Royals Instructional League Primer (OF)

There has not been a lot written about the 56 players named to the Royals Instructional League roster, so here is a primer of sorts recapping each player’s 2009 season and prospect status as it stands today.  This is part 3 of 5 which covers the outfielders on the roster.

In case you missed them yesterday, part 1 covered the catchers and part 2 covered the infielders.

The roster I am working from is the one posted on www.kansascity.com back on September 5th.  Finding information about Instructional League has been surprisingly challenging so if any of the following content is incorrect, please comment to this post or contact me via email with any necessary corrections.

Outfielders:

Geulin Beltre (10/27/1990)  Signed by the Royals out of the Dominican Republic 7/2/07  (CF=49 / RF=12)
2009 Burlington Royals:  0.217/.263/.376 with 6 HR, 8 SB, 12 BB, and 64 SO in 248 PA
He’s 18 so maybe he will get better.  At least he looks like he might have some pop in his bat.

Luis Del Rosario (5/21/1990)  Signed by the Royals out of the Dominican Republic 8/1/07  (RF=37 / LF=23)
2009 Burlington Royals:  0.263/.326/.371 with 3 HR, 19 SB, 19 BB, and 60 SO in 234 PA
2009 Wilminton Blue Rocks:  0.125/.300/.250 with 0 HR, 0 SB, 2 BB, and 1 SO in 10 PA
He’s 19 so maybe he will get better.

Jarrod Dyson (8/15/1984)  Royals 2006 50th Round Pick  (CF=65 / LF=13 /DH=1)
2009 Burlington Bees:  0.343/.397/.403 with 0 HR, 9 SB, 5 BB, and 14 SO in 75 PA
2009 NW Arkansas Naturals:  0.258/.331/.319 with 0 HR, 37 SB, 27 BB, and 54 SO in 283 PA
Dyson is the senior member of the Royals collection of no power, all speed, CF “prospects” among this group.

Patrick Norris (3/17/1986)  Royals 2007 16th Round Pick  (CF=108 / LF=9 / DH=1)
2009 Burlington Bees:  0.244/.304/.272 with 0 HR, 45 SB, 31 BB, and 80 SO in 430 PA
His stats look very similar to several other speed first OF prospects that the Royals have in their system.  On the bright side, Norris had a 0.385 OBP in 2007 and 0.366 OBP in 2008, so his 2009 stats may just be a case of adjusting to low-A competition.

Paulo Orlando (11/1/1985)  Signed by the White Sox out of Brazil 1/21/05  (LF=50 / RF =33 / CF=10 / DH=9)
2009 Wilmington Blue Rocks:  0.261/.303/.351 with 2 HR, 20 SB, 15 BB, and 80 SO in 391 PA
5.33 SO for every BB?  0.303 OBP?  0.259/.304/.389 in 4 seasons in the minors?  His 2009 slash stats look good compared to Robinson’s, except for the fact that Derrick is almost 2 years younger, plays CF, and has elite speed.  Paulo is roster filler.

Hilton Richardson (1/10/1989)  Royals 2007 7th Round Pick  (CF=41 / RF=5 / DH=5 / LF=3)
2009 Idaho Falls Chukars:  0.313/.392/.428 with 1 HR, 20 SB, 19 BB, and 44 SO in 190 PA
2009 Burlington Bees:  0.154/.185/.231 with 0 HR, 2 SB, 1 BB, 10 SO in 28 PA
Hilton figures to open 2010 back with the Bees as he tries to conquer Low-A.  I’m not sure what to make of him yet, but he appeared to take a step forward with Idaho Falls.

Derrick Robinson (9/28/1987)  Royals 2006 4th Round Pick (CF=127 / DH=1)
2009 Wilmington Blue Rocks:  0.239/.290/.324 with 5 HR, 69 SB, 35 BB, and 90 SO in 571 PA
The SB numbers are shiny and enticing, but there is little else to get excited about when it comes to Robinson.  A lot of fans like to compare Derrick to former Royals speedster Joey Gathright.  The reality is that there is no comparison.  Joey-G has a career minor league slash line of 0.317/.395/.366 compared to D-Rob’s 0.243/.307/.318.  Like I said, no comparison.  Robinson just completed his 4th season in the organization, and while the front office may love speedy outfielders, Derrick needs to start getting on-base at a much higher rate if we are ever going to see him roaming CF at Kauffman Stadium.

Carlo Testa (12/16/1986)  Royals 2008 18th Round Pick  (LF=14 / DH=10 / RF=5 / CF=3)
2009 Idaho Falls Chukars:  0.305/.388/.585 with 6 HR, 9 SB, 16 BB, and 32 SO in 136 PA
After spending most of 2008 with Idaho Falls, Testa had the pleasure of repeating the level.  From the outside looking in, it would appear that Carlo is ready to face some more advanced competition.  I look forward to seeing how he handles that challenge in 2010, assuming he gets to move up to A ball.

Nick Van Stratten (5/22/1985)  Royals 2006 10th Round Pick  (RF=53 / LF=49 / CF=14 / DH=3)
2009 Burlington Bees:  0.318/.393/.447 with 1 HR, 15 SB, 28 BB, and 32 SO in 291 PA
2009 Wilmington Blue Rocks:  0.288/.371/.403 with 3 HR, 5 SB, 13 BB, and 19 SO in 161 PA
Van Stratten struggled when he first got called up to Wilmington and hit only 0.158/.200/.237 in July.  He quickly recovered and hit 0.337 the rest of the way.  With 93 BB and 98 SO in 234 minor league games played, he clearly has a good grasp of the strike zone and solid plate discipline.

Jamar Walton (1/5/1986)  Marlins 2004 4th Round Pick  (DH=34 / RF=34 / LF=23 / CF=1)
2009 Wilmington Blue Rocks:  0.255/.317/.331 with 4 HR, 7 SB, 26 BB, and 76 SO in 347 PA
Walton just finished his 6th minor league season.  In 3 seasons with the Marlins and 3 seasons with the Royals the results have consistently been less than mediocre.  At 23 with little success thus far, this might be Walton’s last chance to make an impression on the Royals.

Thoughts:

That, in a nutshell, was a pretty depressing list to pull together.  From this group of talent, Testa is the guy I am pinning my hopes on.  Richardson would be second in my book, followed by Robinson with the hopes that he develops the elusive ability to get on base.  Van Stratten might have a chance to reach the majors as a 4th or 5th OF if he can keep developing.  Beltre and Rosario are still teenagers and have time to develop.

Really not much else to say about this collection of talent.