KC Royals MiLB: Raul Mondesi Promoted To AAA

 The KC Royals promoted top prospect Raul Mondesi to AAA Omaha one about two weeks after his return from a 50-game PEDs suspension.

In his last 10 days, Raul Mondesi had 12 hits in 36 at bats with eight stolen bases, 2 doubles, and 1 home run for a .333 batting average. The Kansas City Royals front office liked what they have seen and promoted him to AAA Omaha. The move hardly comes as a surprise, since the 20-year-old switch hitter has been rapidly pushed up the chain since he joined the team as a top international signing at age 16.

For the season, Mondesi is hitting .261/.325/.451 at AA NW Arkansas (29 games) and High A Wilmington (9 games) with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 19 stolen bases, and 21 RBIs in 153 at bats.

This season has been something of a breakthrough at the plate for Raul Mondesi, who is showing more pop than his career .248/.296/.373 triple slash. Mondesi is considered to have a major-league ready glove and base-running abilities, but has had to develop his hit tool.

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Not only is he showing more power, but his pitch recognition is much better than before with a healthy 9.9% walk rate at AA NW Arkansas in 2016, compared to a mere 5.0% at AA last season.

Mondesi is the only KC Royals prospect to make either the Baseball Amerca and Baseball Prospectus mid-season top 100 prospect lists, since Kyle Zimmer has only pitched in three games in 2016 due to yet another injury. I think the Kansas CIty Royals front office are pushing both Mondesi and Bubba Starling to prepare them for September call-ups this season.

On the other hand, Mondesi and Starling would be two of the KC Royals’ prime trade chips at the trading deadline, along with outfielder Jorge Bonifacio, third baseman Hunter Dozier, and first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. However, the Kansas City Royals would need to get something substantial if they were to give up Mondesi.

Next: 5 Reasons Danny Duffy Has Become The Royals Staff Ace

No more rentals Dayton. If you deal pieces like Mondesi and Starling, you need to get a multi-year solution with top performance capability that will help the KC Royals for years to come.