The minor league season is wrapping up with some of the short season clubs already finished.
The big news with this list is the ascension of Mike Montgomery to the #1 spot. I flip-flopped him and Hosmer but eventually decided if a list that is charting performance through the year is worth anything, it needs to reward Montgomery for his incredible performance. I still like Hosmer quite a bit and think he will be very good once his hand issues/vision issues are taken care of but Montgomery is not a 'default' #1 because Hoz and Moose have struggled--he is legitimately one of the best LH pitching prospects in the game. Montgomery has the fastball with good velocity and good life plus an excellent change-up. And when he has his curve working, as he did earlier this week, we get 6+ IP with 12 Ks and 0 W. I had figured Montgomery would start next year back at Wilmington but he might just punch his ticket to AA.
This will be the last Prospect Pulse of the season and then I'll throw performance for the rest of the year, reports from Instructional League and Arizona Fall League together and then assemble my offseason prospect list.
Pitcher stats are listed: K-9ip/W-9ip/FIP. Batting stats are listed: avg/obp/slg
| Rank | Name | Last Month |
Age | Level | Aug. Stats | YTD | Comment |
| 1 | Mike Montgomery |
2 | 20 | High-A |
7.6/1.2/2.21 |
Low-A 7.8/3.6/3.16 High-A 7.6/2.1/2.51 |
Hasn't had much trouble with High-A |
| 2 | Eric Hosmer |
1 | 19 | High-A | 176/263/294 |
Low-A 255/352/385 High-A 196/260/272 |
We are left to wonder how he will do with better vision (and a healthy hand) |
| 3 | Mike Moustakas-3B | 3 | 20 | High-A | 283/350/478 | 255/302/429 | Hot month. A good AFL could restore his top prospect standing. |
| 4 | Aaron Crow-RHP | 4 | 22 | NA | NA | NA | We continue to wait... |
| 5 | Dan Duffy-LHP | 5 | 20 | High-A | 9.4/3.9/3.31 | 8.4/2.9/3.21 | Continues to be solid/very good. |
| 6 | David Lough-CF | 10 | 23 | AA | 317/372/538 |
High-A 323/373/477 AA 330/369/531 |
Having a great year. Having defied expectations, its hard to know what his ceiling is. |
| 7 | Tim Melville-RHP | 7 | 19 | Low-A | 9.8/4.6/5.23 | 8.7/4.1/4.34 | Been very inconsistent |
| 8 | Jeff Bianchi-SS | 6 | 22 | AA | 274/298/377 |
High-A 307/364/437 AA 312/352/424 |
Tough month. |
| 9 | J. Giavotella-2B | 9 | 22 | High-A | 248/295/398 | 254/351/373 | I know his numbers are stagnant but I'm standing by this guy |
| 10 | Dan Gutierrez-RHP | 12 | 22 | High-A | 8.5/2.6/2.47 | 8.2/2.3/2.44 | He's only allowed a run in 1 of his outings |
| 11 | Will Myers-C | 13 | 18 | SS | 238/313/524 | 238/313/534 | So far the bat looks for real |
| 12 | John Lamb-LHP | 14 | 19 | SS | 9.9/2.4/3.71 | 9.0/2.5/4.1 | Could zoom up this list next year |
| 13 |
Kila Kaaihue-1B |
8 | 25 | AAA | 235/354/407 | 254/394/447 | Has been better mediocre the past two months |
| 14 | Jordan Parraz-RF | 11 | 24 | AAA | 353/395/529 |
AA358/451/553 AAA 298/358/426 |
He supposedly hasn't been completely healthy for most of the year--wonder how he'll do when he is? |
| 15 | Chris Dwyer-LHP | 15 | 21 | SS | 12.3/9.8/8.13 | 12.3/9.8/8.13 | It will be interesting to see how they develop this kid-more like a HS or college arm? |
| 16 | Tyler Sample-RHP | 19 | 20 | SS | 6.7/3.0/3.44 | 8.1/3.6/3.42 | Has been putting it together--but isn't especially young for the level. |
| 17 | Kelvin Herrera-RHP | 16 | 19 | DL | NA | 1.7/0.0/3.15 | Here's the deal: he's had some arm issues but they think rest will take care of it (similar to what Gutierrez has had) |
| 18 | Carlos Rosa-RHP | 18 | 24 | AAA | 12.1/3.5/2.96 | 10.1/4.1/3.83 | Why isn't he in our bullpen? |
| 19 | Disco Hayes-RHP | 17 | 26 | AAA | 3.9/1.5/3.98 |
AA 4.0/1.4/3.19 AAA 3.9/1.0/3.68 |
Struggled a little bit-but I hope he also gets a chance with the big club. |
| 20 | Luis Coleman-RHP | NR | 23 | High-A | 1.83/12.1/1.9 |
Low-A 7.0/1.2/2.36 High-A 12.1/1.9/1.83 |
Has been lights out and is on the fast track |
| 21 | Derrick Robinson-CF | 34 | 22 | High-A | 310/362/491 | 245/295/328 | Zooms up with a great month. |
| 22 | Blaine Hardy-LHP | 24 | 22 | Low-A | 12.4/1.5/2.31 | 9.0/1.7/2.47 | Has clearly mastered Low-A but there isn't room on a loaded Wilmington roster. |
| 23 | Greg Holland-RHP | 20 | 23 | AAA | 1.0/5.0/7.99 |
AA 9.5/3.7/3.10 AAA 1.0/5.0/7.99 |
Tough intro to AAA |
| 24 | Yowil Espinal-SS | 18 | 27 | SS | 267/347/467 | 239/328/399 |
Pretty good month to close out his season--should see him with a full season club next year. |
| 25 | Salvador Perez-C | 26 | 19 | SS | 353/383/459 |
SS 311/361/425 Low-A 189/230/236 |
Some catching help on the horizon? |
| 26 | Carlos Fortuna-RHP | 19 | 25 | SS | 8.5/3.3/4.01 | 7.4/4.3/5.01 | Needs to take a step forward next year. |
| 27 | Keaton Hayenga-RHP | 23 | 21 | SS | 3.4/2.6/4.80 | 4.6/2.8/3.90 | Where are the strikeouts? |
| 28 | Juan Abreu-RHP | 20 | 24 | AA | 10.5/12.1/6.03 |
High-A 11.8/5.9/3.45 AA 12.7/10.1/4.95 |
Iffy control has gone from bad to worse. |
| 29 | Hilton Richardson | 20 | 36 | Low-A |
SS 299/415/403 Low-A 182/250/182 |
SS 317/395/431 Low-A 182/250/182 |
Getting a shot at Low-A after Francis was suspended. |
| 30 | Barry Bowden-RHP | 24 | 32 | High-A | 8.5/2.8/2.08 |
Low-A10.9/3.8/2.79 High-A 8.5/2.8/2.08 |
08 Non-drafted FA continues to produce. |
| 31 | Paulo Orlando-CF | 23 | 23 | High-A | 293/321/320 | 266/307/358 | Consistent mediocrity |
| 32 | Chris Lubanski-OF | 24 | 28 | AAA | 057/154/086 | 275/357/456 | He is a minor league FA at the end of the year-he's probably gone. |
| 33 | Sean McCauley | 22 | 29 | DL | NA | 226/289/305 | Been hurt |
| 34 | Jose Bonilla-C | 21 | 31 | Low-A | 190/286/253 | 222/285/321 | Wishes he was hurt |
| 35 | Jason Taylor-3B | 21 | 33 | Low-A | 253/367/373 | 260/347/384 | Power hasn't been there this year. |
| 36 | Dusty Odenback-RHP | 21 | 40 | Low-A | 9.6/2.6/2.24 |
SS 6.3/2.7/2.94 Low-A 9.6/3.7/2.61 |
The Royals drafted a bullpen this past year |
| 37 | Brandon Sisk-LHP | 24 | 37 | High-A | 9.7/2.8/2.27 | 11.4/2.5/2.22 | Great numbers with iffy stuff |
| 38 | Alex Llanos-CF | 18 | 38 | SS | 204/220/265 | 267/306/380 | How big is the jump between AZ and Idaho Falls? Pretty big apparently. |
| 39 | Leondy Perez-RHP | 19 | 39 | SS | 8.7/4.3/3.88 | 8.6/2.9/3.93 | Good numbers at a low-level. |
| 40 | Malcolm Culver-3B | 19 | 35 | SS | 215/337/266 | 226/328/339 | Hopefully, one of our young but mediocre bats will step up next year. |
| 41 | Ben Theriot-C | 21 | 42 | SS | 229/357/257 | 290/389/355 | Not exactly sure why his ABs have been limited. |
| 42 | Deivy Batista-SS | 21 | 43 | SS | 225/337/412 | 280/326/527 | Curious to see where he plays next year. |
| 43 | Cole White-RHP | 21 | NR | Low-A | 5.9/4.7/4.64 |
SS 9.6/5.4/4.04 Low-A 5.9/4.7/4.64 |
Lots of potential for this bullpen arm. |
| 44 | Jerico Blanco-OF | 17 | 45 | DSL | 250/357/417 | 244/339/378 | I can't wait to see what he is going to do stateside. |
| 45 | Mike Lehman-RHP | 20 | 41 | Low--A | 5.6/7.5/6.40 | 4.6/5.0/5.44 | Free-fallin'... |
| 46 | Ryan Wood-SS | 22 | NR | Low-A | 247/352/403 |
SS 174/304/221 Low-A 247/352/403 |
09 draftee-he's an under the radar but worth watching. |
| 47 | Blake Wood-RHP | 24 | 50 | AA | 5.4/8.1/4.92 | 5.7/3.1/4.35 | He's baack--could be bullpen help next year. |
| 48 | Geuline Beltre-CF | 18 | NR | SS | 233/247/400 | 212/256/354 | Talented but needs to put it together. |
| 49 | Pedro Nivar-SS | 17 | NR | DSL | 222/364/333 | 226/371/286 | Gave him a big bonus last year and gets on base but no power yet. |
| 50 | Patrick Keating-RHP | 22 | NR | SS | 14.8/1.9/1.40 | 12.9/2.8/2.51 | More 09 draftees for the bullpen. |
Player of the month: Derrick Robinson. I didn't expect that. After struggling all year and having an abysmal July, Robinson went nuts in August with 5 homers (compared to 0 the past year and a half). What does it mean? I have no idea. It could mean nothing or perhaps he figured some things out. He will go to Northwest Arkansas in 2010 where a lot of hitters improved their numbers. Robinson is supposed to have amazing defense in CF and if he couples that with a 700 OPS at the big league level--he could have value. We will have to wait until 2010 for the next indications of whether he can do that.
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