Big feat is within this KC Royals prospect’s reach

Omaha outfielder Brewer Hicklen’s two trips to Kansas City to play for the KC Royals this season haven’t amounted to much. He made his way into six big league games during his first pair of visits to the majors, was hitless in four at-bats, and struck out four times.

What he’s done, and may yet do, at Triple-A Omaha is quite another story. And he has the chance to make that story even bigger.

Time, though, is running short—tonight’s game at St. Paul is the Storm Chasers’ last of the year.

Just what is it that KC Royals prospect Brewer Hicklen can achieve tonight?

That the Royals recently named Hicklen the organization’s Triple-A Player of the Year isn’t even mildly surprising. Playing in his fifth minor league season since Kansas City picked him in the seventh round of the 2017 amateur draft, he’s hitting only .250, but owns a .350 OBP, .506 SLG and .856 OPS, and has 30 doubles, four triples, 28 homers, 85 RBIs and 35 stolen bases in 129 games.

Today, those 28 home runs stand front and center for Hicklen—combined with his 35 steals and 30 doubles, two more homers will give him a highly-coveted 30-30-30 season.

But he must get them tonight. Omaha didn’t qualify for the Triple-A playoffs, so his final at-bat against the Saints will be Hicklen’s last until next season.

Recent history says he can do it. Hicklen homered twice against the Saints earlier this month and also has two-homer games against Memphis in April, Iowa in June and Toledo in July.

(He also hasn’t homered since clubbing one Sept. 6, but that means he’s due).

And while the feeling he’ll get if he hits two out of St. Paul’s CHS Field tonight might not equal the one he got when his grand slam made the difference in Northwest Arkansas’ Double-A Central championship-clinching game last September, it should be close.

Tonight’s Omaha-St. Paul contest is slated to start at 7:07 p.m. CDT.