Brian Fletcher via Jen Nevius

While hitting in the middle of the Blue Rocks order, he hit just five homeruns in the pitcher-friendly league. He also only drove in 25 runs in 67 games. It didn’t help that the Blue Rocks had one of the worst offenses in the Carolina League in the first half.

Upon his promotion to Double-A, Fletcher exclusively played the left field. He also struggled offensively. He hit .256 and struck out 96 times in just 65 games. He did however hit ten homeruns.

Fletcher had a very good July with NW Arkansas: he hit .293 with seven homeruns and 16 RBIs. The alarming thing was his strikeout to walk totals: 42 Ks to just four walks. That continued into August, but he only hit .224. He did end the season with hits in seven of his last eight games.

Fletcher is heading to Surprise for the prestigious Arizona Fall League that begins next week. Some wonder if the Royals will begin tinkering with his unconventional approach at the plate (since it didn’t work well against advanced Double-A pitchers). I expect he will return to the Naturals to begin the 2013 season. I’m not sure what position he will play, but both spots are blocked at both the big league and Triple-A levels.

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.

Veteran Doug Davis courtesy of Minda Haas (Royal Blues)

Omaha lost to OKC in a hot day game, 7-6 in ten innings. Doug Davis got the start (it was suspected that he might make the start for the KC Royals on Tuesday night, but no such luck). Davis left with the lead (6IP, 9H, 5R, 0BB, 5K).

Francisley Bueno allowed a run in the 7th inning to tie the game and it would stay that way until the 10th inning when Fernando Martinez hit a solo homerun off Jeremy Jeffress. The Storm Chasers had their chance in the bottom of the 10th inning, but Mitch Maier flied out with the tying run on base (he struck out three times in five at-bats).

The top two in the Storm Chasers order, Irving Falu and Johnny Giavotella, went a combined 4-for-9 with three runs scored.

NW Arkansas has now lost six in a row, as they lost to Arkansas, 6-4. The Travelers scored three runs in the top of the 9th inning to take the lead for good. That negated the solid start from Sugar Ray Marimon, who allowed two runs on four hits and three walks over 6.2 innings. He struck out three.

Brian Fletcher hit a two-run homerun in the first inning to give the Naturals a quick 2-0 lead. It was his third homerun in two games.

Wilmington continues to struggle against Myrtle Beach (losing four of their last five), as they lost to the Pelicans, 7-2. The Blue Rocks collected just five hits, with one of the runs coming via Cheslor Cuthbert‘s solo homerun in the 8th inning.

Pelicans starter Luke Jackson struck out 12 over just five innings of work.

Kane County had Tuesday off and will begin a six-game road trip beginning against Bowling Green on Wednesday night.

Bubba Watch: Bubba Starling went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts in Burlington’s 4-2 win over Danville.

April 15, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Cleveland Indians center fielder Mitch Maier delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals during the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

If you thought Monday night’s KC Royals game was bad, then you didn’t get a chance to check out the Omaha game. They lost to OKC, 16-6. The game was actually semi-close (OKC led 4-2 heading into the 6th inning), before OKC scored ten runs in the 6th inning.

Chris Dwyer made his Triple-A debut and allowed seven runs on 11 hits and three walks over 5 innings (plus three batters into the 6th). Roman Colon followed by allowing seven runs in that 6th inning (his only inning of work). Granted, only one run was earned (Omaha made four errors on the night).

The best part of the night may have been the move from right field to the mound for Mitch Maier (yet again) in his return to Omaha. He allowed two unearned runs on two hits in his one inning of work (he went 0-for-3 at the plate).

Brian Fletcher hit two homeruns, but NW Arkansas lost to Arkansas, 11-6. It was the Naturals fifth loss in a row. Fletcher drove in four runs.

Noel Arguelles had another tough start, as he threw 110 pitches over just 4.2 innings. He allowed seven runs on seven hits and six walks. Those runs were scored over the 4th and 5th innings. In Baseball America’s latest issue, Arguelles was named the Royals biggest disappointment at midseason.

Wilmington collected just five hits and lost in Myrtle Beach, 2-0. Two of those hits came from Matt Fields.

Matt Ridings was the hard luck loser, as he allowed both runs on six hits over six innings.

The Blue Rocks made a roster move, sending catcher Kevin David (who was struggling and receiving less and less playing time) to Kane County. Murray Watts will join the team on Tuesday.

Kane County was the only Royals affiliate to win on Monday night, as they beat West Michigan, 9-5. The Cougars scored six runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning.

Tim Ferguson started the 3rd inning with a solo homerun. They went on to collect six more hits in the inning (Ferguson had two hits in the inning), a walk, and a sac fly.

All of that scoring made a winner of Aaron Brooks, who allowed three runs on six hits and two walks over six innings.

Bubba Watch: Burlington beat Princeton, 10-3 and Bubba Starling went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

The Storm Chasers hit four homeruns, two by Max Ramirez. Salvador Perez again caught all nine innings and went 4-for-4. He also scored three runs. Johnny Giavotella went 2-for-5.

Brian Fletcher playing some LF with the Blue Rocks

NW Arkansas took yet another game from Tulsa, as they won 7-6. The Naturals scored four runs in the bottom of  the 7th inning and held on for the victory.

There were two KC Royals making rehab appearances with the Naturals. Felipe Paulino started and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks over just three innings. He allowed two homeruns and struck out just one. Paulino threw 54 pitches, 33 for strikes. Lorenzo Cain got the start in centerfield and batted leadoff, as he went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. He also played all nine innings.

The Naturals also welcomed two new members to the club: Brian Fletcher and Alex McClure. Both got into their first Double-A games on Wednesday. I could see the Fletcher move happening, since he was Wilmington’s best hitter, but McClure has been under .200 all season long. However injuries to middle infielders Christian Colon and Sharlon Schoop gave McClure the opportunity (both are now on the DL). Unfortunately, Fletcher started in left field (where he doesn’t play his best baseball) and was taken out late in the game for defense (he went 0-for-4 with a run scored). McClure went 1-for-4, but struck out twice.

Still no games yet for Bubba Starling with Burlington, who is 2-0 to start the season.

Pay attention to some of these names as they may be tomorrow’s top Royals prospects:

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Hello again! For the last month I’ve been standing on the banks of Lake Kauffman. From time to time I’ve dipped my toes in the water but have been unable to take the plunge and publish my first article here since November 11th of last year. Now, things have changed.

As you have read, Jeff Herr has moved on to head up our network’s KU coverage over on Through the Phog. His departure leaves a gap in the minor league coverage on this site, but if you’re a long time reader of Kings of Kauffman you may remember my days as this site’s lead. You may also remember that I spent a lot of time writing about prospects and the draft. Since leaving KoK, my nomadic writing tendencies have taken me to several sites, but at all of my stops I’ve tried to work in coverage of the minor leagues as it has always been a facet of the game that I love to follow and write about.

With the launch of Seedlings to Stars just over a month ago, I’ve been able to hone my content focus more fully to minor league coverage. So when Jeff notified us that he was leaving KoK and S2S to take a lead position, it seemed natural that I pick up the baton and carry forward the weekly minor league feature here on this site. (more…)

royalsblog.com

The weekly update of the Royals minor league system that I know you’ve all been waiting for is here.  The affiliates have come back down to Earth and normalized a little bit.  The two most talented teams, the Blue Rocks and the Storm Chasers, continue to stay in 1st place, the Naturals are hovering in second and the Cougars continue to struggle.  Once the rookie leagues start up they will no doubt reveal some talent that will move up and help the Cougars, not to mention Brett Eibner cooming back from injury.  Now, what will probably hurt the Blue Rocks will help the Naturals as Jake Odorizzi and Noel Arguelles will most likely be up there by the all star break.  Now, here is how the afiliates stand:

Kane County Cougars (Low A): 11-24 (7th place)

Wilmington Blue Rocks (High A): 18-14 (T-1st place)

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Double A): 14-14 (2nd place)

Omaha Storm Chasers (Triple A): 19-15 (1st Place)

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