Royals in the Fall -- Oct. 31 update

Hawaii -- West Oahu Canefires: The Canefires are 8-16.

IF Jeff Bianchi
last update (10/24) -- .305/.359/.749 OPS, 3 2B, 1 3B, 11 RS (tied team lead), 3 RBI, 5 BB/17 K, 4/4 SB in 14 games (59 AB)
now -- .290/.347/.709, 3 2B, 1 3B, 12 RS (still tied team lead), 3 RBI, 6 BB/20 K, 5/5 SB, 1 GIDP in 17 games (69 AB)
-- Numbers continue to slide for Jeff, as over the week his BA dipped below .300 and his OPS dropped 40 points....still putting up decent numbers but you'd like them to stabilize.

P Tyler Chambliss
last update -- 0-1, 1 hold, 1 for 2 in saves, 3.29 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 6 BB/11 K, .212 OAV, 1 HRA in 13 2/3 IP of relief in 6 games
now -- 1-1, 1 hold, 1 for 2 in saves, 5.09 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 8 BB/18 K, .260 OAV, 2 HRA in 8 games and 17 2/3 IP of relief
-- what a difference a week makes as Chambliss got roughed up a little in his 4 IP over the week....BB/K ratio improved even though his other numbers sagged, and his K rate is still good....despite the rough outing(s), did pick up a win.

P Blake Wood
last update -- 0-1, 4.80 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 8 BB/27 K, .302 OAV, 1 HRA in 4 starts and 15 IP
now -- 0-1, 0 for 1 in saves, 4.26 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 11 BB/32 K, .300 OAV, 1 HRA in 5 starts and 19 IP
-- still racking up the Ks....HWB site indicates a save opportunity but no relief appearance, so may be a typo....still getting hit, but is also overpowering some, it seems.

Arizona -- Surprise Rafters: The Rafters are 12-6 and have the best record in the AFL.

2B Marc Maddox
last update -- .500/.571/1.253, 2 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 5 BB/6 K, 1/2 SB, 1 E in 7 games (22 AB)
now -- .417/.476/1.087 OPS, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB/9 K, 1/3 SB, 1 E in 10 G (36 AB)
-- the more he plays, the more his numbers come closer to human so that's to be expected....still doing great, however, as he leads the league in BA and OBP and is second in SLG....picked up his first homer over the last 7 days and also doubled his RBI total....tied for team lead with 15 hits despite not playing full-time.

OF Chris Lubanski
last update -- .189/.279/.630, 2B, 3B, HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB/5 K, 7 RS, 1 E in 10 G (37 AB)
now -- .208/.291/.645, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 6 BB/7 K, 8 RS, 3 E in 13 G (48 AB)
-- numbers have moved from God-awful to just awful....in same boat with big Rangers prospect OF John Mayberry Jr., who is hitting .208 but putting up better OBP and SLG numbers....offensive improvement has been offset by tripling his error total over the last week....still disappointing.

1B Kila Kaaihue
last update --.350/.536/1.286, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 8 BB/5 K, 6 RS in 6 G (20 AB)
now -- .273/.455/.970, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 11 BB/9 K, 7 RS, 0 E in 10 G (33 AB)
-- still producing when played, and still ahead on walks per K....wish he could put up these numbers in a regular season.

OF Jose Duarte
last update -- .000/.125/.125, 2 RBI, RS, 2 BB/4 K in 4 G (13 AB)
now - .150/.250/.400, 3 RBI, 4 RS, 3 BB/6 K, 1/1 SB in 6 G (20 AB)
--as a reminder, Duarte's designated to play only on weekends....finally picked up his first hits of the season, as he was 3/7 on the week to boost his stats....also scored 3 runs over the week and stole a base.

P Dusty Hughes
last update -- 1-0, 1.64 ERA, 0.55 WHIP, 1 BB/7 K, 1 HRA in 3 starts and 11 IP
now -- no change
-- no action over the week, although Hughes was named starter for the West in the "Rising Stars Showcase" game.

P Tyler Lumsden
last update -- 1-0, 5.68 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 2 BB/7 K, 2 HRA in 3 games and 6 1/3 IP of relief
now -- 1-0, 4.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 3 BB/10 K, 2 HRA in 5 games and 9 IP of relief
-- continues to improve his numbers as he is now putting up respectable stats....we'll see if the trend holds.

P Nate Hoelscher
last update -- 1-0, 1 save, 1 hold, 1.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, BB/4 K, 0 HRA in 5 G and 5 IP of relief
now -- 1-0, 1 save, 1 hold, 1.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, BB/4 K, 0 HRA in 6 G and 6 IP of relief
-- again, still fairly solid work out of Nate.

P Greg Atencio
last update -- 0-0, 27.00 ERA, 4.00 WHIP, 3 BB/0 K, HRA in 1 G and 1 IP of relief
now -- no change
-- worked his way to bottom of deep bullpen in Surprise, so who knows how much action he'll see moving forward.

P Devon Lowery
last update -- 0-0, 0.00 ERA, hold, K in 1 G and 1 IP of relief
now -- 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, hold, BB/2 K in 2 G and 2 IP of relief
-- so far, so good.

AFL -- Team USA: 2-2 in tune up for international tourney in Taiwan

P Matt Wright
now -- 0-0, 3.86 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, BB/2 K, HRA in 2 starts and 7 IP
-- added to team roster because of an injury to another player and has been all right thus far.

P Neal Musser
now -- 1-0, 3.38 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, BB/3 K in 3 games and 2 2/3 IP of relief
-- got a win out of pen and has been OK thus far...only allowed 1 hit and a walk.

Dominican Winter League -- various teams: I'm not gonna do full rundowns on each guy, but several Royals are playing in the Dominican this offseason

Billy Butler is batting .276 with a .323 OBP, 2 2B and 4 RBI with 5 Ks in 8 games for the Azucareros del Este, while Angel Berroa is hitting .273 with a .385 OBP, 1 HR and 3 RBI with 3 walks and 2 Ks in 7 games, which frightens me that he's arguably outhitting Butler. On the same team, Kyle Davies is 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA and .207 OAV, 3 BB and 7 Ks in 2 games and 8 IP, so that's nice to see. Julio Pimentel isn't faring as well with an 0-1 record, 7.73 ERA but a .222 OAV, 3 BB and 2 Ks in 2 games and 2 1/3 IP.

Matt Tupman is hitting .150 with a .150 OBP, 1 RBI and 3 K in 6 games for the Tigres del Licey.

Mitch Maier is hitting .190 with a .320 OBP, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB/1 K in 7 games for the Gigantes del Cibao.