From the ace down to the last man in the ‘pen, there’s a lot to like. Since this post got a little bit long (I can sometimes get a little too excited when I start writing about our kids), I figured I better split it down the middle. Here’s a tiny bit about our moundsmen, with 2013 stats thus far (as of April 30th) and a few observations I’ve made. 

Bryan Brickhouse, RHP

0-3, 3.00 ERA, 5 starts, 27 IP, 25 hits allowed, 9 ER, 1 HR, 3 HBP, 5 BB, 21 K, 1.11 WHIP

Burlington went 2-4 this past week. Despite the losing record over the week, the Royals still sit atop the East Division of the Appalachian League at 27-13 (good for a four game lead). They finish up their series with Pulaski today.

There is still no hitter hitting above .300, but uber-prospect Bubba Starling is the closest at .298. Over the last week, he went 8-for-25 (.320) with three homeruns and five RBIs. The strikeouts are still an issue (eight in 25 at-bats). He now has seven homeruns total.

Speaking of homeruns, Fred Ford hit another one this week to tie teammate Patrick Leonard atop the leaderboard in the Appalachian League with 11. Leonard now has 32 RBIs, which ranks him fifth. Ford has watched his average climb to .281, as he went 6-for-18 (.333) this past week. Kenny Diekroeger also hit another homerun, his eighth, to keep him fourth in the league.

Mark Threlkeld had a big game on August 2nd in the Royals 15-5 win. He went 4-for-6 with five RBIs.

Colin Rodgers now qualifies for the top pitching categories with his 34.1 innings pitched. He is second in the league with a 1.83 ERA in eight starts. The third round pick of the Royals this past June has allowed just 21 hits and one homerun so far in his professional debut.

Idaho Falls went 3-4 this past week. In the second half, the Chukars are 4-4, good for a tie for second place in the South Division of the Pioneer League. They finished the first half in third place at 17-21. They begin a three-game series tonight against Ogden.

Ethan Chapman has raised his average to .347, but dropped to ninth in the league in batting average. He continues to be the Chukars leading hitter. This past week, he went 10-for-27 (.370) with six runs scored.

Sam Selman lowered his ERA to 1.49, but struggled with his control in his last start. He allowed an unearned run on two hits over four innings with seven strikeouts. The problem was, he walked five. Fellow 2012 draft pick Alec Mills made two solid starts last week. Over 11 innings, he allowed four runs on six hits and no walks while striking out 13. Unfortunately, he picked up a loss on Sunday.

Two back end relievers have been pitching well: Joe Lopez and Cory Hall. They have combined for five saves. In two relief outings last week, Lopez allowed just three hits over four scoreless innings. He struck out five. Hall allowed just one hit over 2.2 innings while striking out four (three appearances).

This year, with an earlier deadline, many draftees were signed quickly, and the Royals signed all but nine of their selections in the 2012 draft (and 28 of their top 30 picks), highlighted by Kyle Zimmer in the first round.

Most of this year’s draft picks have been assigned to short-season rookie leagues which are approaching the midway point in their seasons, so it seems like a good enough time to check in and see how the 2012 draft class has performed so far.

Some have done well – Zimmer just got promoted to Kane County, Colin Rodgers has been nearly unhittable and Kenny Diekroeger and Fred Ford are leading what is known as the “Burlington Bomb Squad”. Others are struggling in their first weeks as a pro player.

Kane County is the Royals Low A affiliate, all others are different Rookie League teams

July 8, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; USA batter Wil Myers drives in a run with a fielder

Omaha scored two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings to defeat Round Rock, 4-1. Wil Myers hit a two-run homerun in the 6th inning to give the Storm Chasers the lead they would not relinquish.

Ryan Verdugo is back in the rotation for Omaha and he picked up the win, as he allowed just one run on four hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out eight. Vin Mazzaro followed with three scoreless innings of relief to pick up his second save.

NW Arkansas was swept by Springfield in their four-game series for the second time in 12 days. The Naturals lost 5-4 in walk-off fashion. With a runner on second base and no outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Jon Keck entered the game. The first batter reached on a sac bunt that Keck could not field. He intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases. Problem is, Keck lost the strikezone and walked in the winning run.

That negated the solid start from Michael Mariot, who allowed two runs on eight hits and a walk over seven innings. Springfield’s two runs off Mariot came on a two-run homerun in the first inning.

On offense, the Naturals collected eight hits, with Rey Navarro and Kevin Kouzmanoff having two each.

Wilmington lost their series opener at home to Frederick, 10-5. The Keys scored three runs in the first inning and four runs in the 8th inning that led them to victory.

The top five in the Blue Rocks order each collected two hits. Matt Fields hit his 11th homerun of the season (while driving in three runs).

Geulin Beltre did commit an error, but he made up for it by throwing out two base runners.

Kane County lost their series finale in Dayton, 5-1. Kellen Moen took the loss, as he allowed four runs over five innings. He gave up two homeruns.

On offense for the Cougars, Henry Moreno and Julio Aparicio each collected two hits. Their lone run came when Justin Trapp led off the game with a homerun.

Bubba Watch: Bubba Starling hit a two-run homerun in the 5th inning, as Burlington beat Greenville, 5-0. He went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. Despite the fact that their was less than 500 fans in attendance, three Royals pitchers combined on a one-hitter. Colin Rodgers allowed the one hit, a one out single in the 5th inning.

The Royals top pick in this June’s draft, Kyle Zimmer, made his debut for the AZL Royals on July 13th. He allowed one run on two hits over two innings. He struck out three while not walking a batter.

Idaho Falls are 12-15, four games back in the Pioneer League’s South Division. From July 2-9, the Chukars went 3-4. From July 9-15 (which included a day off and a rain out), they went 2-4. One of those losses came to Orem, 20-6.

In his last ten games, catcher Parker Morin is hitting .424. Outfielder Ethan Chapman has a hit in seven of his last eight games (11-for-31). First baseman Rainier Bello has a hit in nine of his last ten games (10-for-31) with three doubles, a homerun, three runs scored, and four RBIs.

The Chukars have had shaky pitching and lost one of their best starters, Andy Ferguson, to a promotion to High-A Wilmington. Ferguson was 2-0 with a 1.14 ERA in four starts. 2012 second round draft pick Sam Selman made three starts, two solid ones over the last two weeks. In his past two starts, he allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits and four walks over 10.1 innings. He struck out 14.

Alec Mills made three relief appearances (though he hasn’t pitched since July 9th). He allowed two runs on nine hits and one walk over 5.2 innings. He struck out eight. Right-hander Ali Williams has been racking up the strikeouts so far for the Chukars (28 Ks in 22.1 innings). He made two starts over the last two weeks. In his last start (July 12th), he struck out 11 over six shutout innings. He only allowed three hits and one walk.

The Burlington Royals are just one game back in the East Division of the Appalachian League at 14-9. From July 2-8, the Royals went 6-1.

Bubba Starling‘s big game came on July 2nd, when he hit two homeruns (the first of his career) and drove in six runs. He picked up two hits the next day, but has struggled a bit since (3-for-19 with eight strikeouts).

It must have seemed like forever since the Royals played a game this past week. Their July 9th game in Bluefield was suspended. Then, their three-game series in Kingsport was rained out. Then their first game in Princeton was postponed. The Royals finally got back on the field on Sunday, as they split a doubleheader against Princeton.

Terrance Gore has struck out 13 times so far this season, but has cut back as of late (just three over his last eight games). In that span, he is 8-for-31 (.258) with three walks and four stolen bases. Kenny Diekroeger (the 4th round pick this year), was 10-for-31 (.323) with three homeruns, six runs scored, and six RBIs. Patrick Leonard leads the Royals in homeruns with seven, but hit just one over his last eight games (8-for-30).

Unlike the Chukars, the Royals have received very good pitching. They have three pitchers with ERA’s under two and three more with ERA’s under three.

Daniel Hernandez has been very good since returning from Tommy John surgery. He made three starts over the last two weeks, totaling 17.1 innings. He allowed four runs on 11 hits and just two walks while striking out 17. Colin Rodgers made one start (July 6th) and pitched six hitless innings (the lone baserunner came via a hit batter). He struck out three.

Daniel Stumpf, who retrieved both of Starling’s homerun balls for Bubba, is also pitching pretty well. He’s carrying a 0.84 ERA over six relief outings (he hasn’t pitched since July 8th). In his two most recent outings, he allowed three hits over 3.1 innings. He struck out six. Jossiel Martinez is making his professional debut in the US. In his last two relief outings, he has allowed just one run on four hits and one walk over 4.1 innings. He struck out six.

Patrick Conroy made one start (July 4th) and picked up the win. He allowed two runs on six hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out seven.

After watching Iowa take the lead in the bottom of the 8th inning, Johnny Giavotella tied the game back up with a solo homerun in the top of the 9th inning.

The late scoring for the Cubs negated the solid spot start by Roman Colon. He allowed one run on two hits over five innings.

Chris Getz and Lorenzo Cain continued their rehab with the Storm Chasers. Getz led off and went 0-for-5 while playing nine innings at second base. Cain went 2-for-5 while playing nine innings in centerfield.

NW Arkansas lost to Corpus Christi, 3-0. The Naturals only had one hit prior to the 9th inning (a one out Yem Prades single in the 6th inning) against Hooks starter Ross Seaton. They finished with three hits total (from the top three in the order).

Bryan Paukovits tossed 3.1 scoreless innings of relief and struck out seven.

Manny Pina continued his rehab assignment and caught all nine innings (he went 0-for-3).

Blue Rocks reliever Sam Runion

Wilmington defeated Lynchburg 6-5 in ten innings on getaway day. Lane Adams hit his second homerun of the game in the top of the 10th inning. That was the Blue Rocks fourth solo homerun of the game.

The Blue Rocks collected 12 hits and five hitters had multi-hit games.

Sam Runion picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief.

Kane County lost their home series to Quad Cities with a 6-1 loss. The Cougars now head back out on the road for a short three-game series in Wisconsin.

The Cougars collected just six hits, but only went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. The lack of offense made a loser of Kellen Moen, who allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits over six innings. He struck out five.

Bubba Watch: Bubba Starling went 1-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a run scored in Burlington’s 5-2 win over Bristol. The story of the game was the start by 2012 draft pick Colin Rodgers, who tossed six hitless inning. He struck out three and the only baserunner came via a hit batter in the second inning.

Idaho Falls is 4-3 to start the Pioneer League season, two games back in the South Division. They have seen a few players already promoted to Low-A Kane County (Jack Lopez, Julio Aparicio, Bryan Brickhouse, and Kyle Smith).

2012 30th round pick Ethan Chapman is hitting .360 over six games (9-for-25). He has two triples and six RBIs. Catcher Parker Morin (2012 14th round pick) is hitting .333 in four games.

The Chukars have quite a few 2012 draft picks in the pitching ranks, six to be exact. Kevin Allen (23rd round) has made two appearances out of the bullpen, while picking up a save. He has allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits and three walks. Alec Mills (22nd round) has also made two relief appearances. Over three innings, he has allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits. Sam Selman (2nd round) picked up a win in one relief appearance (2.2IP, H, 0R, 0BB, 3K).

Zeb Sneed (11th round), one of the best names to be drafted this year, has made two appearances (one start). Over six innings, he allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three. Matthew Strahm (21st round) has made two relief appearances. He allowed six runs (one earned) on one hit and three walks over 1.2 innings. Andrew Triggs (19th round) has also made two relief outings (3.2 innings). He has allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out three.

Burlington is 4-2 in the Appalachian League, one game back in the East Division.

Dan Hernandez returned from Tommy John surgery and pitched five perfect innings in his first start. 2012 draft pick Patrick Conroy (32nd round) has pitched in two games (one start). He has allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks over 5.2 innings. Fellow 2012 draft picks Daniel Stumpf (9th round) and Colin Rodgers (3rd round) have yet to allow a run. Stumpf has pitched four innings over two relief appearances. He walked just one while striking out two (no hits allowed). Rodgers has made one start (two innings). He allowed one hit and two walks while striking out two.

Catcher Beau Maggi has seen some more playing time with the injury to Cameron Gallagher (injured his hand on catcher’s interference). Maggi, a 2012 24th round pick, is 0-for-14 in five games, though he has walked five times. Gallagher was 2-for-12 with two RBIs in four games before getting hurt. Stanford 2012 draft pick (4th round) Kenny Diekroeger has played in three games (1-for-15) at second base. 2012 7th round pick, outfielder Fred Ford, is 4-for-19 in five games.

The power hitter for the Royals is third baseman Patrick Leonard, who has four homeruns in six games (four of his six hits). He was a 5th round pick in 2011 and is in his first professional season.