Royals on the Farm rest of 9/1 plus Omaha stat recap

AAA - Omaha: done at 63-81. The Royals are, in fact, calling up 1B Kila Ka'aihue along with 1B Ryan Shealy, P Devon Lowery and P Yasuhiko Yabuta. Pitchers John Bale and Jimmy Gobble are also to be activated from the DL. C Brayan Pena could be doing close to what John Buck has done, if not better, I'd think, if given regular playing time. At least Ka'aihue is getting his shot.....we'll see how much they play him. If he comes up just to sit so Ross Gload still gets 90 percent of the ABs, that's an indictment of the front office and Hillman.

Tops in OPS (min. 110 ABs and on roster -- note Aviles had a 1.001 OPS in 51 games and Butler's was .982 in 26 games)

1B Kila Ka'aihue .316 BA/.439 OBP/.640 SLG, 1.079 OPS (!, even tho small sample size), 4 2B, 11 HR, 21 RBI, 24 BB/26 K, 2 E in 33 games and 114 ABs -- has had an amazing season, let's hope it continues in KC
1B Ryan Shealy .283/.376/.503, .879 OPS, 53 RS (tied team lead), 22 2B, 22 HR (led team), 65 RBI (led team), 55 BB (led team)/93 K, 2 E in 111 games and 400 ABs -- maybe this time it translates to the bigs somewhat favorably? maybe? also led team with 113 hits
C Brayan Pena .303/.376/.462, .838 OPS, 33 RS, 17 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 26 BB/17 K (nice), 7/10 SB, 3 E in 60 games and 234 ABs -- nice Moore scrap heap pickup, at least at AAA
RF Shane Costa .295/.354/.469, .823 OPS, 42 RS, 21 2B, 10 HR, 42 RBI, 28 BB/39 K, 11/13 SB, 1 E in 75 games and 292 ABs -- ho-hum year cut short by injury
2B Dave Matranga .269/.348/.438, .786 OPS, 32 RS, 8 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 22 BB/53 K, 2/5 SB, 3 E in 61 games and 201 ABs

others of note.... OF Brett Bigler .876 OPS (only 17 games, 7 BB/11 K, serviceable in AAA debut).... OF Mitch Maier .835 OPS (not on active roster, led team with 57 RS and 24 2B and 12 SBs).... 1B Mike Stodolka .771 OPS (injured while hot at the plate late, hit .286, 27 BB/42 K in 75 games and 227 ABs).... IF Jason Smith .764 OPS (also got call early, led team with 17 E, 23 BB/128 K in 423 ABs).... OF Chris Lubanski .754 OPS (led team with 130 Ks, hit .242, 51 RS, led team with 8 3B, 38 BB, 5/6 SB, 6 E in 116 games and 393 ABs, better than taste he got in 2007 but not by a lot, still showing several glaring holes in game. Maybe there's something to the vision thing -- he hit .361 when he put the ball in play).... 3B Chad Spann .716 OPS (only 19 games played).... C Matt Tupman .597 OPS (hit .229, 15 XBH, 22 BB/44 K in 81 games, likely played way out of Royals' plans).... SS Angel Sanchez .584 OPS (hit .221, 5 E in 38 games before injured)

Tops in WHIP (min. 40 IP)

Kyle Davies 6-2, 2.03 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 4 HRA, 21 BB/38 K in 11 starts and 57 2/3 IP -- K rate and K/BB far from spectacular, has struggled at KC
Jose Capellan 4-1, 4.05, 1.24 WHIP, 5 HRA, 19 BB/31 K in 9 games (8 starts) and 53 1/3 IP -- ditto on first comment for Davies
Carlos Rosa 4-3, 4.09, 1.24 WHIP, 3 HRA, 12 BB/44 K in 11 starts and 50 2/3 IP -- hope arm soreness passes by next April, had nice season, got shot at KC, but hopefully will have shot at KC rotation in '09
Devon Lowery 1-1, 2.12, 1.31 WHIP, 5 SV, 4 HRA, 30 BB/43 K in 31 games and 59 1/3 IP -- nice ERA but the rest of his numbers are just OK, says something he was Omaha pitcher of the year
Brandon Duckworth 5-11, 4.75, 1.34 WHIP, 1 SV, 23 HRA (!), 49 BB/103 K (led team) in 27 games (17 starts) and 134 2/3 IP -- and he was among the team's best starters....

others of note.... Joel Peralta 0.80 WHIP (in only 18 2/3 IP, AAAA pitcher?).... Josh Newman 1.39 WHIP (22 BB/40 K in 44 IP).... Roman Colon 1.43 WHIP (15 HRA, 27 BB/62 K in 95 IP, at least his K/BB was bearable).... Greg Atencio 1.44 WHIP (3.24 ERA, 11 BB/22 K in only 25 IP).... Neal Musser 1.50 WHIP (9 HRA, 37 BB/64 K in 36 games and 56 IP, Brian Buchanan had same WHIP in much smaller sample size).... Yasuhiko Yabuta 1.54 WHIP (5.36 ERA, 3 HRA, 16 BB/33 K in 40 1/3 IP, think his salary is getting him on the 40-man rather than performance?)....Matt Wright 1.55 WHIP (led team with 148 mostly dismal IP, 4-10, 5.47, 29 HRA (also led team), 60 BB/90 K.....sigh).... Brad Salmon 1.57 WHIP (led team in wins at 8-7, 11 HRA, 54 BB/90 K in 101 1/3 IP).... Dusty Hughes 1.60 WHIP (8 HRA, 25 BB/36 K in 55 1/3 IP, didn't impress in AAA debut).... Tyler Lumsden 1.86 WHIP (what carnage, 3-13 record led team in losses, 7.21 ERA, 15 HRA, 62 BB/44 K in 28 games and 18 starts and 107 1/3 IP, shoulda gotten shipped back to AA with that horrible line)

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 10, Casper 0 (1-hitter)

C S. Perez 2-4, BB, 2 RBI (5), 2 K, RS -- .394
CF Norris 3-5, BB, 2B (13), 3 RS, SB (33) -- .268
SS Alfaro 1-4, BB, 2B (21), RBI (55), 2 RS -- .270
LF Griffin 1-4, BB, RBI (27), 2 K, RS -- .249
DH Van De Keere 1-2, 3 BB, 2B (16), RBI (28), 3 RS -- .291
RF Testa 1-5, RBI (32), CS (4) -- .300
1B Espinosa 1-5, RBI (18), K -- .206
2B A. Perez 0-5, RBI (?), 2 K -- .246

Beach 6 IP, H, 3 BB, 2 K -- W, 4-4, 6.00 ERA
Huber IP, K -- 3.38 ERA
B. Hardy IP, BB, K -- 4.41 ERA
Thompson IP, 2 BB, K -- 4.13 ERA

*** Colby Beach was excellent in a 1-hit shutout of the Ghosts. The Chukars scored 4 in the 1st on a bases-loaded walk by Shawn Griffin, a Devery Van De Keere RBI double and a 2-run single by Salvador Perez. Beach stranded 2 in the 1st on walks and Patrick Norris scored on a Casper error in the 2nd to make it 5-0. Casper's only hit came in the 3rd. Carlo Testa singled home a run in the 5th, J.D. Alfaro hit an RBI double in the 6th and Griffin hit an RBI single in the 6th to make it 8-0. Beach retired 10 of the last 11 he faced and Tito Espinosa and Alwin Perez added RBIs in the 9th to finish it off. Three Chukar relievers also pitched scoreless innings in the win. Casper SP Ethan Hollingsworth took the loss with 4 IP of 5 runs (3 ER) allowed to fall to 4-7 with a 6.10 ERA. CF Delta Cleary had Casper's only hit.

IF is 16-18. Game 2 is tonight as Ivor Hodgson (2-6, 3.43) takes on Casper's Edwar Cabrera (0-3, 9.00).