Latest on Lefties

In the last couple weeks, left handed starting prospects Noel Arguelles and Mike Montgomery have had some arm issues limiting their activities. Arguelles is still waiting to be assigned to any minor league camp, and with short season rookie ball starting soon, he’s unlikely to be assigned anytime in the near future.

Montgomery’s a different story. After dominating at Wilmington, he’s been pitching well for Northwest Arkansas in Double A until running into some elbow soreness at the end of May. Since then, he’s made one start on a pitch count and spent time on two disabled list stints.

According to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, neither situation is of great worry to the Royals front office.

Here’s to hoping that’s the case.

The front office assures everyone that Arguelles is adjusting to his first real health adversity and that he’s two weeks away from a recovery program to get back on track. With Montgomery, the MRI results are negative and the Royals are reportedly just taking precautions with their top pitching prospect.

Again, I hope that’s the case.

Remember, this is the same group that thought Gil Meche would have an easy time shaking shoulder stiffness. They also told us earlier in the season started that Josh Fields was getting better a day before he was shut down with season-ending hip surgery. Rick Ankiel had been close to a rehab assignment for weeks but kept running into setbacks with his quad strain. Then when he did resume one, he still ran into trouble.

For those reasons, I hope this isn’t just lip service. Unless the Royals can somehow convince Zack Greinke to extend his stay in Kansas City past 2012, Montgomery’s the likely future ace of the staff. But where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and I just hope we don’t get burned in the end.

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