BPKC Hitter of the Day Emmanuel Rivers 4-6 2R, 2-2b, 3 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Andres Sotillet 9 IP 7 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 10 K 7-6 GO-FO 113p/79k

The Royals signed a pair of international prospects in OF Jaswel De Los Santos and Japanese 16 year old pitcher Kaito Yuki.

Lexington Legends 5 Greensboro Grasshoppers 0

The Legends received one of their best pitching performance of the season on Saturday night as right-hander Andres Sotillet dominated the Greensboro lineup for a complete game shutout. Setting a new career high in strikeouts the Venezuelan born 21-year old put away 10 hitters via strikeout while allowing just seven hits on 113 pitches (79 strikes) during the outing. The offense was led by Sotillet’s batterymate, MJ Melendez as the catcher drove in four of the team’s five runs with a solo home run in the second, a two-run double in the second and a rbi groundout in the seventh.

MJ Melendez 2-4 HR, 2b, 4 RBI
Brewer Hicklen 2-3 2R, HR, RBI, BB, 2 SB
Cal Jones 2-3 R

Wilmington Blue Rocks 9 Lynchburg Hillcats 7 F/13

The Rocks welcomed Emmanuel Rivera back in the lineup with the third baseman helping lead the way to an extra-inning win. The third baseman connected on four hits including a pair of doubles while driving in three and scoring two himself. The two teams were tied after nine innings where they exchanged runs through 12 innings before D.J. Burt’s twelfth inning singled scored two and reliever Tyler Zuber closed out the inning to earn the save.

Gabe Cancel 1-5 3R, BB
Rudy Martin 1-5 3K
Jace Vines 6 IP 7 H 2 R 2 ER BB 3 K 7-3 GO-FO 84p/57k

Corpus Christi Hooks 4 NW Arkansas Naturals 0

Starter Scott Blewett got off to a slow start, giving up three consecutive hits to start the game including a two-run double. After recording one out Blewett walked the bases loaded before giving up a two-out single to put the Naturals down 4-0. From there Blewett would give up just one hit over his final four innings of work while the NW Arkansas offense mustered just six singles in a shutout loss.

Khalil Lee 1-4
Grant Gavin 2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 1 K 2-1 GO-FO 33p/17k
Scott Blewett 5 IP 5 H 4 R 4 ER 2 BB 4 K 5-2 GO-FO 82p/55k

Memphis Redbirds 3 Omaha Storm Chasers 2

The two teams exchanged multiple run innings but Memphis did a tad more in this win. Three consecutive hits to start the second inning off Jake Kalish led to three runs in that inning with Oscar Mercado’s double and a one-out single by Alex Mejia accounted for all three Memphis runs. The Chasers countered with a pair of runs in the fifth on a rbi single by Donnie Dewees and Billy Burns but had just one hit over the final four innings to drop the game.

Nicky Lopez 1-4
Donnie Dewees 1-3 RBI
Jake Kalish 7 IP 9 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 5 K 4-4 GO-FO 95p/71k

Burlington Royals 2 Greeneville Reds 1

The Royals got a late home run from Jackson Lueck to snap their losing streak after receiving some quality pitching. Starter Malcolm Van Buren who came in with seven runs allowed in two and two-thirds innings tossed five one-run innings. The hard-throwing right-hander struckout five hitters in that time while allowing five hits and one walk. The two teams exchanged runs in the fifth inning before Lueck’s eighth-inning home run gave Burlington the eventual lead and the win.

Jackson Lueck 1-4 HR, 3K
Jose Marquez 2-3 2b
Malcolm Van Buren 5 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-4 GO-FO 72p/46k

Idaho Falls Chukars 11 Orem Owlz 8

For the second night in a row, the Chukars broke out the big bats in Orem. A pair of two-run home runs by Reed Rohlman and Nick Hutchins helped lead the way as the combined nine hits, four walks with three Orem errors to help put up three runs in the second and six more in the fifth as they built a 9-1 lead. Second-round pick Jonathan Bowlan did plenty with that lead, tossing five innings with just one run allowed on two hits and two walks while striking out six on just 61 pitches. The Hutchins home run in the seventh pushed the advantage to 11-1. The relief corp of Nathan Webb and Christopher Marte struggled, giving up seven runs in two and two-thirds innings before Jaret Hellinger closed out the game.

Jonathan Bowlan 5 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 6 K 6-3 GO-FO 61p/41k
Reed Rohlman 2-5 2R, HR, 2 RBI
Nick Hutchins 2-4 3R, 2b, HR, 2 RBI

Saturday Boxscores

Sunday Probables
Omaha – Glenn Sparkman 7-3 3.96 ERA 1.27 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Foster Griffin 3-10 6.00 ERA 1.58 WHIP
Wilmington – Ofreidy Gomez 2-7 4.06 ERA 1.55 WHIP
Lexington – Yefri Del Rosario 0-4 6.95 ERA 1.68 WHIP
Burlington – Austin Cox 0-1 0.00 ERA 0.90 WHIP
Idaho Falls – Jon Heasley 0-0 4.66 ERA 1.86 WHIP
Surprise – Adrian Alcantara 1-0 5.68 ERA 1.89 WHIP

White Sox Receive
Joakim Soria RH Reliever
Luis Avilan 

The White Sox add a pair of relievers who they can put toward the back end of their bullpen without having to give up any major prospects in the process. For a team in a major market, just a couple years into their rebuild, the $9m the White Sox take on in the Soria contract isn’t a whole lot for a team that prior to this deal lacked a closer candidate. Will he get them over the top? No, but he offers them a veteran reliever they can lean on while their young arms develop.

Dodgers Receive
Scott Alexander LH Reliever
Jake Peters 3b

The Dodgers clearly get the jewel of this deal in Alexander, one year after the left-handed reliever established himself as a true fireman last season for Ned Yost. Despite the Dodgers being unwilling to take on payroll, they get an extreme groundball pitcher with five years of team control in his inexpensive seasons for a pair of prospects that are fringy and weren’t likely to see the light of day on a roster stacked to the brim.

Royals Receive
Trevor Oaks RHP Triple-A
Erick Mejia Utility Infielder Double-A
Soria $9m salary relief

This deal is just as much about the $9m the Royals are trimming from payroll as it is the players that they are getting in return. Losing Soria’s contract off the payroll lowers the outgo to approximately $109m for the Royals which gets them one step closer to freeing up the necessary space needed to resign Eric Hosmer.

Trevor Oaks – An athletic right-handed starter, Oaks fits into what is becoming quite the logjam of fringe major league starters between Kansas City and Omaha. Last season Oaks was limited by an oblique strain but was solid for the Triple-A squad when healthy, creating a 51% groundball rate against a 4-1 K-BB rate. The fastball works low to mid 90s, touching 96 next to his cutter/slider and sinker. The fastball and sinker work as a pair to attack hitters and get groundballs before he tries to finish off hitters with the slider. In addition to that mix, he also works in a changeup that lagged behind without use but could develop into an average major league pitch. Oaks goes to the front of the line in a competition among Eric Skoglund, Scott Barlow, Andres Machado and a few others in an attempt to take the 5th or 6th man in the rotation.

Erick Mejia – Originally acquired by the Dodgers for Joe Wieland in 2016 Mejia clubbed seven home runs this past season after hitting just five during the previous five seasons. An above average runner with a tick above average arm he likely tops out as a major league utility guy who can play second, third and shortstop while providing some speed off the bench. Expect him to head to Omaha this season to add a little depth and protection behind Raul Mondesi and alongside Ramon Torres and Nicky Lopez should Mondesi continue his struggles at the major league level. The best possible comp is likely that of Erick Aybar, the former Angels shortstop.

Overall this deal is all about creating salary space in order to re-sign Eric Hosmer while adding to the depth of their current backend rotation. Left-handed relief is a position of strength for Kansas City with Eric Stout ready to compete for a spot in the bullpen and Richard Lovelady pushing hard behind him. This offseason’s theme thus far for GMDM has been to add young and controllable backend rotation starters with Oaks adding to Barlow, also of the Dodgers, with Rule 5 arms Burch Smith and Brad Keller. Expect another deal of a Royals starting pitcher to be coming very soon behind this one.

• I’m thankful that we’re discussing whether or not the Royals should head into a rebuild. The fact that it’s a conversation means they were in anything but that, which is a welcome change from the better part of my life. This is an organization that was responsible for basically a city-wide day off for a little parade less than 25 months ago. Yes, that number grows and it will likely grow for awhile as they work to rebuild a winner at some point in the hopefully near future, but they made it so we sort of got used to winning in Kansas City. They made it so a couple seasons where they basically averaged being a .500 team were considered highly disappointing. I tell this story a lot, but back before 2013, my idea of a successful season was a meaningful game in September. I think we got that and a lot more, and that’ll keep me satisfied for at least a few more years. That’s not to say I won’t be critical when the situation calls for it or even get impatient and accept losing, but it’ll be awhile before I lose that feeling of the joy the 2014 and 2015 teams gave me as a lifelong fan.
• I’m thankful to get to watch Salvador Perez almost every day as a member of my favorite team. He most certainly has his flaws as a player. I mean, would it kill him to lay off a pitch every once in awhile? But he also has such a crazy joy for the game that it’s really great to watch him. I think he has an opportunity to be one of the leaders as the Royals usher in the next wave of big leaguers over the next few seasons, even if his durability continues to take a hit and his decline accelerates. I think he has an ability to reach both the American and Latin players, which is a skill that is worth quite a bit given the diversity within the game. For a player to be able to reach both guys like Cheslor Cuthbert and Hunter Dozier, it takes a special talent. Perez, along with a few others, is one of the main reasons why the Royals clubhouse was so strong during their run over the past few seasons. Hopefully he can continue that with the next wave and I can continue to be thankful for that.
• I’m thankful for the guys who came out of nowhere to be key contributors to the Royals. The two names that pop into my head are Scott Alexander and Whit Merrifield, but there are others. Watching a top prospect burn through the minors and make it to the big leagues and find success is a satisfying thing in a way, but for some reason, the guys who had no business making it are really fun to watch. In Alexander, the Royals have uncovered a pitcher who can get a ground ball almost at will in a time when the ball is flying out of the park at a faster rate than ever before. I’m not convinced he’s a closer like some were during the season, but his ability to handle just about any situation is something that will serve him well in bullpens for many years. With Merrifield, watching a player alter his approach to become an above average player is so satisfying. He isn’t necessarily the prototypical out of nowhere guy given that he was drafted relatively high, but he did spend quite some time in the minors and was even left unprotected for the Rule 5 draft a couple years ago. Maybe he won’t be able to maintain what he did in 2017, but if he can even come close, he’s an insanely valuable player either for the Royals or as a trade chip.
• And mostly I’m thankful for you for reading this and all the other pieces at BP Kansas City every day. Without you, we’d be writing to ourselves, which isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world, I guess, but it’s much better to have an audience who cares. So I thank you for that and hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

• If the Royals do go into 2018 with expectations to compete, the bullpen is going to need to be a major focus for them, which is going to be a difficult task given what they already have committed to the payroll for next season. I think we all feel good about Scott Alexander in the bullpen next year and for all the disappointment of the Padres trade, Ryan Buchter has actually been pretty good for the Royals as well. Kelvin Herrera looked as good as he’s looked all year on Tuesday night, and a bounceback season from him would be helpful. Then you add in Joakim Soria’s solid season (I know there will be arguments on that given the blown saves, but he’s been better than you probably realize) and that’s not a terrible base to work with. Still, I think they need at least one more impact arm. Mike Minor would be perfect if money was no object, but I fear he’ll be looking for a deal like Brett Cecil got last season from the Cardinals and the Royals really don’t need to be spending $30 million plus on a reliever. The odds are that if they don’t spend big, which as a reminder, they shouldn’t, they’ll need to find a surprise either in the minor league system or a free agent. Whatever it is they do, the bullpen will need to be addressed.
• After the free agents leave, assuming they mostly do, this is going to be an organization filled with role players at the top. Having role players is not a bad thing at all. Great teams need role players, but they need stars as well. As much fun as it’s been to watch Whit Merrifield this year, if he’s your best player, you’re probably a bad team. If he’s a supporting player to your other three best, you have a chance to be pretty good. Right now, looking at the 2018 roster, there isn’t a star in the bunch, other than maybe Danny Duffy on the pitching staff, but even he hasn’t shown he can be a true star yet. The key for the Royals both next year and in the near future is Raul Mondesi, and I really wish he’d have gotten more at bats down the stretch. Hitting .305/.340/.539 in Triple-A with 41 extra base hits in just 357 plate appearances has made me hopeful again that he can be that top line player the Royals need so badly. He has looked much more comfortable in this stint in the big leagues, but he’s also played sparingly and had just eight at bats, so I don’t think that tells us much. I just know that if the Royals want to get back to the promised land relatively quickly, they need Mondesi to step up and soon. And realistically, they need someone else to step up as well. I see a few options, but I don’t have a ton of confidence in any of them. Hunter Dozier and Jorge Soler could be those guys if they take huge steps forward, but it might be a couple years while the guys in the lower levels progress through the system before we see someone else who could help support the role players.
• There is a bit of a problem with the Royals needing Mondesi and it’s that I’m terrified of what might happen with Alcides Escobar. Heading into action on Thursday night, he’d hit .333/.353/.512 in his last 56 games, spanning 171 plate appearances. That’s 54 hits with 20 extra base hits. The encouraging thing about it is that he’s only struck out in 10.5 percent of those plate appearances, so the extra contact will help a little bit, but he hasn’t exactly been tearing the cover off the ball with plenty of soft contact in that time. I have about the biggest worry I can that the Royals will look at this stretch and see Escobar as a player who just had a tough start to the season and will re-sign him to a one or two year deal. He was never truly as bad as he was during his horrifically slow start, but at the same time, he is not nearly as good as he’s been lately. If the Royals want Mondesi to develop into a star, he needs to be the shortstop. I have no doubt he could handle second or even center field as some have mentioned, but he needs to play shortstop, so the Royals better not re-sign Escobar or else I’ll write a strongly worded article about it, and ain’t nobody wanting that.
• This season hasn’t gone as we all hoped from the start, but there have been plenty of ups to go along with the downs that we would all like to forget. It’s been a season of wondering how the Royals would handle the core offensive players leaving, and now we’re about to find out. But through it all, you’ve been right there with us, so I just wanted to take this brief opportunity to thank you for going through this ride with us at BP Kansas City. We’ll do it again next year with a whole different cast and crew to get mad at for things out of our control.

Yet here we were mere moments ago, watching helplessly as Scott Alexander loaded the bases after Kelvin Herrera was pulled—again—due to injury—again—leaving Alexander to clean up the mess.

And Alexander delivered. I’m so mad that overshadows Mike Moustakas, but we’ll get to him in a second. Let’s talk about how the ninth inning went all derpy again.

Let’s start with the fact that Kelvin Herrera clearly isn’t right.

Ten days ago against Colorado, this same situation unfolded. Herrera’s velocity fell off, his command deserted him and he walked off with Nick Kenney as Alexander finished off the game.

He’d faced eight batters since then prior to tonight, none in a save situation, and was… fine. The velocity was fine. He didn’t throw many breaking pitches, but 97 mph is still 97 mph.

Tonight’s velocity didn’t drop off precipitously, and he didn’t throw a single breaking pitch. But he still lost command, and he still loaded the bases and gave up a two-run single and Salvador Perez still summoned the trainer out to have a look at Herrera, and Alexander still had to finish it off, in a bad situation no less (sacks full, two down, on the road).

So maybe Ned should let Herrera cool his jets for a little while. I know the Royals are technically in the Wild Card race, by the loosest definition of the word, but is it worth Herrera’s long-term health for the four percent chance of getting into the Wild Card play-in game?

So the ninth was a gasoline-fueled disaster. Max Kepler led off by reaching on an error. Then Herrera got Mitch Garver to pop up and Kennys Vargas to ground out.

So two down, man on second. Should be a pretty easy finish, right?

Well… no. Zack Granite (real name, apparently) walked on five pitches, then Brian Dozier got nailed on the elbow with a pitch.

Bases loaded, nobody out—in seven pitches, we went from “Game in hand” to “touch-and-go”. And Herrera hadn’t allowed a hit.

Until Joe Mauer singled up the middle to score Kepler and Granite and pull Minnesota to within a run.

And still Herrera wasn’t pulled, languishing for three pitches to Jorge Polanco—all balls—before being lifted.

Since I’ve now spent 400 words on the ninth inning—easily the worst part of this game from the Royals perspective—let’s talk about No. 36.

Mike Moustakas has tied Steve Balboni for the #Royals‘ single-season home run record of 36. pic.twitter.com/1GpVfGJVd2

— Today in the MLB (@TodayintheMLB) September 2, 2017

Mike Moustakas lasered his season’s 36^th home run into the right field stands to tie Steve Balboni’s franchise single-season record, part of a five-run third inning which ultimately held up for the Good Guys. He’s got a month left to get the record; I think he’s gonna get there, guys. Just a feeling.

Also having a good night for the Royals was Melky Cabrera, who doubled twice, including a run-scoring double to drive in Lorenzo Cain (who drove in Alcides Escobar) prior to Moustakas’ homer. And Polanco was no slouch for the Twins, homering the first off Jason Hammel and scoring Mauer on a sac fly in the third.

Branond Moss’ 18^th (seriously) home run of the season wrapped up the Royals scoring before everything went sideways in the ninth. Thank God for Scott Alexander, right?

(Never thought I’d see that in a sentence in 2017.)

Onelki Garcia toes the slab Saturday for the Royals opposite Kyle Gibson. First pitch from Target Field is 6:10 p.m. (CT).

The formula derailed a bit in 2016, mostly due to injuries. The vaunted HDH trio was no more. Greg Holland was recovering from Tommy John surgery while Wade Davis spent multiple stints on the disabled list for a strained forearm. Luke Hochevar’s season was also cut short with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome while Joakim Soria struggled in his return to the Royals.

The defense took a hit as well. Lorenzo Cain missed plenty of time as did Mike Moustakas. Alex Gordon missed a few weeks, too. And then there was the revolving door at second base. The 2016 season suffered for many reasons, but the strengths of the team was decimated by injuries, and that led to a lot of issues.

This season, the emphasis was a little different. You know how the offensive gameplan changed and we’ve seen that in action. This year’s team looked primed to have its best starting rotation in years and a bullpen that maybe wasn’t quite on par with what previous iterations had looked like. Davis was traded, leaving only Herrera from the great 2014 unit. Soria would need to bounce back and the Royals were counting heavily on a rookie with limited big league experience in Matt Strahm.

Before the season began, my evaluation of the bullpen was that I thought it could be a good unit, but not one of the two or three best in the league anymore. Luckily, it wouldn’t have to be because of the starting rotation. And with a very good lefty specialist in Travis Wood and a very good righty specialist in Peter Moylan to go along with the guys we’ve discussed and the hope of Mike Minor as a reliever, I believed the bullpen could definitely be good enough.

I’m not here to rehash how that all worked out, but I am here to tell you that it took some time and some tweaks, but the Royals are now prepared for the postseason after their trade on Monday. The back of the bullpen still isn’t on par with the 2014 team or even the 2015 team, but few bullpens are. Where they make up for that is in depth, and the depth of this bullpen is kind of crazy.

I imagine the eighth and ninth won’t change. That’ll still be Soria and Herrera, which I’m sure people have opinions about, but both are very good relievers and I would expect them to excel in their roles. Beyond that, the Royals have the ability to mix and match in ways most teams don’t. I’m assuming they continue on with an eight-man bullpen because Ned Yost doesn’t believe in a bench, so let’s take a look at what they have to offer beyond their main setup man and closer.

From the right side, they have some thunder. Admittedly, some of that thunder is from down under and not on the radar gun in Moylan who is just death to right-handed bats (.168/.258/.215). Then they can go to Neftali Feliz, who hasn’t been great on the whole this season, but has thrown some quality innings. Or there is their new acquisition, Brandon Maurer, who throws 97 and might be a small adjustment or two away from being a dominant reliever himself.

From the left side, this is where it gets special. With the addition of Ryan Buchter and the crazy spin rates on his fastball, they have three guys who can dominate a game. Scott Alexander has a 93-95 mph sinker that generates ground balls at a rate rarely seen. Minor has a great strikeout to walk ratio and a 2.69 ERA.

Minor is better against lefties than Moylan is against righties with a .123/.194/.158 line allowed, but he’s held righties to a .678 OPS too. Alexander has actually been hit hard by lefties, but handled righties quite well. And Buchter is excellent against lefties, and he holds his own against righties like Minor.

And let’s not forget the playoff X-factor here, Trevor Cahill. I think one of the added bonuses of acquiring him is the ability to put him in the bullpen come playoff time and let him do his work out there. Before returning to starting this season, Cahill put together a really nice season-plus run with the Cubs as a reliever. His ground ball rate and his ability to get strikeouts, along with being able to get multiple innings in a relief outing, could make him a huge key in a short playoff series.

So yes, the first mission is actually getting to the postseason. None of this matters a lick if they can’t do that, obviously. But once they do, picture the Royals being able to use their starters to get through the lineup twice before turning it over to a bullpen that features three options from the right side and four from the right side before unleashing the power back of their bullpen to close the game down.

Between the bullpen depth giving the Royals the ability to shorten games once again and the Royals finding themselves healthy in 2017, this team looks ready to go for the postseason. It’s a slight variation on a previous formula, but this one sure looks like it might be able to work and make the Royals a matchup nightmare in October.

A top two of Zimmer, who is currently assigned to NW Arkansas, and Staumont would give Omaha their best twosome since June of 2013 when Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura were fronting a rotation that would eventually win a PCL title.

Race Back On – Despite Raul Mondesi’s outstanding spring, his lingering back problems have re-opened the door open for the second base competition. With that opening, Christian Colon took advantage, going 5 for 9 through Saturday with a home run and a double. That home run was the first spring home run of his career which seems amazing considering the light air that Surprise and other Arizona sites offer. Should Christian or Whit the second base job the Royals could keep Raul in Omaha for much of the year, gaming service time should he stay through July while also helping him refine his pitch recognition and plate approach.

Peter Moylan Photo credit: Denny Medley, USA Today Sports

Final Bullpen Spot – After learning he had diabetes, Scott Alexander has adjusted his diet and turned back into the pitcher that I thought he could be a year ago. A lefty with a good slider and fastball, Alexander is giving Peter Moylan, a very reliable pitcher a year ago, one heck of a battle for that final bullpen spot. With a lack of a 40 man spot opening up unless the Royals make a trade it could prove difficult for Moylan to earn a spot on the Royals opening day squad. With an opt-out date of March 28th available what may decide Moylan’s fate is the battle for the fifth rotation spot as much as his personal battle with Alexander. The Royals bullpen as it stands would be lefty heavy should Nathan Karns secure the fifth starter spot, leaving a possible bullpen of Herrera, Strahm, Soria, Wood, Young, Minor and Alexander. Having a heavily lefty weighted pen versus the Indians would be nice but against teams like the Twins, Tigers and White Sox it could leave the Royals at a disadvantage considering the majority of those team’s power hitters dig in the right-handed batter’s box. Finding a spot for Moylan and his .583 career OPS versus RHH is something the Royals most certainly should be seeking.

Khalil’in it – We are starting to see more and more buzz about Royals 3rd round draft pick Khalil Lee with tweets like these from BA writers J.J. Cooper and Bill Mitchell.

We here at BPKC have been driving the Khalil Lee fan bus since his selection with the 103rd pick last year. More and more of the national writers are starting to come around now and a likely assignment to Lexington, a good hitting environment, while still not even 19 years old should do nothing to temper expectations. There are a couple of intriguing questions to look for in regards to Lee should he break with the Legends.

Do the Royals widen his stance? This is something the Royals have done with a few prospects and while it leads to a more balanced swing, I believe it also saps the explosiveness. If Lee maintains his current patient approach then I see no need to make any changes in his swing until proven different.

How often does he play center? The Royals have moved Marten Gasparini to center field, a spot better suited to his athletic ability and limited baseball background. Will this limit Lee’s playing time in the more premium defensive spot?

Center of Attention – Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweeted out some good information on Donnie Dewees chances to play center field the other day. While a seemingly innocent comment to some, Dewees ability to play center would be a revelation to the organization that lacks playable depth at the premium position beyond Paulo Orlando in 2018. When the Royals made the trade for Dewees, most reports said the speedster with plus speed that lacked the arm to play the position, leaving him as a corner outfielder that lacked pop. If Dewees can handle center then his career prospects take a major step up.

Lacking in Locals – A year removed from a stellar local prep class, the ’17 version is lacking in MLB prospects. At this point, it is extremely doubtful we see a local prepster in the Top 150 picks of this year’s draft. The top “local” selections appear to be college talent in Missouri’s Tanner Houck, local guy via LSU, Alex Lange, and big slugging Jake Burger of Missouri State. The Royals aren’t a favorite to select Burger with the 14th pick, but that doesn’t mean he can’t swing it, hitting .351/.444/.784 entering Sunday’s game with 9 home runs.

Not quite a local guy is Iowa Western’s talented lefty Dan Tillo. A former Iowa Mr. Basketball who works in the 91-93 mph range with his fastball while tossing a low 80s slider that earns plenty of swings and misses (32 in 20.1 IP) at the JUCO level. Lefties that register in at 6’5 235 lbs. with athleticism aren’t everywhere in this game and should intrigue the Royals with a possible buyout of his Arkansas commitment.

Transactions – The Royals traded Brandon Dulin to the White Sox for a player to be named later or cash consideration. The first baseman from a Kansas City JUCO and Lee’s Summit North high school, Dulin hit .258 with 8 home runs in 2016 between Lexington and Idaho Falls after being selected in the 12th round of the 2013 draft.

Reliever Brandon League was released from his minor league contract on Sunday by the Royals. Along with the bullpen crunch at the major league level, the Royals will face critical decisions between the quality of pitchers they have at Triple-A and Double-A. Do they keep multiple minor league signees and push a pitcher or two back to High-A when they deserve a spot on the NW Arkansas roster? How does that affect his development in the future? These are the decisions that organizations are faced with prior to and during the season.

For Royals minor league and draft coverage follow me on Twitter @ClintScoles

Featured Photo – Credit: © Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s start with that.

The biggest addition to the September roster is going to be Wade Davis, who pitched a perfect rehab inning with the Storm Chasers and did so on 15 pitches, 13 of them strikes. That’s solid. Adding him to a bullpen performing so well already will make that unit as good as its been all season. Being able to push down the back of the bullpen will allow the Royals to turn games into five or six inning affairs with the starting rotation. The starters have been great lately, but with that deep of a bullpen, Ned Yost may not have to push quite as hard.

The bullpen will likely also include a few guys who have seen big league time this season. That means Scott Alexander, Brooks Pounders and maybe Alec Mills will return. None are impact pitchers, but they can all help the staff soak up some innings and maybe even get some big outs along the way.

Edit: Scott Alexander was called up prior to the series finale against the Yankees after Chien-Ming Wang was placed on the disabled list. He won’t be a September call-up after all. 

Edit 2: And now Pounders has been called up as well with Christian Colon getting caught in the roster crunch and heading to Omaha until their season ends on September 5th. 

What I’m most curious about in the bullpen (or maybe the rotation) is how the Royals handle Kris Medlen and Jason Vargas. I didn’t expect Vargas to even have a shot to pitch in the big leagues this year, but his rehab clock is up on September 6, so the Royals will either have to take him off the disabled list or pull him from his rehab stint. He hasn’t been very good with a 7.88 ERA in two Omaha starts, but he might be up in spite of that. The decision on Medlen doesn’t have to come until September 15, but that’s still before end of the season. Like Vargas, he wasn’t very good in his first couple appearances in Omaha, but he has three scoreless innings in his last two outings in relief, so maybe he can contribute.

One other name on the pitching staff to watch for is Nick Tepesch. He’s nothing special, but is a live arm. Of course, if he is DFA’d to make room for someone else on the 40-man, he won’t be part of the conversation, so just keep him in mind.

We could also potentially see Miguel Almonte, but man has he been rough this year. I’m not so sure the Royals will get him to the big leagues, possibly opting just to get this season behind him as fast as possible.

Offensively, I imagine we’ll see some guys we’ve seen before in Kansas City as well, assuming health. Whit Merrifield, Tony Cruz and Reymond Fuentes are all good bets to be up next month. We likely won’t see much of Cruz, but Fuentes and Merrifield could play decent-sized roles. We’ll also see Terrance Gore get to be a big leaguer for the third straight September (and he’s seen time before September, so he fits here).

A couple players are on the 40-man roster, but haven’t seen big league time. One has had a very nice season while the other, well, hasn’t. Jorge Bonifacio has had the nice season, hitting for a decent average and a lot of power. Reports are that he’s looked a little better defensively as well, so that’s a plus. I don’t see a reason not to call him up, but the Royals have done that before. The other is Bubba Staring who has had a less than good season between Double and Triple-A. I suppose they could call him up to play defense and run the bases, but I also wouldn’t count on that.

Oh. And Ramon Torres, a middle infielder, is on the 40-man roster. I mean, I guess he could get called up and play some defense or something. Anyway, moving on.

There are two players not currently on the 40-man who have a shot to be on the September roster. One is the guy they acquired just two days ago, Daniel Nava. I don’t think he’ll be an impact bat or anything, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a veteran who can draw a walk. No, Yost doesn’t pitch hit, but maybe he can go up there for Gore after Gore pinch ran for Kendrys Morales. The other is Hunter Dozier, who has had a monster year between Northwest Arkansas and Omaha. He’ll have to be added to the 40-man roster anyway after the season, so the Royals could just do that now if they want to. Of course, there are some roster maneuvers needed to make that happen, but there’s pretty much always a way. I’d like to see Dozier get a shot personally.

So those are your callups.

Since all we can think about now is what the Royals have to do to make the playoffs, let’s take a look at how that can happen. With the recent trends, I’m not sure they actually have to get to 90 wins to take the second Wild Card. Still, let’s pretend like that’s the case. With last night’s loss, the Royals need to finish 21-9 to get there. With 18 home games out of 30, that certainly helps. With 14 games left against teams below .500 and 12 games against the Tigers/Indians, they have a shot to make up that ground.

I’ve said this many times, but I’ll repeat it here because that’s okay to do. If they just win every single series without sweeping one, they’ll get to 90 wins. Not that it’s easy, but it certainly seems like something that could happen. If they don’t win every series, they’ll need to find a sweep somewhere or hope that 90 wins really isn’t the number they need.

I would think it would be very difficult to win all nine series they have remaining. They’ll need to take both against Detroit, I’d think, but they can probably stand to lose a series against the Indians if they can really go to town during their 14-game stretch against the Twins, White Sox and A’s. When I say go to town, I mean something like 12-2. That would allow them to just go 9-7 in the other 16 games, which seems like a very real possibility.

So yeah, go ahead and beat the Yankees, but September is where the fun happens. I have visions of Gore scoring from first on singles and Davis closing out games and Bonifacio maybe even hitting a big home run. We’ve done the Septembers with nothing to play for. The way the Royals do it now is much more fun.

The starting pitching is the one spot on the team where youth and inexperience at the AAA level is featured on the club. The Chasers have seven combined AAA starts from their group of youngsters headlined by Miguel Almonte that also includes Jon Dziedzic, Luke Farrell and Brooks Pounders to begin their season. The one veteran in that rotation is John Lannan, the former Washington Nationals left-handed starter who the Royals signed in the offseason. The one obvious omission from the rotation is that of Kyle Zimmer who remained at extended spring training in Arizona with continued shoulder problems.

The bullpen features a nice mix of former major league relievers and a few talented arms and should be one of the assets that manager Brian Poldberg gets to use throughout the season. The strength there definitely relies in the left-handed arms of Scott Alexander and Brian Flynn, both of whom could ride the I-29 bus between Omaha and Kansas City this season. Along with those two lefty power arms, Malcom Culver and Aroni Nina will pair to give a different look for hitters from the group of veteran relievers that features Brian Duensing, David Huff, Clayton Mortensen and Peter Moylan. Of course, Duensing is returning home as a former Cornhusker and Millard South graduate whose high school is just six miles away from the current Storm Chasers stadium.

Much like the pitching group, the position group is full of former major league players and a few others who have had plenty of success at the AAA level. The outfield is loaded with potential players who could fill in at the big league level during the season this year. The biggest named prospect is newbie Jorge Bonifacio who had a solid spring training for the big league club. The biggest challenge for manager Brian Poldberg could be finding at bats for the many players who have had success at the AAA level in the past couple of seasons.

The Chasers and the three other Royals affiliates start their minor league season today with the following starting pitchers taking the mounds for their respective teams.

Miguel Almonte Omaha vs New Orleans Zephyrs (Miami Marlins)
Alec Millers NW Arkansas vs Frisco Rough Riders (Texas Rangers)
Zach Lovvorn Wilmington vs Potomac Nationals (Washington Nationals)
Scott Blewett Lexington vs Lakewood Blueclaws (Philadelphia Phillies)

Side Notes
Wilmington skipper Jamie Quirk said his starting rotation in Wilmington will consist of opening day starter Lovvorn followed by Pedro Fernandez, lefty Matt Tenuta, Ashton Goudeau and Colin Rodgers. Early in the season, at most minor league levels, the Royals tend to piggyback starting pitchers as they build up to their pitch count totals. Watch to see if one of piggyback relievers ends up being a better option to start as that all shakes out.

The Lexington pitching squad features a couple live arms in Julio Pinto and Yunior Marte who have popped up in a minor way in prospect circles for their live arms. Add Franco Terrero to that list as someone to watch. According to one Royals official he has a quick arm, developed his change up at the Royals Dominican Academy and started to improve his breaking ball last year during the Arizona Summer League season. Signed for under $10,000 Terrero is earning comps to Kelvin Herrera.

Watch for the minor league daily recap Diamonds in the Rough written by @ShawnRebman

Feature Photo Cody Decker hitting a double during spring training – Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

When spring training opened, there were battles for the fourth and fifth starters, second base, the last two spots in the bullpen, backup catcher and probably the 25th man on the roster. Jarrod Dyson’s injury added one more open roster spot for the time being, too. With just two weeks left before the season, there’s still plenty of time for things to change, but as of now, I think we’re starting to see what the roster may look like.

Let’s dive into the battles.

4th and 5th Starters
This battle seems to be as good as over, but I’m not really sure how big of a battle it really was to start. I kind of expect these two spots to be somewhat fluid throughout the year, but to start the season it looks like Chris Young will be the fourth starter and Kris Medlen will fill the fifth spot in the rotation. I thought it would be the other way around, but it doesn’t really make a huge difference who pitches in what spot.

What Could Change?
I don’t think there’s much of a chance anything changes here without an injury, but Dillon Gee and Chien-Ming Wang are still very much a part of the conversation. Both had chances to start over the weekend because of Edinson Volquez’s tired arm and Yordano Ventura being sick, and both had their moments. Gee was able to go five innings and was generally effective. Wang threw just three innings and was done in by a throwing error and a home run over the comically close wall in right field. I don’t think either has a real shot to break the rotation, but they seem to be the next in line for now.

Second Base
I’ve said this before, but when this competition opened, I didn’t think it was much of a competition. I figured Christian Colon would have to be out of this world while Omar Infante would have to be just regular season bad. Neither has happened. As it stands right now, Infante looks like he’ll be getting the nod to start. He is the better defender, and Colon hasn’t done enough this spring to wrestle the job away. So the Omar Infante Experience looks like it will continue to start, but I expect he’ll be on a short leash.

What Could Change?
Infante could go ice cold, and Colon seems to be emerging with the bat. The Royals might want to play the “hot hand” to start the year given their clear lack of trust in Infante. I don’t think that’ll happen, but you never know. As the season progresses, keep an eye on the young’n, Raul Mondesi. It’s not just the spring numbers (which are very good), but that he looks more comfortable at the plate. He’s got a lot to work on, but hey, it could happen.

Last Two Bullpen Spots
At the start of spring, I fully expected Dillon Gee to make the roster as the long reliever. The Royals clearly liked him enough to give him a very early opt out in the spring. They’ve since added him to the 40-man roster, so he’s essentially made the team. The other spot seemed to be Brian Flynn‘s to lose. He was so good last spring and Ned Yost talked about him being one of the toughest cuts he’s ever had to make and all that. Here’s the problem. He’s been really bad this spring. I haven’t seen a ton of him, but he doesn’t seem to have what he had last spring, and that’s disappointing.

All things equal, I think the Royals would like a second lefty, so that gives Scott Alexander and Brian Duensing a leg up. Both have been really good, but Alexander’s been better. Still, given the Royals affinity for inventory, I think Alexander probably gets squeezed out and Duensing is the guy. Ross Ohlendorf (yesterday was the date he could opt-out of his deal; at the time of writing, he had not yet done that) and Wang are still in the running, but I really do think it’s between the lefties even though Yost doesn’t play matchups all that often.

Update: Ohlendorf has chosen to opt out of his contract. As Rachel Phelps would say in Major League, cross him off.

What Could Change?
Who are we kidding? It’s a bullpen competition in spring training where small sample sizes reign supreme. I don’t think anyone provides what Brian Flynn could provide to the bullpen. If he has a good last two weeks, he could reclaim the top spot in this battle and make the big league roster. That would give the Royals multiple guys who can go multiple innings in Gee, Flynn and Danny Duffy and really round out a powerful bullpen.

Backup Catcher
When the Royals traded for Tony Cruz from the Cardinals for the other Jose Martinez (other as in not the guy who hit .384 in Omaha last year), it seemed a curious move. They already had a backup catcher who couldn’t hit in Drew Butera. But they had already let Francisco Pena go and needed another catcher who would be able to step in. Butera’s been very good defensively this spring and decent enough offensively. Cruz hasn’t been great in either aspect, so with his options, I expect him to go to Triple-A to start the year.

What Could Change?
Catching depth around baseball is ridiculously thin, so maybe the Royals trade one of their backups. Of course, they’re not getting much for either Butera or Cruz. Keep an eye on Parker Morin as a backup option to emerge throughout the season, though. He’s definitely not ever a starter, but he hits lefty and actually hit for the first time in 2015 in Double-A. The easy comp Royals fans will know is Brent Mayne, but if he can actually hit reasonably well, that’s a solid backup.

Paulo Orlando Complement
When Dyson went down, the right field competition seemed to be open enough, but Paulo Orlando would have had to lose the spot. Honestly, Orlando hasn’t been so great after a hot start, but I think he’s the guy to start the year, which leaves really two guys fighting for lefty hitting right fielders. Travis Snider and Reymond Fuentes are the two, and there’s not much of a competition right now. Snider has been nothing short of bad this spring, while Fuentes has lit up the Cactus League. Don’t be surprised if Fuentes even gets the nod on Opening Day since the Mets are starting Matt Harvey.

What Could Change?
Without an injury, not much. Plus, Dyson looks to be on track to return in the second week of the season. I guess Snider could go on an absolute tear and Fuentes could struggle, but based on what I’ve seen of Snider, I don’t see it.

25th Man
This is the spot that I think really opened up with Dyson’s injury, and the frontrunner appears to be Whit Merrifield. He put on muscle in the offseason, has hit very well in the spring and has some defensive versatility. I mentioned in Friday Notes that he isn’t on the 40-man roster, which brings up some logistical concerns, but the Royals seem to really like him. Some believe he could be competing for the utility role with Colon, but he’s very inexperienced on the left side of the infield, which showed on Saturday in San Antonio when he made a throwing error. I’m not sure how comfortable the Royals would be with him at shortstop even for a few innings, so he’s probably relegated to jack of all trades. Personally, I’m not sold, but they don’t let me make decisions.

What Could Change?
I would like to see the Royals have a power bat in this last spot. With four outfielders already and a versatile Colon to help in the infield, that seems to make a lot of sense to me. Snider is really the only guy in camp who fits that mold and could reasonably make the roster, so if he goes nuts, maybe he takes that spot and then keeps it when Dyson comes back and Fuentes could get sent to AAA. But likely not much will change.

So if you’re keeping score at home, here’s what I think the Opening Day roster looks like:

Catchers
Salvador Perez
Drew Butera

Infielders
Eric Hosmer
Omar Infante
Mike Moustakas
Alcides Escobar
Christian Colon
Whit Merrifield

Outfielders
Alex Gordon
Lorenzo Cain
Paulo Orlando
Reymond Fuentes

Designated Hitter
Kendrys Morales

Starting Pitchers
Edinson Volquez
Yordano Ventura
Ian Kennedy
Chris Young
Kris Medlen

Bullpen
Wade Davis
Kelvin Herrera
Joakim Soria
Luke Hochevar
Danny Duffy
Brian Duensing
Dillon Gee

With less than two weeks until the season begins, it’ll be fun to see how this plays out to see who’s on that first base line to get introduced while wearing those gold trimmed jerseys and hats.