Judy Johnson is a Hall of Famer and the namesake of the field at Frawley Stadium. His statue stands outside the ballpark. He was a key member to some of the best teams in Negro League history. You can find out more about Johnson HERE .

The thing that disappoints me is that they have dropped the ball over the years with honoring the Negro Leagues in Wilmington (just like they have in Kansas City). Back in the day, both teams used to wear Negro League uniforms (I am a sucker for old school uniforms). Then their game worn hats would be auctioned off to support the Negro Leagues. They do have auctions going on throughout the concourse of autographed memorabilia tonight (which are drawing some crowds).

This year is no different. It is also Star Wars Night, with Star Wars characters set to be in attendance. It seems as if the promotional team is more interested in pushing that than the history of the Negro Leagues and Judy Johnson.

Anyway, to the game (and enough of my rambling).

First half Northern Division champion Lynchburg (the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves) is in town and the Hillcats are 2.5 games back of the Blue Rocks in the second half standings. The Blue Rocks have taken the first two games of the four-game series, as the pitchers have allowed just two runs to the Hillcats. In Game 1, the Blue Rocks won 2-1 and walked off on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the 10^th inning. In Game 2, the Blue Rocks scored ten runs in the bottom of the 2^nd inning and rode the arm of Matt Ridings to another victory.

Taking the mound for the Blue Rocks tonight is Brooks Pounders, who the Royals acquired this past offseason from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite the fact that Pounders has been with Wilmington since June, this will be the first time I will be seeing him pitch. With the Blue Rocks, he is 5-4 with a 4.83 ERA in 13 games (12 starts). He has allowed more hits (74) than innings pitched (63.1). His last start at Potomac was a great one: 7IP, 4H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 5K.

The Hillcats will be sending Dimasther Delgado to the mound. Overall he is 6-6 with a 4.35 ERA in 20 starts. He, like Pounders, allows more hits than innings pitched (125 hits in 107.2 innings). Delgado faced the Blue Rocks in back-to-back-starts (June 29 and July 5) and allowed three runs in each game.

Lineups:

HILLCATS: Mycal Jones (CF), Nick Ahmed (SS), Dan Brewer (LF), Chris Garcia (1B), Edward Salcedo (3B), Adam Milligan (RF), David Rohm (DH), Emerson Landoni (2B), and Chad Comer (C).

BLUE ROCKS: Orlando Calixte (SS), Brett Eibner (CF), Lane Adams (RF), Matt Fields (1B), Cheslor Cuthbert (3B), Nick Van Stratten (DH), Geulin Beltre (LF), Juan Graterol (C), and Luis Piterson (2B).

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Oh and Jason Adam finally won his second game (and third).

Wilmington Blue Rocks pitcher Leondy Perez

Leondy Perez has returned from the DL. He will be making his third start for the Blue Rocks tonight since returning from the DL on July 28^th. Overall, he is 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 14 games (seven starts). Since returning from the DL, Perez has struck out ten in nine innings (while allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks). He will be opposed by Winston-Salem’s Stephen McCray (5-3 with a 3.77 ERA in 20 games, 12 starts). The Dash right-hander has been a full-time starter since the June All-Star break.

Tonight’s game is the final game of their three-game series (and the last time the two teams will play barring a matchup in the Carolina League Championship). Heading into the game, the Blue Rocks are tied for first place in the Northern Division with Frederick (and just a ½ game up on the other two teams in the division). The Dash (who are the first half champs) are tied for first place in the Southern Division with Myrtle Beach (four games up on Carolina). When in Winston-Salem last week, the Blue Rocks lost two of three.

Let’s take a look at the first two games of the series.

Wilmington took Game 1 on Tuesday night in dramatic fashion. With two outs and a runner on second base and trailing 1-0, Watts lifted a fly ball to centerfield. Game over right? Wrong. Dash centerfielder Trayce Thompson dropped the ball, allowing the tying run to score. After Elder walked, Angel Franco delivered the game winner, a double to left.

Winston-Salem took Game 2, 8-0. They pounded out 13 hits, to just three for the Blue Rocks (Geulin Beltre had two of the hits). They were shut out for a league-worst 13th time this season.

Lineups:

DASH: Keenyn Walker (CF), Marcus Semien (SS), Trayce Thompson (RF), Dan Black (1B), Cyle Hankerd (DH), Michael Earley (LF), Mike Blanke (C), David Herbek (3B), and Daniel Wagner (2B).

BLUE ROCKS: Angel Franco (2B), Orlando Calixte (SS), Lane Adams (CF), Matt Fields (1B), Cheslor Cuthbert (3B), Geulin Beltre (RF), Murray Watts (DH), Juan Graterol (C), and Chris Elder (LF).

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Everett Teaford. Photo: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Omaha got the best of Round Rock and Major League veteran Roy Oswalt, 7-2. In his second start since signing with the Texas Rangers, Oswalt allowed five runs on six hits over four innings. All five runs came in the bottom of the 3rd inning, four coming on Wil Myers‘ grand slam (his 8th homerun in Triple-A).

It was a KC Royals rehab game on Thursday night. Everett Teaford started and allowed one run (on a solo homerun) over two innings. He allowed two hits while striking out two. Chris Getz led off and played second base. He went 1-for-2 with a run scored and a walk. Salvador Perez DH’ed and went 2-for-4, with a double and a strikeout.

Jake Odorizzi picked up the win, as he allowed just one run on five hits and two walks over 6.2 innings. He struck out ten (97 pitches, 68 for strikes). He did however leave the game with the bases loaded, but Tommy Hottovy threw just two pitches to escape and close out the victory.

NW Arkansas walked off against Arkansas, 6-5 in ten innings. With runners at second and third base and two outs, Yem Prades delivered the game winner, a ground ball to third base. He went 3-for-6 with two runs scored. The game headed to extra innings after the Travelers tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the 9th inning.

The game was tied at 4-4 after the 5th inning before the Naturals tied the game in the bottom of the 8th inning on a Rey Navarro RBI single. The Naturals had 13 hits, with Christian Colon and Paulo Orlando collecting two of them.

After Chris Dwyer struggled yet again (89 pitches over just four innings), Buddy Baumann came on in relief and did not allow a hit or walk over four scoreless innings.

(more…) ]]> http://kingsofkauffman.com/2012/06/07/royals-june-7th-minors-recap/feed/ 0 http://kingsofkauffman.com/2011/10/19/royals-prospect-review-yordano-ventura/ http://kingsofkauffman.com/2011/10/19/royals-prospect-review-yordano-ventura/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:17:14 +0000 Michael Engel http://kingsofkauffman.com/?p=10972 At a certain point in 2010, rarely would someone mention Yordano Ventura without also mentioning Robinson Yambati. Both were signed out of the Domincan Republic in 2008. Both pitched well in the Dominican Summer League in 2009. At the end of 2010, Ventura and Yambati were second and third respectively in Baseball America’s rankings of Arizona Rookie League prospects.

In 2011, the two started to separate.

We’ve already discussed Yambati’s disastrous 2011 season. Ventura fared much better in low A Kane County this year.

At 5’11″ and maybe 180 pounds (if he’s lucky), Ventura wouldn’t seem intimidating. Yet, despite his smaller stature, he gets his fastball up into the mid-90s and he’s made strides with his changeup and curveball after instructional league work and through 2011.

There are whispers of comparisons to Pedro Martinez, fair or unfair. Ventura’s height has something to do with that, but he also has a consistent delivery according to scouts and has a similar arm slot to Pedro. Still, there’s work to do. Players don’t make it on comps alone.

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Robinson Yambati had a terrible season.

After handling the Arizona Rookie League in 2010, Yambati was a fast riser on prospect lists, even reaching #16 in the Baseball America rankings of Royals prospects and #11 according to Baseball Prospectus prospect expert Kevin Goldstein. With a fastball that hangs around 93, but can hit 96 (and there were reports that this time last year he was touching 98 mph) and a solid slurve, the young pitcher from the Dominican looked like a big upside pitcher.

His 8.7 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 2010 gave statistical merit to the ranking, all for a player who only turned 20 in January.

Now, after a dismal 2011, he’ll see that ranking drop significantly.

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After spending three weeks focused on the Idaho Falls Chukars, it’s finally time to move on. The next logical step is the Burlington Royals so that is where we’re heading. As you can surmise from the title, today I’m breaking down the pitchers and in the next column I’ll delve into the position players.

All 14 of the pitchers on the Burlington roster have been introduced to the Royals system in the last 4 years. 3 came in 2008, 5 in 2010 and 6 in 2011. 9 pitchers were added via the draft, 2 were international free agents, 2 were non-drafted free agents and one was acquired via trade. In Baseball America’s 2011 Prospect Handbook, RHP Robinson Yambati cracked Kansas City’s pre-season top-30 (#16) and RHP Eric Cantrell made the organizational depth chart but the rest of the pack haven’t received much pub as of yet. (more…)

Rankings:
~ Baseball America #12
~ Royals Prospects: #18
~ Royals Review #14
~ Kevin Goldstein: #13
~ John Sickels #27 C+

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Rankings:
~ Baseball America #16
~ Royals Prospects: #26
~ Royals Review #18
~ Kevin Goldstein: #11
~ John Sickels #26 C+
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Baseball America is running down their lists of top 20 prospects within individual MiLB leagues.  Not surprisingly, the Royals are being well represented.
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