Kings of Kauffman » Northwest Arkansas

Q & A with Naturals GM Eric Edelstein

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:50:38 +0000

I’ve had the pleasure of following and “twittering” with the Royals AA affiliate Naturals’ GM on Twitter for several months now. His name is Eric Edelstein, and he’s a great guy who loves talking with the Naturals and Royals fan community. If you aren’t following him on Twitter, I strongly encourage you to.

Eric’s been working in baseball since 1996, when he interned with the Indians. He’s been a GM with the single-A Jamestown Jammers before spending three seasons with the Wichita Wranglers prior to their relocation to Northwest Arkansas as the Naturals. In 2008, Eric was the co-Executive of the Year in the Texas League.

I wanted to get some thoughts from Eric regarding the Naturals, being a GM, and life in Northwest Arkansas, so I sent off a few questions and he replied with some great responses. So, without further ado…

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Northwest Arkansas Heads to Texas League Finals

Michael Engel — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:42:21 +0000

Clint Robinson went 4-5 with three doubles and drove in four runs to lead the Naturals to an 8-4 win over the Springfield Cardinals in Game 5 of the North Division series. The win completes a comeback for the Royals Double A affiliate, where they had trailed 2-1 in the best of five series.

Mike Montgomery got the win in the clinching game.
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Hold Your Breath: A Bad Night in Frisco

Michael Engel — Fri, 28 May 2010 05:01:08 +0000

Ethan Saporito of Project Prospect was at tonight’s Double-A game between the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Frisco Rough Riders and reported on two significant events involving two key Royals prospects.

First, Mike Moustakas left the game after running into the wall making a catch in foul territory and was pulled after only one at bat. He did finish the inning after making the play, however, and the move appears to be a precaution only. There will be more information on that tomorrow.

Second, Mike Montgomery left the game after only three innings and 52 pitches.

Mike Montgomery lasted only 3 innings tonight. Velocity was 3-4 MPH below reported norms. Possible injury? He was getting hit hard. @ESaporitoPP on Twitter

Montgomery’s final line on the night was 3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 K but no walks. He also gave up his first homerun since Low-A Burlington. Bad outings happen and pitchers, even phenom left-handers, are prone to a bad start here and there, especially at 20 years old. The line itself isn’t too worrying, but the reported loss of velocity is a significant factor.

Lowered velocity is often a sign of an arm injury for a pitcher, and often there’s a lack of movement which makes pitches much more hittable. Considering Montgomery has rocketed through the minor leagues so far, and has been deemed by many as the top prospect in the organization, the potential for injury is scary in both the short and long term.

We’ll know more tomorrow on his status as well, but it’s not out of the question that he may miss a start or two if even if it’s nothing serious. At the minor league level, it’s not so much about winning games as developing the talent on the roster.

Until then…hold your breath.

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I’ll Have What They’re Having

Michael Engel — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:09:45 +0000

For all the doom and gloom we’ve witnessed so far from the Kansas City bullpen, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We’re getting to the end of a week featuring some spectacular starting pitching lines from important members of the Royals’ farm system. Maybe it’s just one week, but there just might be something to this Process after all… (more…)