Jake Odorizzi Shows Promise in First Triple A Start

The Royals made the promotion of Jake Odorizzi to Omaha official last night, sending him to the mound against Tacoma for his first start in Triple A.

He held his own in 6.2 innings, striking out four and walking just one. Nine hits against him resulted in three Rainier runs, but Odorizzi looked good from most reports. In throwing 95 pitches, 68 went for strikes. He gave up one home run, leaving the ball up to Carlos Peguero in the second inning. A heavy wind was blowing out to left at Werner Park, so the mistake ended up over the wall.

Chris Kamler of the Royalman Report was out at the park and said Odorizzi was  working with a 95 mph fastball and two different breaking pitches, with one being referred to as “Uncle Charlie” by Storm Chasers announcer Mark Nasser. Odorizzi stated that he could tell the difference between Double A and Triple A, but that the jump from High A to Double A was a bigger jump.

Wil Myers was the other big call up this week and he’s adjusted to Omaha quite well so far. In two games, he’s gotten five hits in nine at bats. Last night, he went 3-4 and fell a homer short of the cycle and drove in a run. I think he’s going to be just fine at this level.

We talked to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus about both top prospects on the Kansas City Baseball Vault on Thursday. You can hear his take on the two players here.