Kansas City Royals Prospects: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Lexington Legends: Pitching

Hot: Pedro Fernandez

There were a few players who could have lain claim to being the hottest pitcher on the Legends this week, but the honor goes to Pedro Fernandez. Fernandez, who struggled with the Legends last season, has certainly done his part to prove that last year was an aberration, at least in the early part of this season.

Having made two appearances thus far, with one start and one relief outing, Fernandez has allowed only two runs on three hits and two walks in 8.1 innings of work. Even more impressively, he has struck out ten of the thirty batters he has faced this season, continuing his track record of striking out more than a batter per inning. At age 21, he is certainly going to be interesting to watch.

Cold: Corey Ray

Corey Ray’s outing was a mixed bag in terms of results. First the good news – Ray recorded seven of his eleven outs via the strikeout, showing that he has the potential to be quite the strikeout artist. However, the rest of his outing was a struggle, as he gave up three runs on five hits and a walk while recording the other four outs.

Ray pitched relatively well for the Burlington Royals last season, posting a 3.50 ERA and a 1.308 WHiP in 44.1 innings of work. Since his outing was in relief, Ray may well have worn down after the first couple of innings. If so, that outing could be forgotten about in short order, especially if Ray continues to be this caliber of strikeout pitcher.

Next: Who's Hot, Who's Not for the Royals in Week One