The season is upon us, even if spring is not.
2018 MLB Draft Picks
#18
#33 - Compensation (Eric Hosmer)
#34 - Compensation (Lorenzo Cain)
#40 (Competitive Balance Round A)
018 Draft Names to Watch
RHP Kumar Rocker, N Oconnee HS, Georgia.
OF Jarred Kelenic, Waukasha West HS, WI
1B Triston Casas, American Heritage HS (FL).
RHP Carter Stewart, Eau de Gallie HS (Ga).
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 DJ's left nut:
I've rarely seen a team that's done so little with so much.
Bauer going down hurt, sure. But for most of the year they had the Klubot, Carrasco, Bauer in CY form, and Clevinger as one of the top 25ish pitchers in baseball. Then you have Lindor killing it, Ramirez putting up an MVP caliber year, a huge bounceback season from Brantley and solid complementary players across the board.
How that team isn't a 95+ win squad is beyond me. It isn't even that guys are underperforming - they're not. Individual players on that team are having extraordinary years. They just don't win as many games as they should somehow.
They're the anti-Rays.
Or the anti-Royals. How many years did we outperform our projected wins?
[Reply]
Originally Posted by blake5676:
Mondesi's numbers extrapolated to 162 game season:
101 runs
29 doubles
7 triples
29 HR's
77 RBI's
18 BB's
166 K's
63 SB's
This kid could be AWESOME. By far the highlight of the season this year, along with some other fun bright spots.
I enjoyed this season a lot. Having recently won a World Series made this season much more tolerable than previous 100-loss season. I think Ned and Dayton are capable of leading another rebuild and I've enjoyed seeing the earlier-career Royals get more big-league experience.
I like that we have strength up the middle with Whit, Mondesi and Perez. We still need to shore up some other positions, but I could imagine this team starting to win more than they lose in 2020.
[Reply]