***Official 2022 Royals Season Repository Thread***

[ChiefsCountry]

For all things Royals in 2022. #3 minor league system according to Baseball America. The Bobby Witt era should begin this year. Will Salvy still be the homerun king? How does the glut of infield players work out? Will the young pitchers take the next step?

Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Zack Greinke, P
Amir Garrett, P
Taylor Clarke, P

Top 10 Prospects from Baseball America
1. Bobby Witt, SS
2. Asa Lacy, P
3. MJ Melendez, C
4. Nick Pratto, 1B
5. Jackson Kowar, P
6. Kyle Isabel, OF
7. Frank Mozzicato, P
8. Ben Kudrna, P
9. Jonathan Bowlan, P
10. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B

Duncan's Top Royals Prospects

Spoiler!

1. Bobby Witt, Jr., SS. MLB.
This status lasts about another 4 weeks, but let’s take a moment to appreciate having the top guy in the minor league prospects lists for at least a little while longer. Witt has prodigious ability and the question is really just IF he can meet it. They have not had a prospect like this in my lifetime, and really probably ever. Combine insane raw physical skills (right there with Adalberto Mondesi and Willie Wilson in the ranks right behind Bo Jackson) with unbelievable work ethic, a humble-but-confident nature, and already having shown he can struggle and overcome to achieve big success, and you have the tools for a show-stopping centerpiece. Oh, and throw in the former-player’s kid aspect on it on top of things, and there is every reason to believe he’s going to succeed and succeed big.
2. M.J. Melendez, C, AAA Omaha.
I was early on putting him in this slot last year, and I don’t regret it. The power, the ability to be a good defender behind the dish as well as having the athletic ability to play 3B or LF, too, and you have a really valuable overall piece and FANTASTIC understudy for Salvador Perez.
3. Asa Lacy, LHP. AA Northwest Arkansas
Whoa, let’s get crazy again. Lacy has outstanding stuff. Top of the system. He got hurt and lost his command during COVID times, but appears to be back on track so far this spring. If his command sticks, this is a guy who can move quickly. And his ceiling is really second to nobody in the minor league pitching ranks.
4. Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B. AA Northwest Arkansas
Vinnie starts the season back at AA due to the guy who follows him on the list here. He just hits, folks. I love his combination of contact, loud contact, plate discipline, and lack of strikeouts. The Billy Butler comparisons are annoying (in that I will NEVER refer to this man as Italian Breakfast except in the instance that just occurred), but the Billy Butler comparisons are also fairly apt… if you made Butler a lefthanded hitter, AND improved his body/athleticism from a 20 to a 40, AND if you added that little extra touch of power we all wished Butler could consistently find.
5. Nick Pratto, 1B, AAA Omaha.
Hey, let’s stay at 1B. Pratto has flashy power and I love his batting eye AND his hand-eye coordination. The hair he’s been rocking this spring is also pretty sweet. I slot him just behind Pasquantino simply because I think his bat profile is more volatile. The glove and arm are sweet/plus for 1B, though.
6. Jonathan Bowlan, RHP, AAA Omaha
Bowlan is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and this ranking is assuming that recovering is successful. If it his, you’re talking about a big, consistent SP who throws hard enough and has enough of a repertoire to really make things happen. If the recovery goes well, he may be shuttling to the majors in July to reinforce the rotation.
7. Nick Loftin, CF, AA Omaha.
Loftin is a guy who has really grown on me. I saw him as a quasi super-utility guy when the Royals drafted him, The full-time shift to CF (which means they think he has the speed and the overall defensive ability to handle CF in Kansas City) adds a lot of value here. The ultimate positive offensive upside is similar to peak Whit Merrifield, maybe with a touch more early power.
8. Michael Massey, 2B, AA Northwest Arkansas.
Massey was an absolute revelation last year, hitting for power and average and keeping his K rate down while playing a really strong 2B. He has a very sweet, short lefthanded stroke. This is another aggressive rating, but Massey has proven himself through a tough minor league assignment already, and the arrow is pointed up.
9. Ben Kudrna, RHP, Rookie Ball
Kudrna is a big, physical specimen with a lot of upside and potential. The fastball and slider are already nearly MLB-level in terms of velocity and movement (command needs work). Kudrna is a guy who, with luck, and health, and good development, could ascend to the top of a rotation.
10. Frank Mozzicato, LHP, Rookie Ball.
Mozzicato has a curveball that suggests he has a feel for spin. If you want to dream, you hope that the next 2-3 years turn the 175 he weighed when drafted into a rock-solid 220/225 and carries with it an increase in fastball velocity from 90-91, sitting 87-88, to 96-97, sitting 93-94. You pair his ability to spin the ball (which also suggests he should be able to easily master a sweeper slider) with that type of fastball velo and a changeup he already has a feel for, and it’s an exciting profile.

He has a little more to go in terms of growing into that projectability than Kudrna, which is why he slots right behind him.
11. Alec Marsh, RHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Marsh missed a lot of 2021 to injury, but the hard-throwing righthander is another guy who could move quickly once the minor league season starts. He’s undeniably got the stuff of a quality major-league pitcher. The question is if he can master enough command to cash it in. This guy is a great example of TINSTAAPP.
12. Angel Zerpa, LHP, AAA Omaha
Zerpa might quickly outperform this slot. His stuff ticked up in 21 and he ended the season making a start in the majors. He’s nice depth to have, and honestly, I’m a big fan of just throwing numbers at pitching. Zerpa definitely helps create the depth you need to generate a top-notch and reliable home-grown rotation.
13. Maikel Garcia, SS, AA Northwest Arkansas
Garcia is a really intriguing hitter, a righthanded hitter who has a nice combination of contact skills and control of the strike zone (this cousin of Alcides Escobar is less savvy with the glove and more savvy at the plate). The Royals protected him for a reason (he’s on the 40-man).
14. Carter Jensen, C, A ??
Jensen is a local product whose bat will probably push him off C (as well as the Royals depth at that spot throughout the organization). This is a future 1B profile, and a nice one. He makes a lot of loud contact and shows an ability to lift the ball. Should be fun to watch this year.
15. Ben Hernandez, RHP, A+ Quad Rivers
Hernandez missed a good part of 2021 but still has that butterfly changeup and a classic pitcher’s profile. He’ll need to find a reliable swing-and-miss secondary to make it in the bigs, but if not, the fastball velocity and changeup should make him a quality high-leverage reliver.
16. Dylan Coleman, RHP, AAA Omaha
Speaking of relievers, Coleman is a hard-throwing righthander who probably spends most of 22 in the Royals’ pen. ½ of the compensation for the Rosenthal trade a few years back, Coleman has a big fastball and nasty breaking ball.
17. Will Klein, RHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Speaking of relivers, everything I just said about Coleman? Yeah, you can say it about Klein, too. Klein regularly toyed with hitters at high A last year, striking out 121 hitters in just 70 1/3 innings pitched. For those counting at home, that’s a 15.5 K/9 rate. Yep. That’ll play.
18. Anthony Veneziano, LHP, AA Northwest Arkansas
Here’s another big, power arm. Veneziano hasn’t been relegated to bullpen only yet, though. His fastball bumped into the high 90s last year on a starter’s workload. He’s still looking for a changeup, but if he doesn’t find it, you’re looking at a really promising future bullpen fireballer.
19. Erick Pena, OF, A ?
Pena did… not have a strong 2021 full season debut. His struggles look a lot like those of Pratto and Melendez in 2019. Pena has the same type of raw toolkit to work from as those two, with great hands and natural power. He needs to fix a hitch in his swing and calm it down, but so did Melendez. Of this second ten grouping, Pena has the highest upside and could jump right into the top 5 of the org ranks.
20. Darryl Collins, OF, A+
Collins is an international signing out of Europe. I like the hitting package here – good eye and contact skills. He needs to make more loud contact, but if he can, really a nice guy.

Overall takeaways:
This is a system with a lot of depth. We could go another 10-12 deep and still be talking about guys with a good shot to make the majors. The changes to the organization’s approach are bearing fruit, as even less-heralded draftees are stepping forward.

The combination of upside (Witt, Melendez, Lacy), depth, and guys you can dream on is fun. It may not produce quite as much as the 2011 group did, but it does offer a more sustainable system, less reliant on a few big-ticket guys.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It's just soooooo hard to fix a hit tool.

If you have an organization that can consistently do it, you're miles ahead of the game. Because most teams can't. If a guy has a bad hit tool he usually just...does. And there's not much changing it.

It's really the Rosetta stone of player development. The number of great power and/or great defense players who never made it because they were building on the shifting sands of an awful hit tool is really remarkable. If you can fix that, you can unlock so many talented players.

That's pretty accurate..

99.9999% of the time guys who don't walk and K a bunch will always be those guys, they were those guys when drafted and all through the minors also.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Can they just DFA that turd, dude has no upside at all..

I'll listen to Oliveras as an everday player but right now I think he'sa platoon guy, he murders lefties righties he's marginal.

What? I mean, who wouldn't want an almost 29 year old 5 year vet with a slash of:
.213/.290/.391...................

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

But... it's not a shitty return.

It might PROVE to be one, but judging at the time, it is somewhere from a good return (a top 10 and a top 20 prospect and a throw in) to a really good return (depending on where you have Waters ranked. I suspect BP and MLB will have him in the top 10 due to his tools).

Waters had to be added to the 40-man roster before Rule V draft, the Braves are in a 40-man roster crunch situation, and Waters has been passed by another prospect in their system (Michael Harris II).

Who had MHII making an impact ahead of Pache and Waters on their bingo cards a mere 18 months ago?

Baseball is weird.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Who had MHII making an impact ahead of Pache and Waters on their bingo cards a mere 18 months ago?

Baseball is weird.

I guess the Braves are pretty smart they identified that Pache can't hit.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It's just soooooo hard to fix a hit tool.

If you have an organization that can consistently do it, you're miles ahead of the game. Because most teams can't. If a guy has a bad hit tool he usually just...does. And there's not much changing it.

It's really the Rosetta stone of player development. The number of great power and/or great defense players who never made it because they were building on the shifting sands of an awful hit tool is really remarkable. If you can fix that, you can unlock so many talented players.

His hit tool itself isn't the issue according to many evaluators, though. It's his approach.

He has good hands, controls that bat well, and can adjust/alter the bat path.

His issue is he's hyper aggressive, and more experienced pitchers who are able to execute crisply have been exploiting that. It's very similar to where M.J. Melendez was in 2019.

Waters' raw hit tool (physical) doesn't appear to actually be an issue. It's translating it to the game (mental and physical) that is the issue.

Hit tool is tough to fix. Pitch recognition is tough to fix.

Setting up a good with a better, more consistent approach is not... easy... but it is easier than either of the above.

[KChiefs1]

The Braves acquired the 35th pick in this Sunday’s MLB Draft from the Royals on Monday for center fielder Drew Waters, RHP Andrew Hoffmann and infielder C.J. Alexander.

The pick is a Competitive Balance Round A pick, which is eligible to be traded. As MLB.com’s Jim Callis reported in April, the 35th pick holds a slot value of $2.2 million. The Braves, who also own the 20th overall pick, bumped their Draft pool money up to $10.2 million, the 10th-highest total.

Waters, Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was the Braves' second-round pick in 2017 and has spent parts of the past three seasons at Triple-A Gwinnett. The Southern League MVP in 2019, the switch-hitting Waters slashed .246/.305/.393 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 49 games with the Stripers this year.

Waters should immediately become one of the Royals’ top prospects; former No. 1 prospect Bobby Witt Jr.has already graduated from prospect status, while current No. 1 Vinnie Pasquantino is in the Majors.

Hoffmann -- a 12th-round pick in last year’s draft and Atlanta’s No. 23 prospect -- has made 15 starts this year for High-A Rome, going 7-2 with a 2.36 ERA across 80 innings. Alexander has spent the past two years with Double-A Mississippi, mashing 25 home runs across 152 games. While he’s primarily played third base throughout his career, he’s also made appearances at first base and in left field.

This is the second Competitive Balance pick to be traded this year. In April, the Tigers traded their Competitive Balance Round B pick (No. 72 overall) to the Rays as part of the Austin Meadows deal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Mecca

I guess the Braves are pretty smart they identified that Pache can't hit.

That was always a worry with him.

Peter Bourjos wasn't a bad comp for him as he was coming up in the low minors.

[louie aguiar]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

The Braves acquired the 35th pick in this Sunday’s MLB Draft from the Royals on Monday for center fielder Drew Waters, RHP Andrew Hoffmann and infielder C.J. Alexander.

The pick is a Competitive Balance Round A pick, which is eligible to be traded. As MLB.com’s Jim Callis reported in April, the 35th pick holds a slot value of $2.2 million. The Braves, who also own the 20th overall pick, bumped their Draft pool money up to $10.2 million, the 10th-highest total.

Waters, Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was the Braves' second-round pick in 2017 and has spent parts of the past three seasons at Triple-A Gwinnett. The Southern League MVP in 2019, the switch-hitting Waters slashed .246/.305/.393 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 49 games with the Stripers this year.

Waters should immediately become one of the Royals’ top prospects; former No. 1 prospect Bobby Witt Jr.has already graduated from prospect status, while current No. 1 Vinnie Pasquantino is in the Majors.

Hoffmann -- a 12th-round pick in last year’s draft and Atlanta’s No. 23 prospect -- has made 15 starts this year for High-A Rome, going 7-2 with a 2.36 ERA across 80 innings. Alexander has spent the past two years with Double-A Mississippi, mashing 25 home runs across 152 games. While he’s primarily played third base throughout his career, he’s also made appearances at first base and in left field.

This is the second Competitive Balance pick to be traded this year. In April, the Tigers traded their Competitive Balance Round B pick (No. 72 overall) to the Rays as part of the Austin Meadows deal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Waters' prospect status has dropped like a rock the past year. He's no longer their top prospect. JJ Cooper tweeted that he was their #15 prospect on their latest rankings.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

His hit tool itself isn't the issue according to many evaluators, though. It's his approach.

He has good hands, controls that bat well, and can adjust/alter the bat path.

His issue is he's hyper aggressive, and more experienced pitchers who are able to execute crisply have been exploiting that. It's very similar to where M.J. Melendez was in 2019.

Waters' raw hit tool (physical) doesn't appear to actually be an issue. It's translating it to the game (mental and physical) that is the issue.

Hit tool is tough to fix. Pitch recognition is tough to fix.

Setting up a good with a better, more consistent approach is not... easy... but it is easier than either of the above.

Jose Reyes is probably your poster child there.

Reyes looked for all the world like a super fast SS w/ plus defense who'd probably never be a star because he just got himself out too often.

Then all of the sudden he just didn't do that anymore, his K rate improved a little but mostly his BB rate damn near tripled. Suddenly he's on base more, stealing more bags, driving more balls. That little tick forward after a couple partial MLB seasons and then a full one catapulted him into genuine superstar status.

But for every one of him, there's a 100 Harison !@#@$ing Baders, who's answer to not making contact on sliders out of the zone is to just swing HARDER at them.

Pitch recognition is a bear. But yeah, it's easier to fix than bat control.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Jose Reyes is probably your poster child there.

Reyes looked for all the world like a super fast SS w/ plus defense who'd probably never be a star because he just got himself out too often.

Then all of the sudden he just didn't do that anymore, his K rate improved a little but mostly his BB rate damn near tripled. Suddenly he's on base more, stealing more bags, driving more balls. That little tick forward after a couple partial MLB seasons and then a full one catapulted him into genuine superstar status.

But for every one of him, there's a 100 Harison !@#@$ing Baders, who's answer to not making contact on sliders out of the zone is to just swing HARDER at them.

Pitch recognition is a bear. But yeah, it's easier to fix than bat control.

I don't think it's even a pitch recognition issue. It's that he goes up without a plan (at all). He doesn't prep before games. He has been relying on natural talent alone, and until last year, that had been really successful.

I've got a buddy who is in good with Trey Harris (who has spent a lot of time with Waters in the minors and is the exact opposite), who had shared some of that in the past.

His natural hands/bat-to-ball had most evaluators putting 50+ hit tools on Waters leading into the 2021 season.

[ChiefsCountry]

How many catchers bat lead off? Another interesting lineup from Mad Mike

Daniel Lynch gets the start in Game 2 vs. the Tigers.#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/cKOX9gMpvP

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 11, 2022

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

How many catchers bat lead off? Another interesting lineup from Mad Mike

Daniel Lynch gets the start in Game 2 vs. the Tigers.#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/cKOX9gMpvP

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 11, 2022

Jason Kendall used to bat leadoff at C, not for the Royals but when he was with the A's.

[ChiefsCountry]

And Elias Sports said tonight is a first for Royals with the Catcher leading off. Never done in Royals history.

Speaking of Melendez, does anyone else think he will get moved out of the catcher position ala Biggio, Sweeney, and others etc.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

And Elias Sports said tonight is a first for Royals with the Catcher leading off. Never done in Royals history.

Speaking of Melendez, does anyone else think he will get moved out of the catcher position ala Biggio, Sweeney, and others etc.

Yes because we are stupid idiots

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

And Elias Sports said tonight is a first for Royals with the Catcher leading off. Never done in Royals history.

Speaking of Melendez, does anyone else think he will get moved out of the catcher position ala Biggio, Sweeney, and others etc.

No, but I think he will continue to get starts in other positions so both he and Perez can be in the lineup at starter levels.

He fits RF pretty well on those off days.