Farm Fresh Royals 2009 -- draft rds 11-20

Let's see what we can find out about some other Royals draft picks....

11th rounder IF Ryan "Woodshow" Wood is a U of East Carolina senior, 6-5, 186 lb. 2B who the Royals say they will try at shortstop. Maybe he's this year's shot at a Johnny Giavotella fast tracker? He was on both the MLB and BA draft boards as a righty pitcher but only threw 4 innings this season. Meanwhile, he hit .379 to lead the Pirates and added 87 RS, 22 doubles, 14 HR, 57 RBI and 50 BB, plus was 14/16 SB in 66 games played (that's all of ECU's games this season; he didn't miss a game his junior year, either). He was first-team All-CUSA and his career OBP at ECU was .432. He had been previously been drafted by the Indians (49th round, 2005) and Brewers (42nd round last year), so he made quite a jump in this year's draft. He turned 22 in May. I guess they shut him down on the mound this season after his arm felt funny March 17. He can hit the mid 90s with his pitches. He'd probably make an easy transition in the Appalachian League, which plays around North Carolina. He's a senior, so I assume he'll sign.

12th rounder righty Nick Wooley is a junior from William Woods University in Missouri and stands 6-2. He was 8-1 with a 3.31 ERA in NAIA competition and had 89 Ks and 27 BB with a .226 OAV in 70 2/3 IP. He was also the 2009 co-pitcher of the year in WWU's conference. He turned 21 in April. I can't see his intentions quoted anywhere, so I guess it's a matter of if he wants to go back for his senior year or take a 12th rounder bonus. If he signs, I bet he's rookie-ball bound.

13th rounder OF Lane Adams comes from Red Oak HS in Oklahoma and has a basketball scholarship awaiting him at Missouri State. He said it would take a "really good offer" to pry him away from that commitment. He stands 6-4, bats righty and turns 20 in November. Almost all the stories I find about him focus on his basketball skills, not his baseball ones. I get the feeling he may stay in school. This seems like a Derrick Robinson style pick to me -- athleticism more than pure baseball skills, but since nothing I've read really talks about his baseball prowess it's hard to tell. He did help lead the baseball team to 2 state titles in its class the last 2 seasons. J.J. Picollo did say KC had him at the K for a workout and it went well. He would be AZL bait if he signs.

14th rounder lefty Crawford Simmons is 6-2 and comes from Statesboro HS in Georgia. He is a Georgia Tech recruit and said he was awaiting a signing offer from the Royals. He sounds like another power pitcher. This one could go either way. He just turned 18 this week. I'd say he'd be AZL bound, if anywhere, this season.

15th rounder SS Scott Lyons is in the CWS for Arkansas as a senior, bats right, stands 6-0, and turns 23 in December. The Royals ended up with both parts of the Razorbacks' double play combo and both are seniors so should sign once their fate in Omaha is decided. Lyons has hit .302 this season (after hitting .200 as a junior) with 36 RS, 8 HR, 44 RBI, but only 14 BB in 55 games, including 52 starts.

16th rounder lefty Eric Diaz is a reliever from a New Mexico juco who expected to get picked, oh, in the 40th round or so. He stands 6-2 and was following up his first year of juco ball, in which he redshirted. He is quoted as saying he expects to sign and hit the AZL. I don't know what to think about these players expecting to go in later rounds and, boom, the Royals pick them in the first 20 rounds. I'm sorry, the scouting department doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from me. He's a Jersey native and was also listed as an OF and 1B at New Mexico Junior College. He turns 21 in October.

17th rounder 2B Ben Tschepikow had the best name of any of the Royals '09 draftees (no Miguel Moctezuma, but pretty good). He was the other part of the Razorbacks middle infield combo with Lyons and stands 5-11 while batting right. He's somewhat older as he turns 24 in September. He outdid Lyons this season by hitting .310 with 50 RS, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 30 BB/30 K and was 16/22 in SB in 58 games (56 starts). He and Coleman are my two favorite draft picks thus far, along with Ryan Wood. The Royals made no promises about keeping the two of them together to start in the pros. Tschepikow may be a good fit at rookie Burlington. Lyons might get sent to IF, in my mind. I'd keep an eye on them and Coleman this weekend and this week in the CWS coverage on ESPN.

18th rounder lefty reliever Brendan Lafferty is a UCLA senior, is 6-5 and 215, and turned 23 in May. He didn't exactly excel at UCLA as he had a 5.40 ERA in 30 IP this season with 34 Ks and 20 BB. He did only allow 1 HR this season. His career ERA at UCLA was 5.50 with 119 Ks/64 BB in 147 1/3 IP. He did pitch well in a summer league in 2008 and started some there. He had a solid 3.74 ERA in his junior year. His OAV this year was .322 and his career OAV for the Bruins was .297. Hopefully his wood bat league experience helps him be kind of a dark horse reliever for the Royals in the low minors to start.

19th rounder 3B Cory "Ryan" Stovall is a 5-11 righty batter and senior at Thomas University in Florida. He hit .487 with 20 HR, 52 RBI, 22 BB/25 K and was 14/17 in SB in 43 games/156 ABs this season for the Nighthawks, who play in the NAIA. He also led the team with 19 errors and had a .902 fielding %, so 3B may not be where he stays. He was his conference player of the year this season. I like this pick, could be a sleeper. I'd bet he's Burlington (R)-bound. He does turn 23 in December.

20th rounder righty Patrick Keating is 6-2, just turned 22 and is a U of Florida senior. Keating posted a 5.12 ERA this season with 13 BB/41 K, 6 HRA, and a .329 OAV in 22 appearances (7 starts) and 58 IP. He started 9 games in SEC play as a junior and posted a 3.28 ERA and overall was 8-1 with a 4.16 ERA. His first 2 seasons at UF weren't very pretty. He'll go somewhere in short-season ball.



More to come....