Kila Kaaihue

[BWillie]

What do you know about this guy? I guess he's in AA and he's hit 25 home runs and is batting .310. He's leading his league in home runs, on base percentage, and and OPS. The guy already has 80 walks. I don't know where he came from. I didn't hear about him before this year. We are in need of a good first basement. The guy is 24 years old....when do you think he's up for a promotion?

[Sure-Oz]

Good god, that story made me puke, who the hell knew Gload was a beast back in the day

Lets hope our own Hawaiin Punch is different for a damn change

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

Good god, that story made me puke, who the hell knew Gload was a beast back in the day

Lets hope our own Hawaiin Punch is different for a damn change

Haha. Hawaiian Punch. That is going to be his nickname...Sure-Oz called it. You see all those Mexicutioner shirts going around? Well you should get the rights to the Hawaiian Punch ones when he comes up and starts his one man wrecking crew

[beavis]

Originally Posted by tk13

It's easy to forget stuff like this now... but there was a time where a 24 year old hitter with some pop named.... Ross Gload.... got moved up to AAA for the Cubs, and in his first month hit .404, 14 homers and posted a near 1.400 OPS before getting his first callup. Incredible numbers.

Wow, I never had heard that. While I get your point, that was over a space of 28 games. Kila has been doing this all season. I say he gets a shot in spring training. At the very least, maybe it allows us to spend money on a SS instead of a 1B this offseason.

[BWillie]

Is Moustakas still going to play short in a couple years when we bring him up. I know it's early to talk about that, but for a 18-19 year old kid he's seen vast improvement this year in A ball. He's now hitting about .270 with 20 jacks. Not to long ago he was batting .230....he probably just needed to learn how to hit with a wooden bat.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by BWillie007

Is Moustakas still going to play short in a couple years when we bring him up. I know it's early to talk about that, but for a 18-19 year old kid he's seen vast improvement this year in A ball. He's now hitting about .270 with 20 jacks. Not to long ago he was batting .230....he probably just needed to learn how to hit with a wooden bat.

http://royalsblog.kansascity.com/?q=node/173

A growing (and moving?) Moose
Could be a busy week around this blog.

Got a couple interviews ready to roll (including one done by commenter request), a Gil Meche stat that might surprise you, and we probably need to get to Zack Greinke: bad@%*.

And before we begin today, there are these two facts to digest about Tony Pena Jr: He has never given up a baserunner as a relief pitcher, and he is batting 1.000 with a walk-off single as a designated hitter.

Maybe he was just miscast as a shortstop.

Anyway, a look below the big leagues shows that Mike Moustakas went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs on Saturday, and is now 13-for-32 with five homers, four doubles and 12 RBIs in his last eight games.

That follows the season long trend for the Royals' No. 2 overall pick from last year. He was terrible in April and has been spectacular since. He hit .303 in July, is hitting .378 in August, and in 40 games since the All-Star break, has more homers (11 to 9), more doubles (11 to 10), and the same amount number of RBIs (31) and walks (17) that he did in 66 games before.

His OPS has gone from .671 over those first 66 games to 1.317 in the last 40.

Even during those early struggles, the thinking I heard from the Royals' front office was that Moose was an LA kid not used to the cold weather, and also a high school draft pick adjusting to pro ball and all those struggles were expected.

All that made sense, but there is still some natural skepticism. As much as some people rightly downplay the importance of minor league stats, it's reassuring to see Moose on this run.

It's also reassuring to hear from a scout who saw him play recently.

"I like the (bleep) out of him," he says. "His body has gotten a little soft, but this guy has a great swing."

The scout says Moose's swing is geared toward left-center (opposite field), but during BP, when the pitches come down and in, "he'll crush every one of them like 500 feet."

"He's a better hitting prospect than Alex Gordon, no doubt about it," the scout says. "Better swing."

Moose was recently moved to third base when the Royals acquired Juan Rivera from the Dodgers ("Rivera is terrible, the Royals must've really wanted to get rid of Berroa") and might be in for another position change.

Apparently he's gaining a little weight in the middle, around his abs and hips, and might grow into playing catcher. Moose has the arm (mid-90s as a reliever in high school), and Royals executives have always raved about his natural leadership and baseball smarts.

The idea of moving to catcher is something that's been projected since even before last year's draft.

I've talked to some other people who follow Moustakas closely and they say the weight gain is nothing to be alarmed at. They say he's not getting fat, just that it's the natural path for the guy's body type, that he's not losing mobility with his swing, just filling out has he gets bigger and stronger.

There are two trains of thought with the move to catcher, neither has as much to do with Moose specifically as it does just a general philosophy.

It's either a great thing to have a premium bat at a premium position, or a terrible idea to devalue a potential three-hole hitter by giving his body the extra grind of catching.

He also has good enough hands that I've heard scouts say he's a potential Gold Glover at first base.

"Some guys are built to gain weight in the middle," the scout says. "He looks nothing like when I saw him last year. He's thicker in that area. He almost looks soft, but not quite.

"But I'll tell you this. He's the best prospect in that whole league, no doubt. He's got a beautiful swing. He's 19, so in three years, that guy's going to be really, really good.

"He works his (butt) off and has a great attitude, like what you want all your top prospects to have.

"But they've got to let him play out, the whole process. They started Gordon at double-A and moved him up because they had to, but this guy needs to play the whole thing and learn the game and be a ballplayer."

Submitted by Sam Mellinger on August 11, 2008 - 7:23am.
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[SithCeNtZ]

Originally Posted by BWillie007

Is Moustakas still going to play short in a couple years when we bring him up. I know it's early to talk about that, but for a 18-19 year old kid he's seen vast improvement this year in A ball. He's now hitting about .270 with 20 jacks. Not to long ago he was batting .230....he probably just needed to learn how to hit with a wooden bat.

He already moved to third, and now it is between third and RF for where he plays.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by SithCeNtZ

He already moved to third, and now it is between third and RF for where he plays.

Maybe. Read the text I posted from the Royals blog.

[SithCeNtZ]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Maybe. Read the text I posted from the Royals blog.

Eh, I don't really see anything in the article suggesting anyone in the Royals organization is thinking along the same lines as him. Just some speculating on his part and some pretty poor reasoning as well. Teams don't move their best players to catchers just because it's a premium position.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

http://royalsblog.kansascity.com/?q=node/173
The idea of moving to catcher is something that's been projected since even before last year's draft.

Originally Posted by SithCeNtZ

Eh, I don't really see anything in the article suggesting anyone in the Royals organization is thinking along the same lines as him. Just some speculating on his part and some pretty poor reasoning as well. Teams don't move their best players to catchers just because it's a premium position.

Scouts were talking about this prior to the draft, and this is what the reporter is obviously suggesting. Also, there was much speculation that he'd ultimately end up at first. Again, from pre-draft scouting reports.

[OmahaChief]

Kila clubbed another homer last night. Make that 7 here in Omaha

[Reaper16]

They should have just drafted Matt Weiters if they wanted a catcher. I don't think that Moustakas will end up being switched there. The OF is far more likely.

[SithCeNtZ]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

They should have just drafted Matt Weiters if they wanted a catcher. I don't think that Moustakas will end up being switched there. The OF is far more likely.

Yes. Here is the reason that I doubt what this guy is saying and I think he has just largely made up the article: why doesn't he quote his scout friend if this seems like such a logical move? He is already asking him about what he thinks of his hitting, why not ask about what you are writing the article about? My guess is he asked him, and the scout laughed him out of the room. I can't find a single draft source that has mentioned Moose going to catcher. Not from baseball prospectus, not from Baseball America, and if neither one of those mentioned it, I'm going to have a hard time believing it to be true. I need something more concrete than "some scouts said", which could be entirely made up and no one would know.

[beavis]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

They should have just drafted Matt Weiters if they wanted a catcher. I don't think that Moustakas will end up being switched there. The OF is far more likely.

Agreed. Supposedly he has a cannon. I could see him taking over for Guillen at the end of his contract.

[DeezNutz]

Here's one reason why there was some pre-draft speculation about where Moosetacos would end up playing.

http://www.royalmania.com/news.php?extend.105

Last August at the Area Code Games in Long Beach, Moustakas moved from shortstop to third base to catcher, and while he showed some promise at the plate, there was not a consensus he'd hit enough to profile as an everyday player at a corner infield position. Because of the depth of high school hitters in Southern California's Class of 2007, Moustakas entered the spring without a distinct designation as one of the country's elite prospects. He was even considered his team's second-best player, behind third baseman Matt Dominguez.

All along, Moustakas was quietly confident, and this spring the masses began to concur.

[eazyb81]

There was definitely some speculation before the draft that Moose could move to catcher in pro ball. Just google Moustakas + catcher and you will see some publications that mention it. However, I would prefer he stays at 3rd base or gets moved to RF instead of catcher, as I think his bat is truly special and I don't want to risk him wearing down too quickly. Catcher is such a demanding position, some guys can handle it and some can't.