KC Royals: Week 2 Minor League Breakdown

As we are now in the second week of minor league action, we are staring to get some first opinions about some KC Royals prospects.

While the KC Royals lineup is struggling in the bigs, lets check how some players are performing in the minors.

AAA – Omaha Storm Chasers (8-6)

The Omaha Storm Chasers got their second week of action started continuing a series with the Round Rock Express. They started off the week in good fashion, winning by a score of 6-3. Ryan O’Hearn had a game, tallying 6 total bases, while Jorge Bonifacio also homered. Erik Skoglund gave them another good start, pounding five scoreless. Lefty reliever Eric Stout also keep his scoreless streak going.

The Storm Chasers ended up losing the final game of the series on Friday. Ramon Torres, Bubba Starling, and Whit Merrifield all collected multiple hits.

The Storm Chasers would stay at Werner Park, this time playing the New Orleans Baby Cakes over the weekend. After losing the first game of the series, they would win the final two, securing a series another series win. Peter O’Brien would finally get a hold of his first homer in 2017 also.

It was then back to playing Round Rock. On Tuesday, the Storm Chasers were facing old friend Dillion Gee. He would pitch five solid innings to lead Round Rock to the win. Matt Strahm would return to his dominate ways, striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced.

The series would be evened up Wednesday afternoon, with Omaha prevailing 5-4. Jake Junis, who I wrote about recently, pitch five decent innings, filling the strike zone, with 55 of his 79 pitches being called strikes. I still think he’s a pitching option for the KC Royals sooner or later.

Overview: Omaha keeps treading water to begin the season with some of their players going back and forth on I-29.

This team is starting to look solid though. They rank 4th in OPS (.760) and 4th in ERA (3.33) among PCL teams.

Player of the Week – Jorge Bonifacio: The longtime organization outfielder could finally see some time in Kansas City. His .970 OPS ranks 2nd on the team. The most impressive thing though is his increased plate discipline. He has walked 6 times along with only striking in 7 plate appearances.

A+ – Wilmington Blue Rocks (7-7)

The Wilmington Blue Rocks started off the week right, taking 3 of 4 from the Potomac Nationals.

After losing the first games of the series in which one of the top pitching prospects for the KC Royals, Scott Blewett, delivered a rough 4.1 innings, the Blue Rocks took the next two, winning games with Emilio Ogando, A.J. Puckett, and Christian Castillo on the hill.

Playing the Salem Red Sox on Monday, Wilmington had a tough game all around. After looking fantastic in his first couple of starts, Foster Griffin was tagged for 8 runs in 1.1 innings.

Salem ended up finishing off the sweep in the next two games.

The highlight of the week came Wednesday night though. Struggling in a tough hitting league to start the year, catcher Chase Vallot, one of the KC Royals top hitting prospects, hit his first home of the year. The DH Roman Collins also went deep for the second time this year.

On Thursday, Wilmington took the first game of the series against the Winston-Salem Dash, barely etching out a 1-0 win. The lone run in this game came on a Elier Hernandez RBI single. What was eye-catching though was the start by the 2015 draftee, A.J. Puckett. Puckett hurled 7 scoreless innings, striking out 8 in what might have been the best start of his professional career.

Overview:  The bullpen has looked amazing. Jared Ruxer, Richard Lovelady, Jake Kalish, and Jacob Bodner have all pitched well.

Player of the Week – A.J. Puckett: His first start was less desirable, allowing 10 baserunners in 5 stressful innings. But what earns him this though is his performance on Thursday night. Eight scoreless in a 1-0 win.

A – Lexington Legends (5-10)

After a rough 2-5 start to the new season for the KC Royals Single-A team, the Lexington lineup let out a lot of frustration, putting 14 on the board against the West Virgina Power. Outfielder Khalil Lee led the way with two doubles, second baseman Angelo Castellano homered, and left fielder Kort Peterson also added three hits.

Lexington couldn’t keep it going though, losing the next three games in ugly fashion.

The losses Friday and Saturday were due to an underperformance by the bullpen. On Sunday, the Power returned the favor to Lexington, scoring 13 runs on 18 hits. The runs were charged to three pitchers. Nolan Watson, Jose Veras, and Julio Pinto.

Lexington would remain at home for a series with the Greenville Drive. Winning the first game of the series, lefty prospect Garrett Davila turned in a quality start and another 2015 draftee, Jace Vines, contributed with 3 scoreless innings.

The offense would remain stagnant in this series though. But, Khalil Lee did knock his second homer of the year.

On Thursday night, the Legends would head on the road to face Tim Tebow and the Columbia Fireflies. Tebow was not in the lineup.

The Legends ended pitching a shutout, getting 7 innings from Andre Davis. Walker Sheller notched the save.

Overview: Some players in the lineup are starting to heat up. Six of the nine players in the lineup have an OPS above .750.

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Player of the Week – Andre Davis: The KC Royals 8th round pick in 2015, Davis spent two years in Burlington to get his pro career jump started. He is now pitching full season and the results have been good. Davis has given up 4 runs in 12 innings, posting a K-BB ratio of 13-3.