Royals on the Farm 9/6

AAA - Omaha: off day

OPS rundown
Eric Hosmer 1.107 -- .439/.525/.582, look at that line in 26 games, we may never see him back in AAA
1B/DH Clint Robinson .932 -- .326/.399/.533, 86 RS, 35 2B, 23 HR, 100 RBI, 58 BB/88 K, 2/3 SB, 8 E in 134 G/503 ABs -- had down July but was back to best at 1.126 OPS in August, hit .400 in the month, too bad it's a logjam at 1B in the majors
OF Lorenzo Cain .877 -- .312/.380/.497, 84 RS, 28 2B, 7 3B, 16 HR, 81 RBI, 40 BB/102 K, 16/22 SB, 8 E in 128 G/487 ABs -- three smokin' months were followed by August cooldown, but he still was good this season, surprised KC didn't make room for him in the OF
IF Johnny Giavotella .871 -- .338/.390/.481, 67 RS, 34 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 72 RBI, 40 BB/57 K, 9/14 SB, 11 E in 110 G/453 ABs -- KC AAA player of the year had a great campaign, hope we don't see him back in AAA either
OF David Lough .850 -- .318/.367/.482, 87 RS, 26 2B, 11 3B, 9 HR, 65 RBI, 36 BB/49 K, 14/22 SB, 4 E in 114 G/456 ABs -- only down month was June
Others...Salvador Perez .847 (only got 12 games in before KC called)...3B Mike Moustakas .845 (15 2B, 10 HR, 19 BB/44 K in 55 G/223 ABs, wasn't spectacular but good enough to get an MLB look)...1B Kila Ka'aihue .812 (.379 OBP, 19 2B, 11 HR, 57 BB/81 K in 95 G, ship may have sailed for Kila)...IF Irving Falu .747 (.301/.358/.390, 50 RS, 10 2B, 9 3B, 35 BB/47 K, 21/32 SB, 12 E in 111 G/385 ABs, keeps hanging around, puts up solid numbers)...C Manny Pina .735 (passed by Salvador)...OF Jarrod Dyson .713 (overshadowed by Lorenzo)...IF Yamaico Navarro .708 (unremarkable 25 games for Chasers)

WHIP rundown
Everett Teaford 0.97 -- 3-2, 3.34, 5 HRA, 11 BB/33 K in 35 IP -- rode Omaha-KC express
Brandon Sisk 1.00 -- 4-2, 1.41, 2 SV, HRA, 16 BB/30 K in 32 IP -- did well in PCL
Willy Lebron 1.04 -- 1-1, 0.55, 1 SV, HRA, 5 BB/22 K in only 16 1/3 IP
Danny Duffy 1.12 -- 3-1, 3.43, 5 HRA, 10 BB/48 K in 42 IP, one of the few pitching prospects in organization to hold own in 2011
Kelvin Herrera 1.12 -- 1-0, 2.12, 6 SV, HRA, 7 BB/18 K in 17 IP -- rise continued to AAA for Absolute Zero
Others...Robinson Tejeda 1.22 (15 BB/43 K in 45 IP, didn't get much play at MLB in 2011)...Luis Mendoza 1.25 (12-5, 2.18, 1 CG, 1 ShO, 2 SV, 5 HRA, 54 BB/81 K in 144 1/3 IP, PCL Pitcher of the Year did a little of everything in 2011, had good April, rough May, then was lockdown thereafter)...Sean O'Sullivan 1.35 (8-2, 4.22, 6 HRA, 16 BB/55 K in 74 2/3 IP)...Jeff Suppan 1.43 (11-8, 4.78, 2 CG, 1 ShO, 23 HRA, 51 BB/94 K in 165 2/3 IP)...Mike Montgomery 1.50 (5-11, 5.32, 15 HRA, 69 BB/129 K in 28 G (27 starts) and 150 2/3 IP, something to build on, I feel a bounceback in 2012)...Vin Mazzaro 1.62 (60 BB/107 K in 123 2/3 IP)...Jeremy Jeffress 1.88 (didn't cut it in AAA)...Blaine Hardy 1.97 (ditto)

* Mendoza will pitch game 1 of the best-of-5 with the Round Rock Express on Wednesday.

AA - NW Arkansas: off day

OPS rundown
IF Mario Lisson .898 -- .293/.372/.527, 58 RS, 21 2B, 15 HR, 45 RBI, 31 BB/81 K, 15/17 SB, 17 E in 89 G/283 ABs -- hit .389 with 1.063 OPS in August to finish strong
C Ben Theriot .893 -- .303/.377/.516, 10 RS, 9 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 14 BB/28 K, 3 E in 46 G/122 ABs -- hit .457 with 1.125 OPS in August
OF Paulo Orlando .889 -- .305/.362/.527, 30 RS, 5 2B, 10 3B, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 13 BB/35 K, 8/12 SB, 2 E in 45 G/167 ABs -- got the late season push down from Omaha and chipped in to playoff run
OF Tim Smith .873 -- .311/.365/.508, 38 RS, 13 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 49 RBI, 19 BB/37 K, 8/10 SB, 2 E in 69 G/238 ABs -- returned from injury in time to hit .412 in 6 August games
C Ryan Eigsti .804 -- .259/.338/.466, 6 2B, 2 HR, 6 BB/18 K in 23 G/58 ABs -- numbers came back to Earth as he hit for .536 OPS in 14 August games
Others...1B Jamie Romak .803 (led team with 23 HR, also rapped 21 2B, 55 BB/88 K, 6/7 SB in 123 G/439 ABs)...UT Anthony Seratelli .790 (.282/.392/.398, 12 2B, 6 3B, 9 HR, 64 RBI, 75 BB/92 K, 35/40 SB, 5 E in 129 G/440 ABs, Royals' AA player of the year reached peak in May/June but saw numbers tail off in July/August, best season since organizational debut in '07 in rookie ball)...C Salvador Perez .756 (.283/.329/.427, 14 2B, 9 HR, 43 RBI, 16 BB/30 K, 9 E in 79 G/286 ABs, meteoric rise late to KC)...OF Wil Myers .745 (.254/.353/.393, 50 RS, 23 2B, 3B, 8 HR, 49 RBI, 52 BB/87 K, 9/11 SB, 7 E in 99 G/354 ABs, bottomed out with .535 OPS in July but rebounded with .854 OPS in August, Royals probably expected more pop out of him, but he had an early knee injury that may have factored in)...OF Nick Van Stratten .678 (numbers better in AA than Carolina League)...IF Christian Colon .668 (.257/.325/.342, 69 RS, 14 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 61 RBI, 46 BB/51 K, 17/24 SB, 18 E in 127 G/491 ABs, durability was good, also BB/K is nice, peaked in June and July, then hit for .605 OPS in August)...IF Rey Navarro .662 (.271/.332/.330, 9 XBH, 14 BB/26 K, 12 E in 55 G/188 ABs, Wilmington success didn't carry over to AA)...IF Jeff Bianchi .654 (.259/.320/.333, 23 2B, 39 BB/85 K, 20/25 SB, 11 E in 119 G/444 ABs, return from TJS didn't go that well but had its moments)...OF Derrick Robinson .604 (.251/.323/.282, 56 RS, 9 XBH, 46 BB/87 K, 55/70 SB, 6 E in 107 G/419 ABs, bringing up the rear on the OPS chart, hit for .419 OPS in August, season # was 121 points worse than his AA OPS in 2010)

WHIP rundown
Kelvin Herrera 0.78 -- 4-0, 1.75, 7 SV, 4 HRA, 6 BB/40 K in 36 IP -- march to Omaha continued with tear through Texas League
Brandon Sisk 1.05 -- 3-1, 3.77, 2 HRA, 7 BB/28 K in 28 2/3 IP -- moved to Omaha in June
Edgar Garcia 1.10 -- 2-3, 3.47, 5 SV, 6 HRA, 11 BB/31 K in 36 1/3 IP -- shored up staff in second half
Blaine Hardy 1.11 -- 2-1, 1.59, 8 SV, 2 HRA, 16 BB/41 K in 39 2/3 IP -- struggled at Omaha but pitched well in AA
Mario Santiago 1.13 -- 5-1, 2.23, 3 HRA, 17 BB/49 K in 64 2/3 IP -- also had struggles at AAA but shored up NWA staff
Others...Jake Odorizzi 1.28 (5-3, 4.72, 13 HRA, 22 BB/54 K in 12 starts/68 2/3 IP, yowza on the HR numbers, got rough intro to AA but also had his good starts)...John Lamb 1.31 (1-2, 3.09, 3 HRA, 13 BB/22 K in 35 IP, when will we see him back from TJS???)...Will Smith 1.34 (13-9, 3.85, 2 CG, 1 ShO, 13 HRA, 45 BB/108 K in 161 1/3 IP, Royals' AA pitcher of the year, finished with 1.91 ERA in August and .204 OAV in month)...Buddy Baumann 1.42 (4.29, 2 SV, 9 HRA, 28 BB/68 K in 71 1/3 IP, had his moments)...Patrick Keating 1.42 (7 SV, 12 BB/44 K in 38 IP, hit DL)...Chris Dwyer 1.43 (8-10, 5.60, 2 CG, 14 HRA, 78 BB/126 K in 141 1/3 IP, ERA numbers were never great but he had a couple good short stretches)...Brendan Lafferty 1.44 (7 BB/20 K in 25 IP)...Kevin Chapman 1.46...Jeremy Jeffress 1.71 (disappointing season from one of the cogs in the Greinke trade)

* Chris Dwyer gets the start in game 1 versus Arkansas Wednesday. Not the most obvious choice, but he has stepped up his game a couple times this season. Lisson and Tim Smith split TL player of the week honors in leading the last-week surge to get NWA into the playoffs. Jake Odorizzi was TL pitcher of the week with a big start versus Arkansas.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: done at 66-72 overall

OPS rundown
OF Nick Francis .918 -- .319/.363/.555, 30 RS, 20 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 35 RBI, 13 BB/40 K, 7/8 SB, 4 E in 51 G/191 ABs -- bounced up to AA, back down, then back up
IF Rey Navarro .820 -- .285/.337/.484, 34 RS, 17 2B, 7 3B, 8 HR, 41 RBI, 18 BB/39 K, 5/9 SB, 10 E in 72 G/277 ABs -- earned player of the year honor before promotion to AA
OF Carlo Testa .804 -- .290/.361/.443, 48 RS, 27 2B, 4 3B, 7 HR, 43 RBI, 36 BB/109 K, 18/25 SB, 2 E in 100 G/366 ABs -- Pipeline favorite didn't follow up strong '09/'10 numbers, but did hit .378 with 1.055 OPS in August
1B John Whittleman .799 -- .234/.349/.451, 52 RS, 24 2B, 3 3B, 20 HR, 68 RBI, 76 BB/108 K, 2/2 SB, 27 E in 126 G/415 ABs -- probably was playing lower than he could, is getting playoff look in Omaha
OF Yem Prades .726 -- .289/.313/.413, 36 RS, 16 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 10 BB/66 K, 11/18 SB, 2 E in 80 G/305 ABs -- Cuban held his own in U.S. debut, nothing spectacular but had his moments
Others...Whit Merrifield .706 (3 months of over .700 OPS, two months of OPS in the .500s, including August, led team in SB with 24 and 2B with 30, 52 BB/89 K, also held up for 126 GP)...OF Nick Van Stratten .676 (got midseason demotion from AA and didn't do much at Wilmington either, unfortunately)...Ryan Stovall .608 (got promotion from Kane County and posted ugly 5 BB/53 K in 58 games)...Tim Ferguson .597...Julio Rodriguez .576 (didn't do much in 22 games after coming over in Betemit trade)

WHIP rundown
Kelvin Herrera 0.68 -- 2-1, 0.61, 1 SV, HRA, 2 BB/12 K in 14 2/3 IP -- first stop in march to AAA
Allen Caldwell 0.79 -- 2-0, 1.50, 1 SV, 2 HRA, 4 BB/23 K in 9 G (2 starts) and 24 IP -- pitched even better in Wilmington than he did in Kane County
Kendal Volz 1.06 -- 3-3, 3.03, 3 SV, 6 HRA, 13 BB/63 K in 37 G and 62 1/3 IP -- this is combined with Salem stats, did well enough to earn call to Tex League late
Noel Arguelles 1.13 -- 4-5, 3.20, 6 HRA, 24 BB/64 K in 21 starts and 104 IP -- K rate not great but was solid in U.S. debut
Jake Odorizzi 1.15 -- 5-4, 2.87, 4 HRA, 22 BB/103 K in 15 starts and 78 1/3 IP -- doesn't reflect how dominant he was at times before call to AA
Others...Elisaul Pimentel 1.20 (1 CG, 1 SV, 10 HRA, 31 BB/105 K in 133 IP, did well before late season promo to AA)...Mike Mariot 1.20 (5 SV, 7 HRA, 21 BB/80 K in 100 1/3 IP, had lockdown times and shaky times in 2011)...Justin Marks 1.33 (8-8, 3.98, 2 CG, 14 HRA, 49 BB/140 K in 144 2/3 IP, fruit of DeJesus trade was serviceable, named Carolina League pitcher of the week in last week after 13 scoreless IP)...Tim Melville 1.51 (11-10, 4.32, 7 HRA, 53 BB/108 K in 135 1/3 IP, strong June and July followed by mediocre August, won team community service award)...Tyler Sample 1.57 (58 BB/86 K in 130 1/3 IP)

A - Kane County: off day

OPS rundown
OF Brian Fletcher .946 -- .328/.386/.560, 51 RS, 31 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 60 RBI, 24 BB/80 K, 4/8 SB, 7 E in 91 G/341 ABs -- only thing ungood is the BB/K, good first full season of pro ball, had great months other than May
IF Ryan Stovall .902 -- .307/.356/.546, 27 RS, 15 2B, 5 3B, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 15 BB/45 K, 5/8 SB, 9 E in 57 G/205 ABs -- good enough to move up to Wilmington and finish there
skipping Gerard Hall, who was at .759 and moved up to Wilmington before getting released
OF Brett Eibner .748 -- .213/.340/.408, 46 RS, 13 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 31 RBI, 48 BB/90 K, 2/5 SB, 1 E in 76 G/272 ABs -- .780 OPS in August, never really looked great but had early injury, had flashes of goodness tho
3B Cheslor Cuthbert .742 -- .267/.345/.397, 33 RS, 13 2B, 3B, 8 HR, 51 RBI, 36 BB/65 K, 2/2 SB, 13 E in 81 G/300 ABs -- hit the proverbial wall in August, .127 BA with .473 OPS, damper end to a good season
OF Jovan Pickett .668 -- .267/.364/.305, 16 RS, 2 3B, 5 RBI, 10 BB/22 K, 9/13 SB, 2 E in 35 G/105 ABs -- got on base, at least
Others....IF Angel Franco .664 (led team in triples with 6)...OF Geulin Beltre .657 (led team with 18 SB and 122 games played)...1B Jake Kuebler .624 (.291 OBP)...C Kevin David .617

WHIP rundown
Greg Billo 1.02 -- 9-5, 1.93, 1 SV, 6 HRA, 25 BB/119 K in 27 G (18 starts) and 135 IP -- great season, faded a bit in August
Chase Boruff 1.07 -- 4-1, 2.30, 7 SV, HRA, 20 BB/63 K in 41 G and 66 2/3 IP -- solid season out of the pen
Nick Rogers 1.09 -- 1-1, 2.45, 9 SV, 4 HRA, 12 BB/27 K in 20 G and 29 1/3 IP -- late season callup held his own in MWL
Leonel Santiago 1.10 -- 7-7, 3.06, 6 HRA, 19 BB/92 K in 18 starts and 108 2/3 IP -- did all right before hitting DL in July
Jason Mitchell 1.10 -- 3-1, 2.11, 1 SV, HRA, 5 BB/27 K in 10 G (3 starts) and 38 1/3 IP -- late callup had good first full pro season
Allen Caldwell 1.10 -- 4-0, 2.39, 1 SV, 2 HRA, 9 BB/39 K in 11 G and 26 1/3 IP -- pitched so well you wonder why they ever played him in OF
Others....Jason Adam 1.14 (6-9, 9 HRA, 25 BB/76 K in 21 starts and 104 1/3 IP, good pro debut)...Sugar Ray Marimon 1.14 (66 IP before he hit DL)...Chas Byrne 1.20 (9 SV, 12 BB/53 K in 55 IP)...Antonio Cruz 1.25 (41 BB/97 K in 105 1/3 IP, pretty decent part of haul for Wilson Betemit)...Yordano Ventura 1.26 (4.27 ERA, 8 HRA, 24 BB/88 K in 84 1/3 IP, good K rate and K/BB)...Leondy Perez 1.28 (3.41, 7 HRA, 29 BB/108 K in 153 IP, came on strong late)...Crawford Simmons 1.84 (only got 10 1/3 IP in)

* Billo starts game 1 of the best-of-3 with Burlington Wednesday.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Ogden 8, Chukars 3 (Mon.)

SS Antonio 2-4, RS -- .320
3B DelGuidice 1-4, RBI (10), K -- .368
DH Gallagher 1-4, RBI (2) -- .222
1B Espy 0-2, BB, HBP, K, RS -- .314

Peacock 3 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 HRA -- L, 5-5, 4.48 ERA
N. Johnson 4 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 3 K -- 4.22 ERA
Fassold IP, 2 H, K -- 4.03 ERA

* Ogden battered Brian Peacock and the Chukars on Monday. Peacock served up a 2-run homer in the 1st, then got nicked for 3 runs in the 2nd. Another 2-run homer in the 3rd made it 7-0 Ogden. The Chukars loaded the bases with 0 out in the 4th and a wild pitch, Cameron Gallagher groundout and Nick DelGuidice single cut it to 7-3. Nathan Johnson gave up a run in the 4th. IF stranded the bases full in the 5th and the only hit they got thereafter was a single in the 9th. IF dropped to 15-20. The series ends tonight.