The Kansas City Royals went 12-11 in the month of April 2016. 2013 and before, we would be very encouraged by a start like that. Hey, it’s May and we’re not out of it yet! Pop the bubbly. I mean, not the good-good stuff. But you know. That extra bottle we stole from your cousin’s wedding.

Coming off a World Series championship and back to back October classic appearances, the bar is understandably higher now. Any night that doesn’t end with a W is a heart breaking failure. There is no joy in BBQville when mighty Gordo strikes out. And boy has he so far this year …

For many seasons, by this point we’d already be scouring the minor league rosters in search of any scrap of something to look forward to. We knew that Mike Jacobs was a bust, but some kid at AAA named Cory Aldrige was raking at Omaha. Scott Elarton had been downright abysmal, but Thomas Hottovy has a sub 3 ERA over 120 IP at single A Wilmington. Mike Sweeney just can’t stay healthy, but Calvin Pickering and Aaron Guiel combined to hit 53 homers at AAA. The future was always supposed to be so much brighter.

Chances are you really aren’t doing that much anymore. Even as the April 2016 Royals have underachieved by our now probably-ridiculous fan standards, you are hanging on every pitch. You also have Buzzfeed, Reddit and Netflix to keep up with, no time for checking minor league statistics.

So let us here at Royals Blue take the time for you. Who’s producing on the farm so far in 2016?

AAA – Omaha Storm Chasers



3B Cheslor Cuthbert. It’s a good thing Moose is off to a good start. Elsewise we’d be hearing more rumblings about Cuthbert. Over 77 AB, he is hitting .325/.393/.584 with 5 HR and 23 RBI. He has only struck out 10 times. He’s hitting the cover off the ball. The problem? He’s not catching or throwing it very well. 6 errors in 20 games is not ideal.

OF Jorge Bonifacio. Like Cuthbert, it appears our favorite Bonifacio (sorry Emilio) has solved the puzzle of AAA pitching so far this season. Through May 1, he has gone .333/.341/.571 with 4 HR and 17 RBI.

SP Jonathan Dziedzic. So far his stuff has been as hard to figure out as his last name is to pronounce. Over four starts, he has a 1.64 ERA, 24 K and a 1.18 WHIP.

Honorable Mention: Everyone’s favorite Whit (sorry Whit Monday) Merrifield has 16 stolen bases already this year.

AA – Northwest Arkansas Naturals

3B Hunter Dozier. A once highly touted prospect that had all but been written off by most people, Dozier is flat out destroying the baseball so far this year. Over 75 AB, he has a blistering .307/.409/.640 line, good for a 1.049 OPS. He has 6 HR, 7 doubles and a respectable 19/12 K to BB ratio. All of a sudden, the Royals system is a little log jammed at the hot corner.

More or less the entire starting rotation. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Keep an eye on the names in the starting rotation at AA this year. Matt Strahm has a 2.63 ERA, a 28 to 3 K/BB ratio and a .91 WHIP over 5 starts. Alec Mills: 2.79 ERA, 27 to 3 K/BB and a 1.03 WHIP. Eric Skoglund: 3.22 ERA, 21 to 4 K/BB and a 1.30 WHIP. Christian Binford and Jake Junis have struggled by comparison, but both have lots of previous minor league success under their belts. All these guys are under the major prospect radar. All of them have a chance to move through the minors.

High A Wilmington Blue Rocks

1B Ryan O’Hearn. An 8th round pick in the 2014 draft, O’Hearn is showing advanced promise with a .352/.408/.670 line in a pitcher’s league and ballpark. On the young season, he already has 7 HR, 7 doubles and 18 RBI. We’ll look past his 3.5 K/BB ratio for now.

UPDATE: O'Hearn is being promoted

#Royals 1B prospect Ryan O'Hearn is getting promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Had 7 homers and hit .352 at Wilmington — Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) May 2, 2016

SP Pedro Fernandez. A name that caught some eyes last year, Fernandez continues to dazzle in 2016. Over 4 starts, he has thrown 22.1 innings of 1.21 ERA, 23 to 8 K/BB, 1.03 WHIP ball. Chances are he’ll be joining that stellar AA rotation before too long.

Low A Lexington Legends

C Chase Vallot – A 1st round sandwich pick in 2014, Vallot is proving to have a competent bat in his second season at Lexington. Over 71 AB, he has hit .296/.402/.577 with 5 HR and 11 RBI. He won’t be challegning for Salvy’s job anytime soon, but he is a name to keep an eye on as he continues to progress through the season.

Here are how some other notable names are doing …

SP Kyle Zimmer: felt some shoulder tightness in Spring Training after dazzling with the major league squad and hasn’t pitched since. I am Zach’s complete lack of surprise. This is pretty much his time with the Royals organization in a nutshell. The internet tells me he was scheduled to pitch an inning in an extended spring training game on April 29th. The internet does not tell me whether that happened or not.

OF Bubba Starling: Bubba had a hot start to his 2016 AA campaign, but has since backslid into some typical Bubba ways. His line at the moment sits a respectable-yet-not-eye-popping .254/.361/.521 with 4 HR and 12 RBI, all while playing error-free MLB-ready defense. His bugaboo is still what it always has been: the strikeout. 27 times in 71 AB. That’s one for every 2.7 AB. Not so good

SS/2B of the future Raul Mondesi, Jr: Also falling in the solid-yet-not-spectacular realm of early season performance, Mondesi sits at .244/.303/.500 with 5 HR, 14 RBI and 10 SB. Still, for a 20 year old playing against 22-25 year olds, that’s pretty impressive. Short of a disastrous stretch, he’s a lock to end up on the Royals major league squad by the end of the year.

INF Marten Gaspirini: If you remember a few years ago when there was a random headline about the Royals giving some guy a record signing bonus for a player from Europe, that was this guy. He was only 16 at the time. We knew it was going to be a LOOOOONNNGGG while before he even sniffed the high minors, let alone the majors. Now 20 years old, the Italian has hit .182/.235/.338 (which doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to this sports blogger as I saw him take a round of BP at Spring Training this year and it was … um … less than stellar we'll say). He has also committed an astonishing 16 errors in only 21 games. Here’s hoping he can turn things around.

Previous Post The Royals Have Their Lead-off Man Danville, Kentucky -- Folks, it didn't take long, but the spreadsheet gazers of the world are already questioning the wisdom of World Series Champion™ Ned Yost. Overreacting to a couple of games of lukewarm offensive production in April, folks are calling for ALCS MVP Alcides Escobar to be ... Read more Tweet Next Post Ranking the Royals – Player Ranking #150-121 We would like to welcome you to a new series here at Royals Blue. We will continue to post segments breaking down the 300 best players to ever play for Kansas City. There will be some familiar names, some not so familiar, and probably a ... Read more

Facebook Comments

comments