Our latest non-hyped Royal prospect is the amicably named Joey Lewis, a red-blooded Georgian entering his third season in the system.
Lewis was a decorated high school baseball player, then went on to play three seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs. (For more on Lewis's background, I recommend Jack Dempsey's writeup from last year on Schaum's site.) He became a Royal farmhand in 2009, after the Royals took him in the 41st round. For a college player, Lewis didn't hit too impressively later that year as a Chukar, posting just a .275/.354/.406 line.
2011 was an equal struggle for Lewis, who was not granted an additional year in Idaho Falls to get acclimated to professional ball. At Burlington, Lewis hit .243/.339/.380. Late in the season, he was promoted to Wilmington, where he hit just .206/.242/.333. Rough.
Of course, according to Baseball America Lewis would be the #7 prospect in the Astros organization. Actually, that is a lie.
I've listed Lewis as a "C/1B" in the title, but that's probably being generous. At this point, Lewis appears to be a 1B, a 1B who is struggling to hit like a catcher. Rough. Needless to say, 2011 is a huge season for Lewis, who will need to justify his existence in a loaded KC system. It would seem likely that he'll start the season at Wilmington. Unfortunately, he needs to show major improvement to reach AA Northwest Arkansas. Rough.