KC Royals: Omaha club is bursting with good things

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(Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports) /

Check out MLB Pipeline’s rankings of Kansas City prospects and you’ll discover that nine of the KC Royals’ Top 30 prospects are assigned to its Double-A affiliate. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals’ roster includes Bobby Witt Jr. (No. 1), Jonathan Bowlan (No. 8 but awaiting Tommy John surgery), Nick Pratto (No. 9), Austin Cox (No. 10), Alec Marsh (No. 12), Jon Heasley (No. 13), MJ Melendez (No. 14), Brewer Hicklen (No. 25), and Yefri Del Rosario (No. 30).

This remarkable concentration of talent explains why the Naturals probably attract more attention than the Omaha Storm Chasers, Kansas City’s Triple-A team. The top two clubs in an organization usually get the bulk of media and fan focus, but that isn’t necessarily the case this season—it’s probably fair to say Northwest Arkansas is, at least for now, more in baseball’s spotlight than Omaha, and the Naturals have Witt and his colleagues to thank for it. Not a day goes by without outlets providing the latest Witt News and updates on the rest of the club’s uber-talented crew.

That seems to leave Omaha to toil less noticeably, at least until Witt et. al. earn their way to the Storm Chasers, or skip Omaha altogether on their ways to Kansas City. But some of what’s happening at Omaha deserves notice.

The KC Royals’ Triple-A club just swept Indy and is leading its division.

The Storm Chasers are good. They lead the Midwest Division of the Triple-A East. They beat Indianapolis Sunday to complete a six-game sweep of the Indians. They’ve won eight in a row and stand nine games above .500 at 16-7.

Such effort must be fueled by good players. Let’s look at some of them.

(Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports) /

Some KC Royals pitching prospects are putting in good work for Omaha.

Just two days before Omaha opened its 2021 season, Kansas City promoted Storm Chasers pitcher Daniel Lynch, the Royals’ second best MLB Pipeline prospect, to the big leagues. The move put a hole in the Chasers’ rotation, but it didn’t last long—after losing twice and posting a 15.75 ERA in three games, KC returned Lynch to Omaha.

The change didn’t make much difference at first. Iowa knocked Lynch around in his first Omaha start, scoring four runs on seven hits in the lefthander’s six innings.

Then things got better. Lynch started twice during last week’s six-game series against Indianapolis and in 10.2 innings gave up just one run, struck out 13, walked only three, and earned a win. He’s now 1-0, 2.70 for the Chasers and could be starting his climb back to the majors.

Jackson Kowar has been spectacular in five 2021 starts for the Storm Chasers.

How good has righthanded starter Jackson Kowar, MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 KC prospect, been for Omaha this season? Good enough that Friday’s signs pointing toward him pitching for the Royals Saturday weren’t at all implausible.

Those signs turned out to be wrong, but it’s hard to believe the Kansas City brass wasn’t seriously considering promoting Kowar. His record justifies the move—he’s 5-0 with a 1.01 ERA in five starts, has 36 strikeouts in 26.2 innings, and has surrendered only 17 hits. He’s pitched at least five innings in all his starts and surrendered only a run three times, and none twice.

If he keeps it up, the Storm Chasers will be short an excellent pitcher, but the Royals will gain one.

Gabe Speier might force the KC Royals to consider him for their bullpen.

The preseason trade that sent KC lefthanded reliever Tim Hill to San Diego for Franchy Cordero and Ronald Bolanos seemed to crack the Royals’ bullpen door open a bit for Gabe Speier, another southpaw reliever who’d pitched briefly for the club in 2019. And a week later, that door swung open and Speier rejoined the Royals.

He went 0-1, 7.94 in eight games before KC sent him to their Alternate Training Site, where he remained for the rest of the season. He pitched twice in spring training, then started this season in Omaha.

To say he’s pitching “well” might not do his performance justice. Speier leads the club with four saves, hasn’t given up a run in 10 appearances, and has 17 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. He’s walked only one batter, and owns a microscopic 0.35 WHIP and .083 BAA.

With those numbers, Speier could work his way back into Kansas City’s bullpen picture.

A few Storm Chaser hitters are making cases for promotion to the KC Royals.

Pitchers aren’t the only Omaha players making strides at Omaha. Others are using their bats to grab Kansas City’s attention.

The biggest of those bats, of course, is outfielder Edward Olivares, who made it back to the Royals (he hit .274 for them in 18 games last season) Sunday and went 2-for-4 and scored a run in KC’s victory over Minnesota.

So, why might Omaha still be relevant to a player who isn’t there anymore? Because he’ll likely return to the Storm Chasers before long. Despite his excellent .395/.473/.654 20-game Chaser line, it wasn’t until KC outfielder-designated hitter Jorge Soler suffered right groin discomfort Saturday that the Royals chose to call Olivares up. And because the big club seems committed to Soler, Olivares’ time in Kansas City could be short.

Related Story. 3 reasons KC keeps playing Jorge Soler. light

But if Olivares, who has five homers, four doubles, a triple, 16 RBIs, and 11 walks to go with that superb Triple-A line, gets hot, the Royals may have to find a way to keep him longer.

Third baseman Emmanuel Rivera is heating up for the Omaha Storm Chasers.

Omaha played its first 2021 game Sunday without Olivares on the roster, but another Storm Chaser helped pick up the slack. Emmanuel Rivera went 4-for-5 with a triple, double and two singles to help the club put the cap on a six-game sweep of Indianapolis.

Rivera started slowly—he was hitting only .185 on May 20—but a .363 average (12-for-33) since then has him at a much better .253. He’s also homered five times and has 21 RBIs.

A key member of the KC Royals’ 2014 and 2015 World Series clubs is on fire.

His chances of making it back to Kansas City aren’t good, this steady shortstop who helped anchor the infields of the Royals’ last two pennant-winners, but Alcides Escobar isn’t giving up. Now 34 and back in the United States after a season playing in Japan, Escobar toils away in Omaha hoping for a return to Kauffman Stadium.

The attempt seemed all but a fantasy after his first seven games—he was hitting .100 with only two singles, a double, and a walk to his name. Since then, though, he’s been on the attack.

Escobar is 10-for 14 (.588) in his last four games, a performance that includes three doubles, two home runs, and six RBIs, and his average has skyrocketed to .324. He may not become a Royal again, but he’s having fun trying.

Next. Best and worst 2021 roster additions. dark

The KC Royals’ Double-A farm club may be getting more press than Triple-A Omaha, but good things are happening with the Storm Chasers.

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