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06-19-2023, 10:50 AM
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MVP
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LOS ANGELES (N) @ KANSAS CITY (06/30 -- 07/02)
 Series Recap: Los Angeles Dodgers By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | July 3rd, 2023
Friday, June 30th, 2023 Three Dodger dongs proved to be too much for the Royals, as they pulled away late in the ninth to hand them a 6-3 defeat to end the month of June, kicking off the exact second half of the season. An RBI single from Miguel Rojas, and then a walk and hit batsman with the bases loaded in the fourth inning accounted for three of the Dodgers' runs, and Max Muncy and Mookie Betts went back-to-back against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. Jose Cuas came in to stop the bleeding, getting the final two outs on a pop out and a ground out, but the Royals couldn't push any runs across in the ninth despite loading the bases. MJ Melendez singled with one out, and an error and a single loaded the bases for Michael Massey. But Evan Phillips coaxed a fly ball out to end the game. Drew Waters put on a good show, however, hitting a pair of solo homeruns and driving in another with an RBI double in the first inning. He was the entire offense for the Royals, as only Bobby Witt Jr was able to reach base safely on more than one occasion, going 3-for-5 with a trio of singles. With Jordan Lyles out for the season with an elbow problem, lefty Angel Zerpa returned from his rehab assignment and impressed in the early going. He ended up being charged with four earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, but two of them were let in by Dylan Coleman, who entered the game in the fourth inning with the bases loaded after Rojas' RBI hit.
Saturday, July 1st, 2023 Los Angeles did all of their damage in the early going, scoring two in the second and one more in the fifth to get out to a 3-0 lead. A couple of late rallies weren't enough for the Royals, as they fell just short in the ninth by a 3-2 score. Nick Pratto's RBI single in the sixth to score Michael Massey put the Royals down just two, and then Bobby Witt Jr followed in the seventh with an RBI double to plate Maikel Garcia. They did get the tying run on base to lead off the ninth with MJ Melendez's walk, but a bad bunt attempt by Matt Duffy led to a forceout at second, and back-to-back flyouts from Kyle Isbel and Garcia ended the game. It's the fourth straight loss in one-run games; and the Royals have been pretty poor so far this season in one-run games, going 7-14. "It's a play here, a play there, that makes you go back and think what if we had done something a little different in these close games," said skipper Matt Quatraro. "In the blowouts, you just chalk it up to a bad day and move on. But the close games; the close losses, and even the close wins, you learn a lot more and grow from that." Zack Greinke took the loss, going just 4 1/3 innings, with three earned runs on seven hits, with two walks and punchouts apiece. The bullpen was solid from the jump, as they hurled 4 2/3 scoreless innings, split up between five relievers. They allowed just two baserunners the entire rest of the way, both on walks -- one each from Jackson Kowar and Josh Taylor.
Sunday, July 2nd, 2023 Thanks to an early salvo from the offense, the Royals took a 5-0 lead after two innings, enough to withstand a late rally from the Dodgers in a 6-4 victory, salvaging the final game of the series between the two teams this season. A two-run double from Drew Waters and a two-run single from Freddy Fermin, both in the first inning against Los Angeles starter Dustin May, set the tone early. Meanwhile, even throwing in a brief rain delay, Brady Singer turned in his best outing in over a month, allowing just one earned run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings, striking out six. Scott Barlow, who was briefly knocked out of the full-time closer's role in favor of a committee approach, picked up his 18th save of the season with a spotless ninth. "I asked Brady if he still felt good enough to go, so we decided to throw him back out there," said manager Matt Quatraro. "If the delay had gone much longer, we probably would have taken him out, but we felt a half-hour was a reasonable time. I mean, some half-innings take a half-hour while your offense goes, so we didn't see an issue." Nick Pratto led the Royals with three hits, while Bobby Witt Jr and Waters each collected a pair. Maikel Garcia went 1-for-4, increasing his hit streak to a modest five games. However, he's been hot pretty much all of the last three weeks, hitting safely in 14-of-17 games since June 13th. The Royals will now head out on their final road trip before the All-Star break, as they'll play three in Minnesota and then four in Cleveland to wrap up the official first half of the season. UP NEXT: at Minnesota Twins (07/03 -- 07/05) Last edited by artoodeetoo; 06-20-2023 at 09:36 AM. |
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06-21-2023, 09:51 PM
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#50 |
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MVP
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ROYALS NEWS (07/03)
BARLOW, CHAPMAN RECEIVING TRADE INTEREST With the calendar flipping to July, expect the trade rumor mill to start really churning; and while it's not the first indication of any interest, MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that the Cardinals, Twins, and Brewers have reached out to the Royals about both Scott Barlow and Aroldis Chapman. The Blue Jays seemed to be involved several weeks ago, but those talks tempered a bit after they traded for Pierce Johnson away from the Rockies. Now, with Anthony Bass on the injured list, the Blue Jays are joining the aforementioned three clubs in re-sparking their interest in the two Royals relievers. The Royals have been one of the busier clubs in the trade market so far this season, as a few of the notable deals they've made have been Nicky Lopez to Pittsburgh and Edward Olivares to Seattle, each getting a minor league pitcher in return. Chapman, 35, is enjoying a 'renaissance' of sorts after a poor 2022 with the Yankees, and domestic violence allegations that have dogged him. He's not striking out hitters at the same rate as in his heyday, but he's posting solid walk rates (at least solid by Chapman's standards), and is striking hitters out at a decent 31% clip. He's also getting save opportunities in recent weeks, most likely to try and further boost his value as the deadline approaches. Barlow, on the other hand, has seen his strikeout rates dip year-over-year, as he's now down to a career-low 20%, down from 26.7% last season, and 29.8% in 2021. He does keep the ball in the park for the most part (.8 HR/9), and has an okay GB% of 42%. The real value with Barlow is that you'd get him cost-controlled through next year, so he's not just a rental. Some other notable names have already been moved in the reliever market, such as the aforementioned Johnson along with Clay Holmes (NY Yankees to San Francisco), Dinelson Lamet (Colorado to Minnesota), Aaron Loup (LA Angels to Minnesota), Matt Wisler (Detroit to St. Louis), and Carl Edwards Jr (Washington to Arizona). MAYERS DESIGNATED; KRISKE ADDED AND PROMOTED Right-hander Mike Mayers was designated for assignment, and fellow righty Brooks Kriske was added to the 40-man roster and re-called for the series that begins against the Twins tonight. Kriske last appeared in the majors in 2021 for the Yankees, and wasn't impressive in eight appearances, posting a 15.26 ERA in 7 2/3 innings, allowing thirteen earned runs, including five homeruns and six walks. GREINKE SELECTED AS LONE ROYALS ALL-STAR In a surprise, veteran right-hander Zack Greinke was selected via player ballot to the All-Star pitching staff, as the player ballot voting wrapped up over the weekend. The player ballot is the third phase of All-Star voting, with Phases 1 and 2 (fan vote) already in the rear-view. Only the top vote-getter by the fans would be guaranteed a spot after the first phase, with Mike Trout and Trea Turner ending as the top vote-earners in their respective leagues as of June 22nd. No Royals finished in first or second in the voting for the second phase of the revamped voting process to determine the starters for each side, which wrapped up June 29th. The next sixteen players (five starters, three relievers, eight reserves) are chosen via player ballot. The final eight, including any injury replacements, would be selected by the Commissioner's Office later this week. Most around the team thought that Salvador Perez would be the most likely selection for the Royals; but he ended up third in the voting for AL catcher, and was surprisingly not voted in on the player's ballot. Baltimore's Adley Rutschman was voted in as the starter, with Minnesota's Christian Vazquez coming in second. Vazquez was voted in on the player's ballot, Perez was not. 
Perez will likely miss the All-Star game for the third time since 2019, with no Mid-Summer Classic held in 2020. He'll now be at the mercy of the MLB office for his selection, or if any injuries pop up in the next week. No other Royals are on the roster through the third phase, with Bobby Witt Jr being only other Royal to finish in the top three of voting at their position. Corey Seager, who won the AL shortstop vote and is currently sitting out with a sore shoulder, is going to be a game-time decision on July 11th; but with Wander Franco and Carlos Correa definitively out with injuries, BWJ may end up on the final roster when all is said and done, as there are no other AL shortstops listed through Phase 3. Gunnar Henderson of Baltimore is also having a really solid rookie season, but three of his teammates are already on the squad, and BWJ is having a superior season in just about every way possible. "We're happy for Zack that he was able to get in the game on the player ballot," said manager Matt Quatraro. "But Salvy and Bobby are pretty big omissions in our eyes, so we're going to make our case to the league office that they should be on the team." Rosters are expected to be finalized on July 9th, two days prior to the game. The Home Run Derby participants are expected to be released on July 6th. Defending champion Juan Soto will be back to defend his title from 2022. Last edited by artoodeetoo; 06-22-2023 at 10:11 AM. |
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06-21-2023, 09:57 PM
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#51 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MVP
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KANSAS CITY @ MINNESOTA (07/03 -- 07/05)
Series Recap: Minnesota Twins By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | July 6th, 2023
Monday, July 3rd, 2023 Monday night's game was more of the same from the past week -- offense from just a select few, and the pitching was better but not good enough in a 4-1 loss to the Twins. Bobby Witt Jr and Nick Pratto collected a pair of hits each, including a homerun and a double from Pratto. In addition, Witt Jr stole his first base since June 13th, giving him twenty-three for the season. But that was about it -- Kyle Isbel and Freddy Fermin each went 1-for-3 with a walk, and Salvador Perez singled as part of a 1-for-4 day. "I thought we battled, gave Sonny (Gray) all he could handle for a little over five innings," manager Matt Quatraro lamented. "We're getting good at-bats, and getting better at not chasing the pitcher's pitches, but just can't string together enough hits or walks to get much of anything going." Carlos Hernandez worked five innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits and three walks, fanning four. The bullpen has been solid as of late, and they continued that trend with three scoreless innings of relief.
Tuesday, July 4th, 2023 RBI on three consecutive at-bats in the fifth inning gave the Royals a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth, but the Twins would strike with single runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to claim a 5-3 victory over Kansas City on Tuesday night. After scoring Michael Massey on an error from the bat of Maikel Garcia, Kyle Isbel came in on Bobby Witt Jr's single, followed by another RBI hit from MJ Melendez that scored Garcia. The Royals had just two baserunners after that inning, as Kyle Isbel reached with a walk in the sixth. Unfortunately, he was thrown out trying to steal second by Christian Vazquez. Massey also singled to lead off the ninth against Caleb Thielbar, who worked around that hit to pick up the save. Brad Keller struggled with walks in this start, issuing five free passes and seven hits in just 5 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs. Appearing in the majors for the first time since 2021 with the Yankees, Brooks Kriske took the loss in relief, allowing the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. He walked one and struck out a pair in two-thirds of an inning. Kriske was called up just prior to the series, as the Royals designated right-hander Mike Mayers for assignment.
Wednesday, July 5th, 2023 Three different Royals collected three hits each, including five runs scored between Bobby Witt Jr and Maikel Garcia, as the Royals salvaged the final game of the series between the two teams on Wednesday night with a 7-4 win. Garcia went 3-for-4 with a double, scoring three runs, and also driving in one of his own. He was also one of three Royals to steal a base, along with Witt and Kyle Isbel, who became the third Royal to reach the double-digit mark in steals, joining Witt and MJ Melendez. Angel Zerpa was fantastic, allowing just one earned run over five innings with five strikeouts to pick up his first victory of the season. He didn't walk a batter, and scattered just five hits. Salvador Perez also collected three hits and an RBI as he's now reached base safely in nine of his last ten games, including going 12-for-38 (.316) over that stretch. His current .218 average is as high as it's been since May 5th, when he finished that game against the A's with a .220 mark. UP NEXT: at Cleveland Indians (07/06 -- 07/09) |
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06-23-2023, 11:23 PM
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#52 |
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MVP
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ROYALS NEWS (07/06)
ROYALS 2023 DRAFT OUTLOOK 2023's All-Star activities will commence at Lumen Field in Seattle. This year's draft will be the first with the lottery results implemented from the previous offseason, and the Royals came away with the eighth selection on Sunday night. Since 2017, the Royals have selected eight players in the first round, including five pitchers and three hitters. Among the eight players, three were high school picks, and five were from the college ranks. The position breakdown were five pitchers, two infielders, and one outfielder (Gavin Cross last season). Which direction might the Royals go this year? The draft's consensus top pick is Dylan Crews, an outfielder from LSU; and his teammate, Paul Skenes, could also go number one if Crews does not. There’s a strong mix of hitters and pitchers at the top of most draft boards, with the crop of college hitters amongst the best in recent years. However, most mocks have still been targeting college pitching for the fifth time since 2017, with Rhett Lowder of Wake Forest the main target, along with a smattering of other college pitching such as Hurston Waldrep of Florida, and Chase Dollander of Tennessee. If college pitching isn't an option, then other potential players could be outfielders Enrique Bradfield, Jr., (Vanderbilt), Wyatt Langford (Florida), and Walker Jenkins, who is a high schooler from North Carolina. BWJ ADDED TO AL ALL-STAR SQUAD With top AL shortstop vote-getter Corey Seager's status for the All-Star Game still in doubt, the league office announced that shortstop Bobby Witt Jr would be amongst the eight additional reserves tabbed to represent the AL in the Mid-Summer Classic, announced yesterday. He'll be the youngest Royal to ever appear in an All-Star Game, should he enter the game at any point. He'll beat HOF'er George Brett by about forty-five days, as Witt Jr will be 23 years old and 27 days on the day of the game. Brett's first was in his age-23 season, but he had already been in the league for several years at the time. Rosters won't be finalized until Sunday, so there is still an opportunity for Salvador Perez to be named to the squad, but it is looking as if he'll be an injury replacement for someone at this point. RUIZ, CAMPBELL SELECTED TO FUTURES GAME The MLB All-Star Game isn't the only thing that's happening during All-Star Weekend -- the Futures Game will be on Sunday night. Two Royals prospects will be representing the American League in pitcher Isaiah Campbell and outfielder Tony Ruiz. Ruiz is the team's top overall prospect who at just 17, is already starting in the outfield for one of the Royals' Dominican Summer League squads. Campbell was acquired earlier this season from the Mariners for Edward Olivares, and all he's done is put up a 4.07 ERA with eleven saves through twenty-two appearances. His ERA seems a bit high, but six of the eleven earned runs allowed was in his most recent appearance on July 1st in just one-third of an inning, and it's reflected in his FIP and SIERA that are 2.83 and 2.74, respectively. Despite a slow start (.200/.290/.238) in sixty-three plate appearances with the DSL Royals Glass squad, Ruiz is still considered as one of the highest-ceiling prospects in all of baseball, who some evaluators think could end up grading out with 60+ hit and power tools when all is said and done. |
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06-23-2023, 11:49 PM
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#53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MVP
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KANSAS CITY @ CLEVELAND (07/06 -- 07/09)
Series Recap: Cleveland Guardians By Will Keeler | Kansas City Star | July 10th, 2023
Thursday, July 6th, 2023 Usually, the Royals are the ones watching other teams take full advantage of their mistakes, seeing potential victories go down the drain due to silly miscues. For once on Thursday night, the Royals were able to take advantage of another team's errors -- and win. Down 3-1 heading into the ninth, the Royals used a handful of Guardians' mistakes to surge past them and steal a 4-3 decision at Progressive Field. Two errors and a wild pitch led to three unearned Royals' runs, and Scott Barlow worked around a couple of singles to get the save in the bottom of the ninth. The inning started out normal enough, with a Salvador Perez single, and then a 4-3 groundout to move Perez to second base. Then second baseman Andres Gimenez, who made a great play to get an out on the previous play, chunked a throw to first base for an error after making another outstanding dive for a ground ball, putting runners on first and third. Then, a single to left turned into extra bases as Michael Massey's base hit scampered by Amed Rosario, which not only scored Perez, but moved Kyle Isbel all the way to third. Fresh off being named as an injury replacement for the AL All-Star squad, Bobby Witt Jr pinch hit for Samad Taylor, who started the game at second base; and was walked to load the bases. Two batters later, MJ Melendez was batting when closer Emmanuel Clase uncorked a wild pitch, sending BWJ home with the go-ahead run. Cleveland took a 2-0 lead in the second on RBI hits from Josh Bell and Rosario. Maikel Garcia muscled up for his third homerun of the season in the fourth, leading off the inning against Guardians hurler Tanner Bibee. Melendez was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, while Drew Waters continued his hot start to July with two more hits.
Friday, July 7th, 2023 The Royals couldn't win despite getting a perfect day out of infielder Maikel Garcia, who was 3-for-3, including another homerun and a couple of RBI as the Royals were walked off by the Indians in the ninth, falling by the same 4-3 score as Thursday night's game. With Taylor Clarke pitching the ninth, the Indians led off the frame with a pair of singles, then a sac fly moved Brayan Rocchio to third. Andres Gimenez then punched a single by a drawn-in Garcia at short to score Rocchio from third, ending the contest. "This game was a battle," said skipper Matt Quatraro. "We'd score, they'd score. When they took the lead in the eighth, Mass (Michael Massey) came in off the bench and gave us a spark, but just couldn't get it done after that. Proud of the effort the last few nights." Dairon Blanco also had a couple of hits and a stolen base, but there was little offense to speak of; as the Royals sat a few of their better offensive players in Salvador Perez and MJ Melendez, although Melendez and Massey would later appear as subs.
Saturday, July 8th, 2023 For the first time this season, the Royals put up a double-digit score in a half-inning, plating ten first-inning runs on their way to winning by a touchdown, 14-7, over the Guardians on Saturday afternoon. Eight of nine Royals starters collected at least one hit, with Salvador Perez's four hits, including two doubles, leading the way. MJ Melendez was 2-for-5 with three RBI, including his eighth homerun of the season; and Bobby Witt Jr went 3-for-5, including his fifteenth homerun of the season in the first inning, just two batters into the game. After the Royals finally finished their opening salvo, the Guardians countered with three in the first inning. They would never seriously threaten the Royals' lead in the entire game, as they scored one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and then one more in the eighth, well after the game was already in hand. "Just gotta flush and move on," Guardians manager Terry Francona mused. "It's pretty hard to be upset at this one, Kansas City just had themselves a day. Not much else to really say."
Sunday, July 9th, 2023 Nick Pratto's first-inning solo homerun was the last time the Royals led in the series finale, as the Guardians won 6-4 over the Royals to secure the series split. Cleveland added two in the bottom of the first, and two more in the fourth to build a 4-1 lead early on. The Royals did eventually pull to within one run later, 5-4, as Kyle Isbel banged a three-run homerun off Shane Bieber. However, that would never have happened had Amed Rosario not booted a fairly routine groundball off the bat of Freddy Fermin just one hitter prior. Brad Keller lasted just 4 2/3 innings, throwing ninety-six pitches, walking five while allowing a whopping eleven hits. Three relievers combined to get through the final 3 1/3 innings, with Jackson Kowar, Dylan Coleman, and Josh Taylor finishing out the game. Pratto went 3-for-5 to pace the Royals' offensive output, while Isbel was 2-for-4 including the homerun. Salvador Perez and Michael Massey also came up with a pair of singles each. UP NEXT: vs Tampa Bay Rays (07/14 -- 07/16) |
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06-30-2023, 03:23 PM
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MVP
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ALL-STAR GAME ROSTERS/PREVIEW (07/10)
GAME NOTES *Just three injury replacements -- Adam Duvall (Y. Alvarez); Jake Fraley (A. Riley); and Ryan Feltner (J. Verlander) *28 first-time All-Stars (18 AL, 10 NL) *Luis Castillo third pitcher to start in home park since Matt Harvey in 2013 (Kershaw 2022, Scherzer 2018) *Rangers SS Seager game-time decision, Royals phenom Witt Jr to start if he can't play GLOSSARY + Denotes voted in as starter (either fan or player ballot), will not play due to injury * Denotes will be starting pitcher & Denotes unavailable to pitch (workload, etc.) |
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07-10-2023, 01:02 PM
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#55 |
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MVP
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ROYALS NEWS (07/10)
ROYALS WRAP DRAFT DAY ONE With the Royals' selection of high school catcher Blake Mitchell with the eighth overall pick last night, he became only the fourth catcher in team history to be drafted in the conventional first round. One other catcher draftee, Chase Vallot in 2014, was taken in the supplemental part of the first round with the 40th overall pick that year, but is now out of baseball. Of the four, Mitchell is the second prep catcher, with Rex Goodson also going eighth overall out of high school back in 1970. He never made the majors, stalling out in Double-A. With their other two picks, they took high school right-hander Blake Wolters (44th), and college outfielder Carson Roccaforte (66th). While Mitchell and Wolters were picked around their MLB.com projections, Roccaforte might be considered a bit of a reach as he clocked in at 129th in their final rankings; and Baseball America was even less optimistic, putting him 160th. Nonetheless, he's a speed-plus versatile defender that can play all three outfield spots, and even clocked some innings at first base. As expected, the Mitchell pick is a bit polarizing in the fanbase. Joe Mauer is the last prep catcher drafted in the Top 10 that stuck at the position and did much of note as a hitter; but as I noted last week, Mitchell's value is going to be the bat and not so much where his eventual defensive home may be. He could also end up on the mound, as he's been clocked up to 98 MPH there, and throws at least two quality pitches at this point (fastball, curve) with a developing off-speed pitch. There's also the chance that other catchers in the system could end up switching spots, as well -- both Carter Jensen and Luca Tresh have worked at first base, and Tresh has enough juice to play the outfield. Tresh is also crushing it with the bat, with twenty-seven combined homeruns between Double and Triple-A this season. There's also the question of how much longer Salvador Perez will remain the primary catcher. Freddy Fermin doesn't offer much in the way of offense, and is already twenty-eight. MJ Melendez has also seemingly made a full transition to the outfield, although he's seen some time behind the plate here and there. Of the three selections, Wolters comes with the most risk as he's really only a two-pitch pitcher at this point (fastball, slider), but there's a lot of time left there to develop his changeup into something at least passable at the MLB level. If he can do that, then his already considerable ceiling gets even higher. It was also a bit disappointing to see the Royals go college outfield bat with their third pick instead of trying to balance out the risk of Wolters with their second selection, especially with quality college arms like Joe Whitman and Cade Kuehler still on the board (both went off soon after the Roccaforte selection). However, they could still target college arms early on for Day 2, with guys like Alonzo Tredwell, Tanner Witt, and Juaron Watts-Brown still available. Today, the draft continues with the second day with Rounds 3 through 10 beginning at 2 PM Eastern on both ESPN and the MLB Network. |
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