RRMLP: Arizona Royals Players

The Arizona Royals are off to a 9-8 start.  I’ll recap their players below but be forewarned, this is a team that cannot hit.  After 17 games, .233/.300/.365. 

A quick rundown of our future heroes currently playing in Arizona:

Catchers: Jose Bonilla (19), Brandon Fowler (18), Nester Jacobs (20) and Mauricio Matos (17)

Matos was a 10th round draft choice out of high school.  He signed for a $150K bonus so the Royals must think he has potential.  Matos has not played much so far, only 13 at bats and two starts behind the dish.  Jose Bonilla has gotten the bulk of the playing time at catcher and is hitting very well.  In 13 games and 46 at bats (.370/.408/.652).

Infield: Deivy Batista (2B, 20), Geulin Beltre (SS, 17), Yowill Espinal (SS, 17), Edwin Henriquez (1B, 19), Lifete Jose (SS, 19), Jacob Kuebler (3B, 18) and James Nilsen (2B, 24).

Jacob Kuebler was a 17th round draft choice this year out of Lincoln, NE high school.  He was given a $150K signing bonus, so again, it looks like the Royals saw something they liked.  Kuebler is off to a slow start, 14 games, 48 at bats, .167/.231/.271.  Deivy Batista has played nine of his 14 games at 2B and is hitting very well in 49 at bats (.367/.436/.592).  Batista played 62 games (55 at thirdbase) in the Dominican summer league last year hitting (.243/.340/.330).  Maybe he has a shot?  Lifete Jose is in his second year at Arizona.  He started 2008 at Burlington NC and built an OPS of .482 in 11 games.  It looks like Surprise might be a demotion for him?  He and Yowill Espinal are splitting time at shortstop.  Hopefully they can field because neither is hitting well.  James Nilsen is a 24 year old second baseman playing with guys who are four to six years younger than him.  Hopefully Nilsen is contributing a lot of grit to the team, because he is hitting .129/.182/.323.

Outfield: Luis Del Rosario (18), Astin Jacobo (19), Alex Llanos (17), Alexis Marte (23) and Derek Rodriguez (19).

Alex Llanos is the prospect here.  He was taken in the sixth round out of a Puerto Rican high school and given a $125K bonus.  Llanos is off to a slow start in 16 games (.193/.258/.263).  Luis Del Rosario hit poorly in 23 games last summer in the Dominican league but it doing well at Surprise so far (17 games, 54 at bats, .352/.435/.463).  Apparently the Royals think he can learn to be a threat on the pads as they send him often.  Rosario has not learned this part of his craft yet.  He is three for eight on swipe attempts in '08.  Alexis Marte is 23 years old but only in his second year of professional ball.  He was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2005 by the Dodgers but they apparently gave up on him early, cutting him after 10 minor league games.  The Royals signed him in June of 2007 and he played 38 games last summer for the Royals Dominican league team, hitting a not-horrible .240/.436/.365 with 8/9 stolen bases.  He is not yet hitting yet at Surprise (.182/.308/.273 in 33 at bats) but his combination of high OBP and stolen base success makes him intriguing.  Astin Jacobo hit badly last year and continues to struggle.  Unless the stat sheet is wrong Jacobo struck out 20 of his first 31 at bats.  Derik Rodriguez seems to wear the faint praise of being Alexis Marte-lite.  Okay OBP (.343), good early stolen base numbers (3/0) but a hollow bat .148/.343/.185.

So there you have it.  Players to keep an eye on:

Mauricio Matos – C (prospect bonus)

Jose Bonilla - C (good production)

Jacob Kuebler – 3B (prospect bonus)

Deivy Batista – 2B (good production)

Alex Llanos – OF (prospect bonus)

Luis Del Rosario – OF (good production)

Alexis Marte – OF (OBP + speed)

Derik Rodriguez – OF (OBP + speed)

No power at all on this team.  Eleven homeruns in the first 17 games.  The Royals could really use more pop.  I keep looking for that power bat in the organization and keep coming home empty-handed.  I want the Royals to sign Adam Dunn in November as badly as Dwight Schrute wants to cuddle with Kara Thrace while blogging in his mom’s basement.

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