Possibly goes top 10 but is a big, physical SP with ace potential. Moore and co. will be all over him if he slips a bit and could offer top 10 money at No. 16
OF Jarred Kelenic, Waukasha West HS, WI
Spoiler!
Kelenic is the top prep bat, toolsy OF. Royals would be ecstatic to have shot at him.
1B Triston Casas, American Heritage HS (FL).
Spoiler!
Tremendous raw power, best in HS bats. Royals typically like HS arms or HS bats with "special" tools. He qualifies.
RHP Carter Stewart, Eau de Gallie HS (Ga).
Spoiler!
Another big, physical specimen with huge upside. More likely to be available mid-first than Rocker.
ANY Any, Any (Any). Any current top projected pick who slides for injury concerns. Includes current top prospect prospect SP Brady Singer, U of Florida.
Current Prospects to Watch:
OF Seuly Matias - Huge tools. Hit 2 HR in Lexington (A) season opener.
1B Nick Pratto - Top pick in 17 has advanced approach and good glove; needs to start tapping into power in first full year in minors. Also at Lexington.
OF Michael Gigliotti - Good defender in CF, good OBP skills, plus baserunner. Next mainstay in CF for KC, IMO. Advanced college bat also starting at Lexington.
OF Khalil Lee - Probably has highest upside in Royals' system. Could hit 30 HR in majors, could steal 30 bases. Plus defensive ability in RF. Nice test at Wilmington this year.
3B Emmanuel Rivera - Really nice approach and good contact skills. Power is still developing. Also getting a good test at Wilmington.
SP Foster Griffin - Made nice strides in 2017. Needs to continue to progress in 2018. Could be a lefty version of Jakob Junis (good breaking ball that he can really manipulate, OK fastball, good command).
1B Samir Duenez - Duenez still is intriguing, hoping for a step forward in his power production this year at Northwest Arkansas, which would turn him into a legit prospect.
Others to keep an eye on:
SP Gerson Garabito (Wilmington), OF Marten Gasparini (Lexington), C MJ Melendez (Lexington), RP Tyler Zuber (lexington), RP Richard Lovelady (Omaha), SP Dan Tillo (Lexington), SS Nicky Lopez (NWA), SP Scott Blewett (NWA), OF Brewer Hicklen (Idaho Falls),
In general, Lexington and Wilmington are the most interesting spots to watch. Nice depth and a lot of interesting pieces at both. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
I love this especially because how the Royals were called the “Kansas City Base Hits” in the 15 series leading up the Astros.
Astros fans didn’t seem to be laughing after Game 4, though.
Naw, I was at that game and we weren't laughing but we weren't crying either. We knew we had a very good YOUNG team that was just not ready to win a game like that yet. We all felt that our time would come soon enough... We all knew that it was the turning point in the series - if Correa fields the rather routine play cleanly, the Stros probably win the series. I say probably, because that Royals team was VERY TOUGH to beat. They really played like Champions. They were special... We as Astros fans wanted our team to be like them. Fast forward two years and we are. Only we now hope to have a much longer run as contenders. I think we will.
I, as well as most Astros fans, have a LOT of RESPECT for that '15 Royals team. Since we couldn't win the World Series, we were happy that the Royals did. The Astros players will tell you than to a man - and they did when asked. [Reply]
The Royals are on the level of ineptitude never seen before. What have they lost, 28 of the last 32? This is fantastic. Lets beat that 04 or 05 Detroit Tiger squad. We can do it.
Trade them all and let this team fry. Get draft picks. Watch Pratto bust. Life is fun [Reply]
Originally Posted by Jerok:
Here is the fact: Every team who wins the World Series gets lucky. Sometimes it's because they avoided getting unlucky. A key injury or two and most teams wouldn't make it. The Royals avoided injuries and fielded healthy teams in the playoffs.
Some teams get lucky and get suddenly hot in the playoffs - the Royals hit a lot more home runs in the 2014 playoffs than they were expected to.
You can say the same thing for most teams. Some are just absolutely stacked, like this years Yankees, but even they don't have depth everywhere. If Severino gets injured they wouldn't stand a chance against the Sox or the Astros.
Take the championships when you can get them. Who cares if you get lucky. Embrace the luck and hope it happens again in the next decade.
Exactly. IMO, the Astros won it last year because they were "lucky" to be able to avoid the Indians. The Tribe just had our number last year. We would invent ways to lose to them. NOBODY wanted to face them and I'd bet the players themselves didn't like that match-up either. BUT, once the Yankees knocked the Indians out, we were like , "Oh - Oh - We now HAVE a REAL chance!" And what a run it was - going through 3 of the League's most storied franchises in the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers en route to winning the team's 1st World Series!
I'll take the "LUCK" of not facing the Indians any day...:-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Jerok:
Here is the fact: Every team who wins the World Series gets lucky. Sometimes it's because they avoided getting unlucky. A key injury or two and most teams wouldn't make it. The Royals avoided injuries and fielded healthy teams in the playoffs.
Even then, the 2015 Royals suffered significant injuries to Gordo (the best hitter on our team when he went down). Holly (how many teams would be able to shoulder the loss of their closer who had 46 saves and a 1.44 ERA the year before?) and Rios (whose hand was never fully healthy through the season).
Sure, Rios and Gordo bounced back in the playoffs, but the fact the Royals won home field advantage despite these injuries is a testament to just how good the 2015 team was. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TEX:
Naw, I was at that game and we weren't laughing but we weren't crying either. We knew we had a very good YOUNG team that was just not ready to win a game like that yet. We all felt that our time would come soon enough... We all knew that it was the turning point in the series - if Correa fields the rather routine play cleanly, the Stros probably win the series. I say probably, because that Royals team was VERY TOUGH to beat. They really played like Champions. They were special... We as Astros fans wanted our team to be like them. Fast forward two years and we are. Only we now hope to have a much longer run as contenders. I think we will.
I, as well as most Astros fans, have a LOT of RESPECT for that '15 Royals team. Since we couldn't win the World Series, we were happy that the Royals did. The Astros players will tell you than to a man - and they did when asked.
Oh yeah, no disrespect to Astros fans at all. The 15 series singlehandedly won me to the Stros bandwagon for the 17 playoffs - ya’ll had so many players worth rooting for and played with an enthusiastic energy that was fun to watch (unlike the Jays, for instance).
My needling was meant more for the Reddit and some pockets of the advanced statistic community, who couldn’t fathom how a “contact” team would be able to compete with power hitting squads like Houston and Toronto. [Reply]
Personally I'm not complaining at all about the team we had that won it all. I think we got lucky, but I'm fine with that. We deserved some luck. My complaint/concern is that going forward I doubt we can replicate that winning formula in the same way. I think we have some serious shortcomings in our player development, and I'm skeptical about our ability to improve that under the current regime. I hope I'm wrong, but we need to start seeing results. [Reply]
