The Royals fell tonight 9-0 against the Colorado Rockies and have now lost 4 games in a row. But tonight is a perfect illustration for why Royals fans are truly excited for the future of this franchise.
It began with Mike Montgomery on his twenty-second birthday pitching an absolute gem. He went 6.2 shutout innings and recorded 7 strikeouts to just 3 walks. He gave up only two hits and both were singles.
After being skipped in his last start, Mike Montgomery quite simply reminded all of us to take a chill pill and relax. He cruised to his best start of the year and we were reminded of his ACE potential.
But the night had only begun. Just a couple hours after Montgomery exited the game the Royals got the International signing period kicked off with a bang with the signing of this year's top International prospect to a $3.05 million signing bonus.
The bonus falls just short of Miguel Angel Sano's international free agent hitter bonus of $3.15 and it figures to be the largest bonus handed out in this year's class.
It is said that Hernandez's bat isn't the most advanced out of Latin America, but he has a mature body that fits the mold of a Major League right now. He is 6-4, 200 pounds and has tremendous bat speed with quick wrists.
Scouts project above average power with above average contact ability. He will find a spot as a corner outfielder and won't ever have the range to play center, but his arm will be more than strong enough to handle a corner.
Like Bubba Starling, Elier has mind blowing upside but will not come without a big amount of risk. Along with Starling (assuming he is signed) the Royals have now really built up that outfield depth throughout the organization. Not to mention they have just added another potential superstar to the organization.
Rumors are the Royals are only getting started and that they are also hot and heavy on shortstop prospect Aldaberto Mondesi, son of former big leaguer Raul Mondesi. Aldaberto is one of the younger players and won't be eligible to sign until he turns 16 on July 27. The shortstop prospect should stick at the position and the rumor is the Royals could offer seven figures.
Despite the current struggles of the big league team. The snowball of future excitement only continues to grow as we roll down the mountain toward contention.
I am still a bit skeptical. Starting pitching seems to be a bit thin. As we can see with Lamb, Montgomery, and Duffy, command and injuries can derail the best plans between minors and majors.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in order to contend we will need a couple of legitimate "sticks" in the lineup. Melky and Francoeur with their anemic OBP leave too many days when we don't score. I realize they are not the future but that seems to be the type player that DM thinks helps. Moustakas basically going 3 weeks without driving in anyone that was not named Moustakas worries me too. Hosmer's plate discipline has gone down since he was called up. Hopefully those 2 can be real sticks with some seasoning. The major leagues find a lot of holes in swings, however. It's taken Gordon 5 years to appear to be ready.
There is a big difference when you are signing guys like Francouer as stop gaps than if they are filling a few holes. The idea is that guys like Mous and Hosmer develop into the legitimate sticks then you fill in around them with complimentary guys.
ReplyDeleteRookies struggle. I admit I expected Hosmer to hit right away but I bet that at the end of the year his line will be very respectable for a rookie.
I believe that if Gordon wouldn't have been derailed by injuries he would have been performing like this a couple of years ago. Most prospects truly hit their stride in their second or third year.
It isn't that there isn't work to be done, but there is a reason to be excited still. Just because a twenty-one year is struggling with command in triple-A, or Mous doesn't drive in runs for a couple of weeks, or Hosmer on base percentage dips in his first slump in the majors it doesn't mean that they are going to always have those troubles.
Small samples and quick judgments for rookies shouldn't be the focus for Mous, Hosmer, Duffy and company.
I hope your "company man" glasses are correct. You get to see those young guys a lot so that is probably good G2. I just hope I am not dead before we contend. Have you noticed the Indians and Pirates are actually contending in much less time than us? The freakin Pirates!
ReplyDeleteIndians weren't in the same position as the Royals. Not even close. They didn't have to start from ground zero. Also, Pirates are a huge shock, but I think you should check the years if you think they did it in much less time.
ReplyDeleteIt probably depends on when you believe they started the rebuild. In my opinion it would be 2007. Which yes means that they have gotten into contention quicker than the Royals. But it isn't as though they began rebuilding last season.
I would agree with you that had the Royals made more right moves over the first few seasons of the Dayton Moore regime they could be contending now. But at the same time it isn't as though the Royals are that far behind the Pirates anyway.
The Royals were 7 games up at the break in 2003. How did that work out for their future success?