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 Prison Bitch:
Cain was underrated, finishing 3rd in the MVP race?
Yeah, I'd say if a guy misses nearly a full month of play and manages a top 3 finish in the MVP race, he's probably being adequately rated especially when a significant part of his value was derived from his defense.
Voters rarely give a damn about defense in those races and Cain was given full marks for his. In the process he finished ahead of a guy who scored more runs, drove in more runs and hit more than twice as many bombs as he did while having a higher OPS. But while Manny was merely an excellent defensive 3b that year, Cain played a more critical defensive position and was the best in baseball at it.
For once the voters actually paid attention to that. If anything, I think they put TOO much weight in it, but that's just me (as someone who simply doesn't trust publicly available defensive metrics).
At times Cain wasn't given the credit he deserved but when the Royals were at their best, virtually everyone acknowledge that Cain was the biggest part of it from the position player side. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
And look at that, Cain is leading the NL right now in WAR. I feel like quiet, introverted guys aren't lauded by fans as much as the Hosmers etc. Gordon just gets the popular public opinion because he's a Midwest guy.
I think it's more simple than that - Royals fans were vested in Hosmer and Moustakas since their teenage years. They'd seen those guys come as babies. Gordon was a college kid but he was also 'the next George Brett'.
Cain was the 2nd piece in the Greinke deal to most. He just never captured the imagination of fans because of that.
Maybe you're right - maybe among rank and file Royals fans he was never given his due credit because he wasn't quite as popular due to the history. But as a general statement - "Lorenzo Cain was underrated during the Royals WS years" simply doesn't strike me as accurate. Across baseball people knew exactly how good Lorenzo Cain was. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I think it's more simple than that - Royals fans were vested in Hosmer and Moustakas since their teenage years. They'd seen those guys come as babies. Gordon was a college kid but he was also 'the next George Brett'.
Cain was the 2nd piece in the Greinke deal to most. He just never captured the imagination of fans because of that.
Maybe you're right - maybe among rank and file Royals fans he was never given his due credit because he wasn't quite as popular due to the history. But as a general statement - "Lorenzo Cain was underrated during the Royals WS years" simply doesn't strike me as accurate. Across baseball people knew exactly how good Lorenzo Cain was.
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Yeah, I'd say if a guy misses nearly a full month of play and manages a top 3 finish in the MVP race, he's probably being adequately rated especially when a significant part of his value was derived from his defense.
Voters rarely give a damn about defense in those races and Cain was given full marks for his. In the process he finished ahead of a guy who scored more runs, drove in more runs and hit more than twice as many bombs as he did while having a higher OPS. But while Manny was merely an excellent defensive 3b that year, Cain played a more critical defensive position and was the best in baseball at it.
For once the voters actually paid attention to that. If anything, I think they put TOO much weight in it, but that's just me (as someone who simply doesn't trust publicly available defensive metrics).
At times Cain wasn't given the credit he deserved but when the Royals were at their best, virtually everyone acknowledge that Cain was the biggest part of it from the position player side.
There was some stat in 2016 that we were +12 with him and -12 without so we finished .500. Something like that [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
The owners of the Rays and A’s are the two worst and cheapest owners in MLB. So this comparison/claim doesn’t hold up.
The A’s haven’t won a WS because ownership for years has refused to make big salary additions to add missing pieces. Same thing for the Rays.
David Glass was terrible for a long time but really operates like a model small market owner from the time he hired Moore on.
OK, it was just a guess for how we've gone from feared to laughed at. It's all good, there will only be once when there's no next year for the Royals, and that's not this year. [Reply]
A pipe that feeds the fountains in right field broke and flooded the warning track area. The game was delayed 30+ minutes while they squeegeed the water off the field. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dartgod:
A pipe that feeds the fountains in right field broke and flooded the warning track area. The game was delayed 30+ minutes while they squeegeed the water off the field.
This is the first time in MLB history that two rookies have hit back-to-back home runs to tie and win a game in the 9th inning or later. #RaisedRoyalpic.twitter.com/0OcYqRUFsU