Johnny Giavotella is starting the year out in Omaha after spending two months in Kansas City last season. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

After a road trip that has to be seen as a good one (today’s loss was rough, but the Royals return to Kansas City 3-3), the Royals are off on Thursday before the home opener on Friday. It seems like a good time to check in with Omaha and look at what’s going on with the defending Pacific Coast League champions.

With a team that boasts many of the key contributors from last year’s roster, Omaha has opened up 6-1, including a 16 inning win against Round Rock on Tuesday.

New contributors have stepped up to fill gaps where other players have been promoted. Lorenzo Cain is the everyday center fielder in Kansas City, but Derrick Robinson has started off hot with 13 hits in 32 at bats so far. The speedy outfielder has been hanging around the Royals system for a few years now and early success in Omaha is encouraging. The speed and defense are apparent, but the question with Robinson is whether or not he can develop a bat to make him a productive player in the lineup. He showed glimpses late in 2010 and at times in 2011, but it hasn’t clicked yet.

Max Ramirez has two homers and 8 RBI. Kevin Kouzmanoff has five doubles and 9 RBI. Both were minor league free agent signees this offseason.

Clint Robinson is picking up where he’d left off in each of the past two seasons. After winning the Texas League Triple Crown in 2010, he hit .326/.399/.533 last year in Triple A. He had 52 homers and 198 RBI in 2010 and 2011 combined. Fortunately for the Royals organization, they have solid depth at the first base position. Unfortunately for Clint Robinson, he’s stuck behind Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler. Still, the performance is there so far.

Some surprising names have been producing on the mound, too. Vin Mazzaro has had two good starts, putting up a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings and has struck out 10 batters. According to Lee Warren (@OmahaBaseball) of Yahoo Sports, Mazzaro’s slider has looked great early on.

Jeremy Jeffress and Louis Coleman have both been strong out of the bullpen and both figure to see time at some point in Kansas City as the Royals take advantage of available option seasons with some of their young bullpen arms. Nathan Adcock had a good first start, as well, a year after being a Rule 5 guy all year in Kansas City.

Two players have been disappointments in the rotation though.

Will Smith had solid control through the minors with 2.2 BB/9 over his career (520.1 IP) but has walked seven batters in 7.1 innings over two starts so far. He made nine starts in Triple A while part of the Angels system before the Royals acquired him as part of the Alberto Callaspo trade but he didn’t struggle like this. He should even it out as he gets more comfortable – it’s only two starts.

Mike Montgomery hasn’t jumped out strong yet, though he’s only had one start but gave up seven hits and three walks over 4.1 innings. He struck out three batters. That’s just not going to work if he’s going to progress into a pitcher who’ll see Kansas City before the All-Star break. He only gave up two runs against Round Rock but the threat for more is always present with that many baserunners reaching.

A key player that many are interested in is Johnny Giavotella. Lee Warren shared an interview he did with Gio just before the season started where they discussed his defense and what he’s working on, as well as his time in the big leagues in 2011. Other comments from Omaha manager Mike Jirschele point out that Giavotella is taking extra reps before regular workouts as he tries to get to where the Royals feel comfortable bringing him up and keeping him up at the big league level. Giavotella is hitting .296/.387/.444 in six games in the young season.

Below is the embedded clip of Warren’s interview with Giavotella and other segments with Jirschele. He was kind enough to share the audio with the Royalman Report and is allowing us to pass it on to listeners and readers. You can check out his work on Yahoo here.

That’s the adage that serves as a reminder that, no matter a baserunner’s speed, it means nothing if they don’t get on base to utilize it.  It also serves as the best way to summarize Derrick Robinson‘s career as a professional baseball player.

The Royals paid Robinson a nice bonus back in 2006 to lure him away from the University of Florida and a football scholarship on the hopes that he’d become a Juan Pierre type of leadoff hitter.  In many ways, he’s fit that comparison.

Clipped from: kingsofkauffman.com (share this clip)

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If you’ve never been to Kelly’s it’s in a very old building – it’s the oldest in Westport – with a ton of character and it boasts a loyal clientele. On this night, some of these regulars were at the bar, glancing at Sunday Night Football and the Rangers/Angels games.  Troy and I were talking about the Royals with Ezra, one of the bartenders (who was wearing a Mr. Celery hat), when one of the men, an older man probably in his early 60s asked about what we were going to do about the pitching if there’s any chance of turning things around.

Troy and I, being avid followers and generally in the know, mentioned Mike Montgomery, Chris Dwyer, Jake Odorizzi, John Lamb and even some of the lower level pitchers.

The man at the bar looked somewhat astonished and asked “Well if they have all of these pitchers coming up, why don’t they talk about them more?”

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The Omaha assignments were expected, with Clint Robinson getting his first shot at Triple A and David Lough returns after a decent 2010 with the (then) Royals.  Clint held his own in spring training, hitting .389/.400/.889 with two homers and nine RBIs in 19 plate appearances.  Lough hit .235/.350/.235 in 20 appearances.

Derrick Robinson returns to Northwest Arkansas to follow up on a season where his hitting finally started to show signs of developing.  On top of another 50 steal season, he got on base 34.5% of the time.  He added more extra base hits than in any other season, as well.  This spring, he hit .364/.417/.636 in 12 plate appearances with a double and triple, but didn’t attempt any stolen bases.

Bianchi is going to spend some time in Double A to get back into baseball rhythm after missing all of 2010 with a torn elbow ligament.  He’s been hampered by injuries his entire career but has always been a solid prospect in the Royals system.  If he gets back in gear in Double A, he should play most of the season in Omaha and might be a utility option in Kansas City if things go well.  Bianchi struggled in spring training games, getting just one hit – a double – in 16 plate appearances.

The Royals roster stood at 49 players in camp after the moves, including non-roster invitees Eric Hosmer, Irving Falu, Salvador Perez, Mike Montgomery and Aaron Crow, among others.

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I set out with the goal of covering our full list of 25 prospects here at Kings of Kauffman this month and ended up finishing with our number one prospect Eric Hosmer on Sunday.

You can view the entire list of 25 (with an honorable mention) along with profiles on our 2011 Prospect Rankings page.

I also wanted to look at the way our rankings break down.  As I compiled the list and wrote about each player, I noticed a few trends that I found interesting and also thought it’d be a good idea to look at the balance of the rankings.

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Rankings:
~ Baseball America: #26
~ Royals Prospects: #22
~ Royals Review #21
~ Kevin Goldstein: #18
~ John Sickels: Honorable mention
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Players like Amos Otis, Willie Wilson, Freddie Patek patrolled the field (infield in Patek’s case) and also caused problems for opposing pitchers on the basepaths.

They say you can’t teach speed – it’s either there or it isn’t.  While speed itself isn’t enough to be a capable baserunner or basestealer even, it sure helps and the threat alone can be distracting to the opposition – a manager has to keep the first baseman on the bag instead of playing back, a pitcher has to go to the slidestep, maybe the catcher takes his eye off the ball for a split second and it bounces away.

Speed disrupts.  The Royals (in 2011 at least) might have some speedsters to create some havoc of their own.  That aspect of the (potential) opening day roster gives this group a chance to be very entertaining, even if they may not win a lot of games.

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It didn’t disappoint.

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A look at the pitching staff is here.

The hitters are examined here.

Today, we’ll look at who should fill those vacant spots and why.
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Last night, Royals first baseman prospect Eric Hosmer drove in four runs in a winning effort for the Surprise Rafters.
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The seven, along with seven players each from the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers, will comprise the roster of the Surprise Rafters.  Should the team play well enough to reach the championship game, they’ll play until November 20.

You’ll recognize the names of the Royals representatives…
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Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer‘s fine seasons have earned them All-Star honors, but what other prospects will represent the Royals? Read on.
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One of the films they would show with regularity was Pollyanna starring Hayley Mills (later of The Parent Trap and Saved By The Bell fame). If you don’t know the story, it goes like this: Pollyanna moves to an embittered town after becoming orphaned. Her aunt is a spinster, and the town is full of general grumpiness and discontent. Until Pollyanna comes along. She refuses to see anything in a negative light, always looking for the bright side. Why, she even makes Rany look like a Grinch. One of her favorite techniques was to play “The Glad Game” – coming up with anything and everything that made her glad.

Well, the Royals are 11-17, they’ve only won one series all year. They just came out of a series at Tampa where they scored only 8 runs. Their pitchers have walked more than any other team. The bullpen has fallen apart multiple times.

I think we could use some Gladness in Kansas City.  Here’s what I’m glad about:
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