Edwin Carl and Justin Marks are having pretty decent falls.  Carl has an ERA at 1.42, as he has appeared in 5 games and thrown 6.1 innings thus far.  He has tallied 4 strike outs against 3 walks and surrendered only one earned run.  Marks has started 3 games and he accounted for the win in two of them.  In 8.1 innings pitched, he has an ERA of 2.16 and has struck out 6 as opposed to 4 walks.  Two pitchers who would like to forget their fall in Arizona are Sulbaran and Jon Keck.  Keck has allowed 6 earned runs in 3.1 innings pitched, good for an ERA of 16.20.  Sulbaran on the other hand, while not as bad as Keck, got pulled from the team on Tuesday, due to continuing arm soreness.  Sulbaran was replaced by Malcom Culver, who was an 8th round pick in 2008.  Initially, Culver was an infielder but began the transition to pitching in 2011.  As of this article, he has yet to pitch an inning.

Justin Marks from last season with the Blue Rocks

There are four hitters on the Surprise Saguaros.  The first one I’m going to look at is Orlando Calixte, who is on the “taxi squad”, meaning, he is only eligible to play on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Calixte is hitting .364 with one home run and one RBI.  He has had 22 at bats and has struck out 7 times while walking zero times.  Whit Merrifield has played in 9 games and is hitting .267 in 30 at bats.  He has stolen 3 bases and driven in 2 runs for Surprise.

Alex McClure has played in 5 games and recorded 19 at bats.  In those 19 at bats he has 5 hits which is good for a .263 average.  McClure has also driven in 3 runs and recorded two doubles in his time in the AFL so far.  The Royals designated Brian Fletcher as the “priority player” which means he will be granted maximum playing time.  Fletcher hasn’t put that time to good use.  He’s currently hitting .176 in 34 at bats.  He has totaled 6 hits, two of them being the extra base variety.  This fall he has struck out 16 times which is almost half of his at bats.

None of the Royals prospects are putting up stellar numbers in Arizona, but a few of them are still very respectable.  The Rising Stars game is set for November 3rd which is next Saturday.  The AFL season concludes on November 17th as the championship game will be played then.  If you want to stay up to date a link to the Surprise Saguaros can be found here.

Justin Marks from last season with the Blue Rocks. (Photo: Jen Nevius)

Left-handed pitcher Justin Marks got the start for Surprise today, working three innings against the Peoria Javelinas. He allowed two walks and struck out two, but didn’t surrender a hit or a run. In 2012, Marks pitched primarily in Double A Northwest Arkansas but made one start in Omaha as well. His Triple A start didn’t go very well, as he lasted only 1.2 innings and gave up nine runs. In Double A, he threw 85.1 innings in 17 starts and compiled a 3.80 ERA and a 73/38 K/BB ratio. Marks was acquired with Vin Mazzaro from the Oakland Athletics for David DeJesus after the 2010 season.

The only other Royal to play today was Brian Fletcher. He spent half of his season in High A Wilmington before being promoted to Double A. While his batting average fell in the higher league, his power numbers increased (which isn’t uncommon when going from Frawley Stadium in the Carolina League to Arvest Ballpark in the Texas League). He went 1-2 on Tuesday with a single and added an RBI on a sacrifice fly. He also walked once and struck out in his other plate appearance. Fletcher is an interesting offensive prospect, but needs some work with his defense. He was drafted as an outfielder but played a lot of first base in High A before his promotion. Jen Nevius has a review of his season up right here - Fletcher was Baseball America’s #27 Royals prospect entering the year.

The Royals also added another player to their cache of minor leaguers in Surprise. J.C. Sulbaran, half  of the return from the Cincinnati Reds in the Jonathan Broxton trade, will join the group. He made six starts for Northwest Arkansas after the trade but struggled with his command, walking 22 batters in 26 innings. He did strike out 24, but that won’t matter if he’s walking a batter an inning. He also gave up 11.4 H/9 and 2.4 HR/9 for the Naturals, so his stint there went about as bad as it could have. If he can sort things out, he has some #3 or #4 starter potential.

The other Royals minor leaguers in the AFL are:

• LHP Jon Keck
• SS Orlando Calixte
• SS Alex McClure
• OF Whit Merrifield

The AFL season will run until November 17.

The Royals will send minor leaguers from their system to join those of the Braves, Rays, Rangers, and Marlins in Surprise in the eight team league. Last season, Wil Myers took his first steps towards rebounding from a tough 2011 Double A season by mashing in the AFL.

This year’s players are:

RHP Edwin Carl

Carl’s 2011 is one of legend after throwing 33 innings in the Pioneer League and three more in the Midwest League. He struck out 72 batters. He only walked five unintentionally. For those scoring at home, that’s a 15 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio.

That’s pretty ridiculous.

In 2012, he’s spent half his time in Kane County and half in Wilmington. The strikeouts are still there as he’s whiffed 102 in 114 innings. He’s walked 27, which, while over five times what he did last year, is still very good. He’ll turn 24 in two days, so the Royals are hoping to get more looks at him in Surprise to see what they have here.

LHP Justin Marks

Marks was the other part of the David DeJesus trade that also brought Vin Mazzaro to the Royals.

A former third round pick, he’s shown the ability to be an adequate part of a minor league rotation. His control could be better (3.5 BB/9 for his career and 4 BB/9 in Double A) but he can get strikeouts and has decent secondary stuff. He could end up being a spot starter or lefty reliever one day. Marks was recently promoted to Omaha.

LHP Jon Keck

The Royals saw enough from Keck in Wilmington to move him up to Double A after six weeks. After 22.1 innings at High A, he’s been okay in Northwest Arkansas, but not spectacular.

He’s got to work on his control if he’s going to be an option at the big league level. While his 8.1 career K/9 is great, the 5.2 BB/9 isn’t and it’s been 6.1 BB/9 in his 40 Double A innings. Keck was a 2009 draft pick who’s been hanging around the lower levels since signing.

Blue Rocks shortstop Orlando Calixte

SS Orlando Calixte

The shortstop formerly known as Paul Carlixte and Orlando Caxito was a million dollar signing out of the Dominican and has had a very good season with the bat and the glove in Low A Kane County and High A Wilmington.

Defense is his best asset and he has good hands and a good arm, plus scouts think he may be able to develop power. This year, he’s hitting .266/.318/.451 in 517 plate appearances and has 14 homers between Kane County (10) and Wilmington (4). He’s hit .289/.333/.438 in 59 games with the Blue Rocks. He’s definitely the most interesting player assigned to Surprise, although he’s designated as the “taxi squad” player – only eligible to play Wednesdays and Saturdays.

SS Alex McClure

So far, McClure hasn’t hit much as a pro (.216/.272/.266 in almost 1000 plate appearances) but he’s said to be a smart player with decent speed and a good glove. He broke his hand last season and missed some time but was able to work his way up to Double A this year.

OF Whit Merrifield

Merrifield was part of the 2010 College World Series Champion South Carolina team (and in fact delivered the championship-clinching hit in walkoff fashion) and was drafted by the Royals in that same season. He’s a very good doubles hitter (30 in 2011, 21 so far this year) with okay home run numbers. He stole 24 bases last year and has 25 so far this year as well and was promoted to Double A earlier in August.

OF Brian Fletcher

Fletcher was the player of the year in Kane County last season and is a guy with some pop. Unfortunately, he’s also a guy who doesn’t have a lot of skill in the field. He’s usually been in the outfield, but saw a lot of time at first base in Wilmington this season.

After hitting .289/.353/.411 in the Carolina League, he was moved up to Northwest Arkansas in June. Since, he’s hit .245/.302/.409 with nine homers. He’s struck out more than a third of the time in Double A as opposed to about 20% of the time at the High A level. That’s probably what he’ll be working on in the AFL most. Fletcher was deemed the Royals “priority player” to maximize his playing time.

The Royals also announced that an eighth player – a pitcher – will join the group in Surprise, but have yet to decide on which player that will be.

Update: Added information about Fletcher and Calixte’s designations for the AFL period.

OK, it’s not really the Royals, but the Royals will be represented. Since the beginning of October, the Arizona Fall League has been in full swing. This is an opportunity for young players to get some extra work in after the end of the regular Major League Baseball season. Now, it’s not to be confused with the Arizona Instructional League where Bubba Starling spent his fall. The AFL has been a breeding ground for future stars. In fact, the 2011 All-Star Game featured 41 players that had spent time there.

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