Terrance Gore, LF

2013:

16 games, 52 AB, 12 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 6 RBI, 11 SB

Speed, speed and more speed: that’s what you get with Gore. I’ve had him as fast as 3.78 to first, so far, and he slipped on his way there. Also got him at 7 seconds flat on a double. He’s fast, is the general idea I’m wishing to convey here. But there’s more to him than just blazing speed.

Gore makes frequent contact at the plate, can lay down some excellent bunts (which he’ll usually beat out, regardless of where they lay), and steals bases seemingly at will. He gets out of the box quickly and hits his stride about half-way to first. Rounding on doubles, he’s nearly at full-speed by the time he’s a few steps off first. In the field, he covers far more than his share of real estate. His plus-plus range and solid arm will lend itself to lots of befuddled looks from opposing baserunners, as he runs down certain base hits with regularity. This aspect of his game is somewhat overlooked; when you have that kind of speed, most people think “base stealer” before they think “fast outfielder”.

Nevertheless, and in my estimation, Gore isn’t likely to spend the year in Class A ball. If he can keep his average up and continue to swipe bags as he has done, I’d think he would be in Wilmington or even NW Arkansas by mid-season.

Bubba Starling, CF

2013:

16 G, 56 AB, 8 H, 7 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 24 K, .143 BA, .463 OPS

As some of you may have noticed by now, Starling is struggling mightily at the dish. From what I’ve seen and heard, Bubba has been putting much pressure on himself and has had difficulty adjusting mainly due to this. The physical tools are all there: quick bat, good wheels, great arm and glove in center, etc. The problem, as I see it, is mostly mental. I expect his batting will be on the upswing in the next couple of weeks.

However, while he has demonstrated these exceptional tools, I have noticed that he’s been late on a few fastballs. At other times, he appears to be swinging from the heels and perhaps trying to do too much. Expectations weigh heavily on a young player, sometimes.

In the field, he covers plenty of ground. He moves fluidly, like you would expect from an athlete of his caliber, and his arm is easily plus for center. He’s got enough to play right, if he gets moved over at the higher levels. There’s no question of that. It’s hard to say how well he runs the bases, as I’ve seen him reach so few times.

At this level, when his swing comes around, you can definitely expect power and speed in abundance. A full season at Class A should bring a 20/20 season from Starling, with 30+ doubles. Even after the last two weeks being essentially a loss, this will be no stretch.

Ethan Chapman, RF

2013:

16 G, 51 AB, 11 H, 5 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 9 SB, .216 BA, .516 OPS

Chapman might have been lost in the abundance of potential here in Lexington, had it not been for Ford’s move to first after Threlkeld went down in the very first AB of his 2013 season. He’s not put up impressive numbers, that’s true. The thing you’ll notice about him is that he’s pure hustle. He has the classic “overachiever” look to him, although that term suggests that he’s not naturally talented.

The truth is, he seems to have excellent baseball instincts. He simply knows how to play the game. At bat, he’s a rocket out of the box on even sure groundouts. He takes a hard and aggressive (but level) swing, though sometimes he pulls his lead shoulder a bit early. He reads pitchers’ moves and steals as well or better than anyone on the team, and he’s aggressive on the basepaths. For the relatively few times he’s been on base, he’s definitely made the most of those chances.

In the field, he’s all-out on any ball hit in his direction. He even made MiLB.com’s home page highlight reel with a catch he made last week vs. Greenville, where he made friends with the infield tarp roll in pursuit of a quickly sinking fly. He has enough arm to stick in right (for now), and displays at least average range that cannot be downplayed since he never gives up on a fly or liner. I’m hoping that Threlkeld’s return and Ford’s move back to right won’t limit Chapman’s at-bats much, but I’m afraid he’ll be coming off the bench next week.

So there’s a bit about our outfielders, certainly an enviable group in terms of talent and potential. Next up: pitchers. I’d like to see a bit more of some of them before I make an assessment, so look for that post in the next week. Stay tuned, true believers. 

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

At the top of the list is Kyle Zimmer, their first round pick out of San Francisco. The 20-year-old is said to be fairly close to coming to a deal with the Royals on a signing bonus and could be assigned to a minor league affiliate soon, according to Bob Dutton.

The Royals have already signed a few picks from day two: Colin Rodgers, Fred Ford, Alfredo Escalana-Maldonado, Parker Morin and Dylan Sons. Three of those came out of the Royals top ten picks so their bonus amounts will count towards the draft pool allotment established by Major League Baseball.

Here’s the breakdown of the Royals 40 selections:

• Left-handed pitchers: 10
• Right-handed pitchers: 14
• Catchers: 3
• First basemen: 2
• Second basemen: 1
• Shortstops: 1 (though Kenny Diekroeger is likely to move to second base rather than stay at shortstop)
• Third basemen: 0
• Outfielders: 9
• High school players: 17
• College/Junior College: 23
• College seniors: 2

I specify the college seniors because a trend started to develop yesterday where many teams were taking college seniors (who don’t have as much leverage in bonus negotiations) earlier than some prospects who were projected to go higher as a way to manipulate some of the bonuses handed out. The Royals didn’t get on that train, it seems, though they did lean college-heavy overall.

One particular selection is interesting in what it symbolizes. Austin Fairchild was the 16th round pick by the Royals. He’s a left-hander out of St. Thomas High School in Texas and stands six feet tall and weighs about 170 pounds. What’s so special about that? Fairchild is a long-toss pitcher, meaning a large part of his training in the offseason and between starts involves playing catch at distances up to 300 feet. Many training programs established by teams limit that distance to 120 feet or so. In the past, the Royals have been resistant to these types of programs despite drafting adherents like Mike Montgomery and John Lamb.

With the hiring of Rick Knapp as their minor league pitching coordinator and the drafting of Fairchild, it seems that the Royals are opening up to the idea of utilizing long-toss as part of their development or at the very least, embracing the idea that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to pitching development. (You can hear more about such long-toss programs in our interview with Alan Jaeger of Jaeger Sports on the Royalman Report.)

Now that the draft is over, it’s time to sign the picks. The Royals have five out of the way now, and with an earlier deadline than in years past, they’re working quickly on locking up Zimmer and the rest. The sooner they get a signature, the sooner these players can be assigned to minor league teams or start work in Surprise at the Royals training facility.

All picks from the 2012 draft are tracked on MLB.com and can be filtered by team.

The Royals also picked Hayden Edwards, a 6’7″ right-handed pitcher out of Blue Valley High School in Stillwell, Kansas (31st round) and Ashton Goudeau a 6’6″ righty from Maple Woods Community College (27th round).