for a moment. Orlando lined a one-out single and the conga line started—Almonte and Whit Merrifield walked to load the bases, and then Moustakas drew a bases-loaded free pass to put the Royals back in front, with one down and the bases loaded to boot.

Salvador Perez’s inning-ending 5-4-3 double-play ball kinda ruined that though.

Another conga line, this one for the Astros and it ended with a game-changing grand slam. Jose Altuve singled, Correa singled, Josh Reddick singled and then Evan Gattis hit a no-doubter to left-center. Four runs on the board with one swing.

Hey, can we talk about Junis’ gopher ball problem real quick? Because that’s 18 allowed now this season, which is tied for second-most in baseball with Cole Hamels. Because 14 of those have come in four games, it’s not the problem I worry most about (that’s congestive heart failure, personally—be sure to go the doctor on the regular) but because this makes back-to-back games Junis has been taken deep three times, I’ll be eyeing Wednesday’s start against Texas with some concern.

The Astros tacked on another run in the eighth, although it could certainly have been worse had Perez not been thinking quickly to pick Reddick off at third. He arrived there after a bang-bang call at first, initially ruled to have gotten Reddick out, was overturned. Gattis doubled Reddick to third, but Perez flashed the cannon to pick him off.

I mean, ultimately who cares because Marwin Gonzalez doubled to score Gattis, but the effort is the important thing. Meanwhile, were the Royals so offensively inept that Ryan Goins—who subbed in after Jorge Soler broke his dang metatarsal as though things couldn’t possibly get worse—was the only player to get a hit over the final three innings.

The Bright Spot: Paulo had two hits! Up to .179 on the season and thank God, because he’s gonna get a lot of playing time now that the Two Jorge’s are out for the next little bit.

The Nadir: Lots of directions to go here, but I think—I know—that my favorite is that of Kansas City’s 3-4-5 hitters, Ryan Goins is the only one who got a hit. 1-for-12, seven strikeouts, Goins’ double the lone good thing.

The Next Step: Dallas Keuchel and Danny Duffy! This would’ve been better in 2015, but Duffy is on a roll lately and looks to keep it up and give the Royals a (probably slim) chance at taking the series on Sunday. Keuchel has a 7.33 ERA in his last five starts, but he’s a former Cy Young winner—maybe he doesn’t have the A+ stuff as often anymore, but he still has it.

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Meibrys Viloria 2-4, HR, 4 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Tyler Zuber 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 23p/14k

Lexington Legends 6, Augusta GreenJackets 5

The Lexington bats struggled early against Giants starter Jose Marte, striking out 10 times in his 6.1 innings, but made a late comeback to take down the first place squad for the third time in the four-game series. Lexington’s starter Nolan Watson allowed five runs (3 ER) despite nine strikeouts in his 5.2 innings. Trailing 5-2, Lexington got their offense moving in the bottom of the seventh inning with the help of Augusta’s defense when leadoff man Brewer Hicklen reached on a strikeout-wild pitch in front of Dennicher Carrasco reaching base on a throwing error by the third baseman. A Cristian Perez single to left scored Hicklen before another wild pitch scored Carrasco and a sacrifice fly by Ricky Aracena knotted the game up at five. An inning later, Nick Pratto singled to open the inning, moved to second on another wild pitch before advancing to third on a fly ball to right. Finally, the fourth wild pitch in two innings brought home Pratto for the lead and eventual winning run.

Nick Pratto: 3-4, R, 2b, K
Cristian Perez: 2-3, R, RBI
Tyler Zuber: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 K, 23p/14k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5, Salem Red Sox 4

Rocks catcher Meibrys Viloria led the way to a win over Salem on Sunday to finish off a road series win. In the fourth inning of a 1-1 game with two on, the young catcher tagged his second home run of the season to quickly put his squad up 4-1. After starter Gerson Garabito gave back two runs the next inning, Viloria added an insurance run in the eighth with a two out single to center to score Kort Peterson. In the bottom of that inning, reliever Josh Mitchell ran into some trouble, allowing an unearned run, but teammate Bryan Brickhouse came in and shut the door getting a groundout in the eighth before scoreless ninth with two strikeouts.

Bryan Brickhouse: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1-0 GO-FO, 18p/13k
Kort Peterson: 2-4, 2R, 2-2b, RBI
Khalil Lee: 1-4, R, 3 K

Midland RockHounds 5, NW Arkansas Naturals 2

The Naturals struggled to cash in opportunities, going 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position and dropping the game despite outhitting Midland. On the other end, the Naturals pitchers struggled with free passes, walking six, including four from starter Emilio Ogando. The lefty gave up three runs on four hits in just four innings while both relievers Yunior Marte and Pedro Fernandez gave up runs in the loss.

Elier Hernandez: 1-4, CS (4)
Nicky Lopez: 2-4, 2b, 2 RBI
Donnie Dewees: 2-4, R, K

Omaha Storm Chasers 8, Oklahoma City Dodgers 5 – F/12

The Chasers, lacking starters with the promotion of Trevor Oaks, turned to the bullpen on Sunday, using six different pitchers. Omaha struck out 16 hitters during the 12 inning affair. The two teams exchanged single tallies until the ninth inning, sending the game into extras tied at three. After the two teams navigated the free baserunner in the tenth, Omaha got on the board in the eleventh with a two-out single by Parker Morin. A wild pitch/third strike thrown by Luis Vazquez on a potentially game-ending strikeout scored a run for the Dodgers in the bottom half of the inning to even the game. The Chasers put the game away in the twelfth inning, starting the frame with a run-scoring triple by Adalberto Mondesi. That was followed by a single by Frank Schwindel to score Mondesi, and another triple by speedster Terrance Gore tacked on two runs to push the cushion to four, which turned out to be more than enough to earn the win.

Adalberto Mondesi: 2-6, R, 3b, RBI, SB (6)
Richard Lovelady: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2-2 GO-FO, 39p/27k
Frank Schwindel: 1-5, R, 2 RBI

Sunday Boxscores

Monday – No Minor League Games

Hitter of the Day Leaderboard: Elier Hernandez (5), Seuly Matias (4), Travis Jones (4)
Pitcher of the Day Leaderboard: Dan Tillo (3), Trevor Oaks (3)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Paulo Orlando 4-4 2R, 3-2b

BPKC Pitcher of the Day; Josh Staumont 4 Ip 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 3K 1-7 GO-FO 56p/38k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 3 Salem Red Sox 2 F/10

The Blue Rocks scored early and then got a break late to finish off a series win against Salem in the fourth game of their series. Hard-throwing Anthony Bender gave Wilmington his second longest outing of the year, tossing six innings while scattering six hits despite getting just one strikeout on the day. The offense had staked Bender to a 2-0 lead with an RBI single by Khalil Lee in the third and an RBI base hit by Nick Heath in the fourth. Unfortunately, Bender couldn’t keep that lead, letting in a run in fifth on an RBI triple by Chris Marrero and another run in the sixth with a two-out RBI single by Bobby Dalbec to tie it up 2-2. The game would stay static there until extra innings when Ofreidy Gomez was able to work around the free baserunner and the Rocks took advantage of a wayward bases-loaded pitch that caught the jersey of Chris DeVito before heading towards the backstop to easily score Khalil Lee for the walk-off win.

Khalil Lee: 2-5 R, RBI
Meibrys Viloria: 3-4 R, BB
Ofreidy Gomez: 4 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 4 BB 4 K 3-3 GO-FO 62p/34k

Omaha Storm Chasers 3 Round Rock Express 2

In a spot start, Josh Staumont gave Omaha four innings of one-run ball, allowing just a first inning solo home run as he stepped in for recently called up Scott Barlow. Trailing 1-0, the Chasers scored a run in the third following a Manny Olloque leadoff double after Billy Burns sacrificed him to third base and Frank Schwindel scored him on a groundout. An inning later it was a Paulo Orlando double that added a tally after he scored on Humberto Arteaga’s single. In the sixth, three consecutive Round Rock singles plated a run off lefty callup Jake Kalish but Omaha quickly countered with the same formula that they used in the fourth getting a run off an Orlando double and Arteaga single. From that point, Kalish would buzz through to the ninth where Kevin Lenik would take over with a quick 1-2-3 inning to earn the save.

Humberto Arteaga: 2-3 2 RBI
Frank Schwindel: 1-4 RBI
Manny Olloque: 1-3 R, 2b

Tuesday Probables
Omaha – Glenn Sparkman 5-2 2.96 ERA 1.06 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Emilio Ogando (lhp) 3-2 5.63 2.01 WHIP
Wilmington – Gerson Garabito 1-4 4.17 ERA 1.46 WHIP
Lexington – Carlos Hernandez 2-2 2.33 ERA 0.83 WHIP

Monday Boxscores

BPKC Hitter of the Day Donnie Dewees 3-4 2R, 2b, 2 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Franco Terrero 2 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 4 K 2-0 GO-FO 35p/20k

Delmarva Shorebirds 9 Lexington Legends 2

Another rough outing for Nolan Watson in this one as the former 1st round pick gave up nine runs on ten hits in five innings. The rough stuff started from the start of the game, allowing the first three hitters of the game to reach including a run-scoring double by T. J. Nichting that led to a two-run first inning. Two more in the second and five more in the fifth with three home runs surrendered for Watson to run his season ERA to 7.88. The offense struggled to get much going on their end getting a two-run home run by Brewer Hicklen but nothing else in the loss.

Brewer Hicklen 1-2 HR, 2 RBI, BB
Seuly Matias 0-3 BB, 2 K
Nick Pratto 1-3 BB, 2 K

Wilmington Blue Rocks 6 Carolina Mudcats 4

The Rocks took an early 3-0 lead in this one with rbi singles by Khalil Lee, Emmanuel Rivera and D.J. Burt in the first two innings. It was a battle for Gerson Garabito on his side with another three walk start from the right-hander but he escaped five innings with two runs allowed to leave with a lead in hand. Unfortunately, reliever Vance Tatum couldn’t lock things down, giving up a pair of runs on a two-out triple in the seventh. The Rocks quickly answered in the eighth with a rbi single by Kort Peterson before loading the bases with the help of an error and getting a bases-loaded walk to Chris DeVito to take the lead back. Reliever Bryan Brickhouse would enter in the eighth, working around a walk but getting the final six outs to earn his sixth save of the season.

Khalil Lee 2-4 2b, 2 RBI, BB
Emmanuel Rivera 1-5 R, RBI
Gerson Garabito 5 IP 8 H 2 R 2 ER 3 BB 6 K 3-2 GO-FO 97p/55k

NW Arkansas Naturals 7 Tulsa Drillers 3

The Naturals kept the hits coming on Friday night, finishing one shy of ten for just the second time in their last eight games but nine was enough on this night. The Drillers scored three unearned runs on a leadoff error and five hits off starter Zach Lovvorn in the first inning. In their half of the inning, the Naturals would quickly counter scoring a pair of runs with rbi singles by Erick Mejia and Nick Dini after the first four hitters in the inning all reached with singles. An inning later Mejia tripled in a pair and Nicky Lopez singled him in to give NW Arkansas a 5-3 lead. From there Lovvorn retired eleven of the final thirteen hitters he would face getting through six innings with just those three runs allowed in the first. The Naturals leadoff man Donnie Dewees having scored two runs earlier in the game drove in a pair in the bottom of the sixth to expand the lead and give more than enough room to hang onto the win.

Nicky Lopez 2-4 RBI
Erick Mejia 2-4 2R, 3b, 3 RBI
Jake Newberry 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 1K

Iowa Cubs 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 3

Omaha entered this game with the worst offense in the PCL in OPS and did very little to change that, getting shutout on just three hits through eight innings. This made Heath Fillmyer the likely loser after allowing four runs (3 ER) in six innings, giving up eight hits and three walks with a pair of two-run innings in the third and sixth innings. An insurance run in the ninth off Mike Broadway made it 5-0 heading into the last of the ninth for Omaha. Cubs reliever Dillon Maples quickly walked the bases loaded and walked in a run with one out to leave the Chasers an opportunity at a comeback. With a new reliever in the game, Paulo Orlando singled in a pair to get Omaha within a pair of runs but Humberto Arteaga would strikeout and Billy Burns would groundout to end the rally and the Chasers 1-7 homestand.

Ryan O’Hearn 1-3 R, BB
Hunter Dozier 0-2 R, 2BB
Richard Lovelady 2 IP 0 H 0 R 1 BB 1 K 0-5 GO-FO 30p/18k

Friday Boxscores

Saturday Probables
Omaha – Scott Barlow 1-0 1.08 ERA 1.20 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Scott Blewett 1-3 4.40 ERA 1.73 WHIP
Wilmington – Arnaldo Hernandez 4-0 2.61 ERA 1.48 WHIP
Lexington – Carlos Hernandez 0-1 11.57 ERA 2.57 WHIP

• Because of the slow offseason, the dismantling of the championship club hadn’t really happened yet, even though so many of the guys are no longer on the roster. Now, Lorenzo Cain is officially gone, having agreed to a five year deal for $80 million with his original club, the Milwaukee Brewers. I think it’s a great deal for all parties. Cain gets his money, though he was probably even worth more, but he definitely got his money. The Brewers picked up an elite defensive center fielder the same day they picked up another fantastic outfielder. And the Royals get a first round comp pick. If I’m to understand the collective bargaining agreement (and that’s no guarantee), I believe the Royals are now guaranteed to have the 32nd pick in the draft at worst. If Alex Cobb signs for more than $50 million with not the Rays, they’ll get the 31st pick, but then the Royals pick is next. It’ll be very difficult to see Cain in another uniform, but he accomplished everything he needed to in Royals blue, and he deserves all the praise and thank yous he’s been receiving. It was a lot of fun to watch him patrol center field since 2012, and I’m a little jealous of Brewers fans who now get to watch him every day.
• I still think the current market means the Royals should re-think their plan and maybe spend a little money, but as I’ve been saying all offseason, I really would be interested in seeing the Royals bring home Logan Morrison at the very least. Adding him and a center field option like Carlos Gomez or Jarrod Dyson wouldn’t put the Royals over the top, but it would certainly make them more watchable. Some of the reasons the Royals are interested in Hosmer should actually apply to Morrison in that he would take some pressure off young players as they make their way through the system and to the big leagues. With the market as it is and Morrison’s public desire to play for the Royals, I don’t think it’s crazy to think they can get the player who hit .246/.353/.516 in 2017 for a pretty affordable two or three year deal. And if the Royals really do believe in Samir Duenez or Nick Pratto in the not too distant future, Morrison could be the perfect stopgap. I get the idea that if you’re not going to make the playoffs, you might as well be horrible, but it’s also nice to see some competent baseball, so I’d be all for some incremental improvements that don’t impact the future beyond potential 2019 draft position.
• The Royals unveiled their 2018 promotional items and one that stuck out to me was a Whit Merrifield bobblehead on June 2. Aside from the sad reality that he’s primed to be one of the most marketable players on the team, I have to wonder if that says something about the possibility of him getting moved before the season. There have been a lot of rumors about his availability, but I feel like a bobblehead kind of tells us he isn’t going anywhere. Teams should never worry about things like this, but I have to wonder if they did field offers for him and found that the market wasn’t what they were looking for, so they know they’re going to keep him until at least mid-season. And that would make sense. I think a lot of people believed he was worth more in a trade than I thought was likely given what he is as a player. Maybe the Royals did too, so when they put him out there, the responses weren’t what they wanted. I don’t think the bobblehead is what is going to stop them from trading him, but them not trading him is why there’s a bobblehead. Of course, I’ve been wrong before, but I think there will be at least three more months of Whit as a Royal.
• I mentioned a couple center field options above, but that’s one area where I really hope the Royals do something to bring in a player who can at least be decent out there. The main options of Billy Burns, Paulo Orlando and Bubba Starling are just so bad that it’ll be truly painful to watch. But since 2018 isn’t likely to amount to much, the only option of those three who I think would be truly bad would be Billy Burns. My issue is that, while he’s fast, he’s not good defensively. If the Royals are going to rely on some young pitching this year, I’d much rather they don’t have guys losing outs because their center fielder in a huge park is subpar. At least with Orlando and Starling, you’ll get some good defense to help the pitching staff out. For my money, I’d go get a guy like Gomez or Dyson above or even a Cameron Maybin just to give some competence out there. Heck, even Peter Bourjos wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. The guy did have a .160 ISO last year and is at .141 in his career, so he has at least a bit of pop. Maybe he could be flipped if he has a career year. Basically what I’m saying is that the Royals need to just say no to Billy Burns.

Paulo Orlando’s first four games in the major leagues were highlighted by four triples. He was running wild on the bases, resurrecting memories of those Running Royals of the 1970’s. It was as if Orlando single-handedly brought back Astroturf and polyester uniforms to The K.

The triples dried up (he hit just two more in 82 games), and Orlando slumped to the finish line in his first full season in the majors. After that torrid start, his OBP dropped below .300 on May 2 and – save for one day later in the month – remained there for the rest of the season. He finished his rookie campaign with a .254 TAv, but was worth 0.5 WARP thanks to his superior defense.

Injuries and the absence of a better right field option meant Orlando saw an increase in his playing time in 2016. He didn’t hit his first triple until mid-May, but was able to maintain a longer stretch of productive offensive baseball. From May 1 to July 31, in a stretch of 242 plate appearances, Orlando hit .323/.350/.428. Like so many of his teammates, he eschews the walk in favor of contact. So for his numbers to be inflated like that meant his BABIP had to be off the charts. It was. In that three month stretch in 2016, Orlando had a .398 BABIP. That’s some serious helium.

The numbers dipped a bit over the last couple of months, but the overall line of .302/.329/.405 with a .257 TAv was impressive. The defense wasn’t as strong as the previous season, but he was still worth 0.7 WARP.

After a semi-successful first couple of seasons, the wheels came off in spectacular fashion in 2017. Like just about everyone with a bat, Orlando struggled from the first pitch of the season. He wasn’t expected to be a starter, but was in the lineup from Opening Day due to an injury to Jorge Soler. As the everyday right fielder, he hit just .149/.184/.149 over his first 50 plate appearances before he was exiled to Triple-A. He appeared in a handful of games for the Storm Chasers before a fractured shin saw him hit the 60 day DL.

He returned to Kansas City in September and hit .256/.275/.487 in limited action. It was a forgettable year for Orlando, with a meagre .185 TAv and -0.6 WARP.

Going forward, the Royals seem content to open the season with Orlando as their regular center fielder. After his demotion to Omaha last year, he does have one option remaining, so the Royals have flexibility. If they find a better option, they don’t have to keep Orlando on their 25 man roster.

As noted above, Orlando simply abhors the free pass. In 825 major league plate appearances, he’s accepted a walk only 2.3 percent of the time. Among the 285 hitters with at least 800 plate appearances over the last three sesaons, Orlando’s walk rate is dead last. Dead. Last.

For your consideration, the bottom five in walk rate from 2015 to 2017 with a minimum of 800 plate appearances.

That’s a table that takes your breath away.

Back to Orlando, he comes by that walk rate honestly, swinging at just about anything thrown his direction. For his career, he owns a swing rate on balls out of the strike zone of 39 percent. That’s almost 10 percent above league average. His overall swing rate is 58 percent, which is the 10th highest among our cohorts referenced above.

This hacktastic approach makes his offensive production heavily dependent upon his batting average on balls in play. Frankly, he’s been all over the place in his time in the big leagues.

Two years below .300, but a career average above because the his lone season above that mark was the season with his most plate appearances. It’s anyone’s guess where Orlando’s BABIP will settle with more playing time. The guess here is that with his consistent expansion of the strike zone he won’t make good enough contact on a regular basis to keep his BABIP above the .300 mark.

The strength of Orlando is with the glove. Over his career, he’s been worth seven defensive runs saved in center and nine defensive runs saved in right. In 2016, he was worth eight outs above average according to Statcast. Extrapolate the innings and you’re talking about a right fielder a notch below Jason Heyward and Yasiel Puig in the defensive spectrum. The glove most definitely plays.

However, Orlando is miscast as a regular outfielder. With his speed and superior defense, he certainly has a role, but it should be limited. It’s easy to see him as a late inning defensive replacement for someone like Jorge Soler or Jorge Bonifacio, or as a pinch runner should the situation call for one. These are two areas where Ned Yost is comfortable utilizing his bench, so there would be plenty of opportunity to get Orlando playing time. His career splits against left-handed pitching also suggest he would do well in a platoon role, should the opportunity arise.

With Orlando penciled in as the everyday center fielder, it’s a grim reminder at how much the Royals have lost with the departure of Lorenzo Cain.

Which makes it sound like someone died, which isn’t the look I was going for.

With only a .500 record to play for at this point, two entities can be served over the next few days. One is to appease the fans, which means a healthy dose of Hosmer, et al. The other is to figure out who may be worth putting in the lineup in 2018.

Which makes Wednesday night interesting. Hosmer and Moustakas went 0-for-5 combined. Melky and Esky each pulled a 2-for-4, but who even can guess as to what the plan for either is*?

*–They’re going to re-sign Esky and I’m honestly already pretty upset about it.

That leaves five starters from tonight returning for next season: Whit Merrifield, Brandon Moss, Alex Gordon, Paulo Orlando and Drew Butera.

Butera, simply spelling Salvador Perez barely registers, partly because Cam Gallagher could very well be the backup catcher next season. #TwoHitWhit may be the most promising young Royal going forward.

Two veterans treading water have gained and lost over the season’s final two months. Moss’ power has returned, to the point where another 20-homer campaign in 2018 isn’t out of the question. And Gordon, finally, saw his batting ability rebound—he’s now solidly back at dumpsterfire levels after spending most of the season as flaming hunks of whale poop. This is progress, in the way only a 20-point batting average jump from July 15-late September—all the way to a .211 average—can be.

And yet the intriguing person is Paulo Orlando.

Paulo hit .302 in 2016, yet the club elected to bring Jorge Soler aboard. There was some chatter that Paulo could take the right field job and run with it, yet injury and ineffectiveness made him a non-factor.

Now that Cain and Cabrera are about to (maybe) leave (probably), Orlando could be a real major factor moving forward. And if so, clubbing the 412-foot home run Wednesday night might be a step in the right direction.

I’m talking up Paulo Orlando and Alex Gordon. I’m both devoid of ideas and ready to see what the next wave of Royals looks like.

We could spend some time talking Royals-Tigers, or we could assume two teams playing out the string had ups (starting pitchers Jordan Zimmermann and Jason Hammel turning in quality starts) and downs (every Tigers reliever except Shane Greene allowed an earned run). Both squads will have some tough days on the way—hopefully, it’s the Royals who come out ahead in the end, whether by timely free-agent signings, shrew drafting or both (hopefully both).

Other positives for the Royals included:

• Coming back from a three-run deficit.
• Three relief innings, one earned run.
• Error-free baseball

Look, maybe it’s a short list, but it’s still a list.

Thursday night will feature the Royals final game against the Tigers, the American League Central and the AL in gnereal. Danny Duffy squares off against Daniel Norris at 7:15 p.m. (CT).