On this week’s episode, the fellas are going prospecting! They discuss the official Royals Weekly top-30 prospect list, discuss hitting and pitching player development, and make some New Years resolutions for a few Kansas City Royals prospects.
Plus, Marc sings a line from a Color Me Bad classic and Mike improvises some jazz beats!
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Welcome back to Royals weekly I am your host Marcus me and joining me as always four fifths of Color Me bad my brother Mike I don’t uh I don’t recall what was our big hit again color
Me back I W to sex you up that was it I think that was them it’s been it’s been a long time but I think that was a classic 90s boy band I kind yeah we were great we were great I don’t want at
The other when I when I ate three of the other four members of Color Me Bad uh it was a tragic dark time check out the Behind the Music color me bad about how much hair he has lost since those
Days cuz you could tell like a lot has changed here color me bald is is the band that they they reformed under that name so yes thank you so much Mike for all the R&B hits you gave us in
The 90s on this week’s episode we’re taking a deep dive into Royals the Royals minor league system and an attempt to understand the future of the organization the Royals have made a lot of moves moves this offseason to make the major league club better but do they have the talent
And and Player Development necessary to build uh the on their robust offseason and keep this train moving uh we’ll provide the official Royals weekly top 30 Prospect list which we slaved over we just we really labored over this this top 30 Prospect list it definitely wasn’t me just sort of thinking
Like who belongs in the top 30 we’ll discuss that we’ll discuss the pitching and the player hitting Player Development and then we’ll do some New Year’s resolutions for some of the system’s best prospects but first a reminder to follow us on all the social medias we’re putting out a ton of
Content on Twitter on uh Facebook Instagram Mike’s on threads Mike’s how how’s threads going threads Revolution it’s going great we got over a hundred followers now I get I get multiple followers every
Day it’s like the wild west but it’s getting more and more people so it’s it’s now like I’m an O A Roy I’m a Royals OG on threads now yes yes you are one of the founders of threads what do we we’ll
Call it Royals threads you’re one of the founders of Royals threads so that’s good um yeah make sure you’re following us on there make sure you’re leaving us reviews and ratings on Apple podcast and all those sorts of things Spotify we’re having a great time trying to build an audience
Here and it’s going pretty well we have some big announcements on expansion uh in the next month or so we’ll see we’re not sure exact I’m not sure exactly what we can announce right now and what we
Can’t got to talk to our legal team uh and find that out but uh we have some big announcements coming up either way Mike yeah we’re gonna sober Mike up and then ask him some questions about what
We can announce uh but uh we do have some big announcements coming in the next month or so so make sure you’re tuning in make sure you’re listening in all the places you possibly can uh I also want to mention that Royals weekly is brought to you by all in physical therapy
For one-on-one personalized Physical Therapy we choose all in physical therapy they took excellent care of our mother after surgery left her with pain and limited mobility in her arm she loves to be active work out New Year same mom I caught her twisting rebar into Christmas ornaments just
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The best at all in physical therapy to learn more give them a call at 816 42753 that’s 816 42753 or visit their website at all inyen pt.com that’s Al nyen pt.com this offseason has seen more attention given to the Royals major league team as they add veteran Talent through free agency to Boler
Bolster the 2024 Squad Squad and let’s be honest convince voters to buy them give them a billion dollars I think that’s another big motivating factor there but the longterm health of a team is truly measured by its farm system and sadly most public commentators see a bleak prognosis
For the Royals farm system Mike before we dig into our top 30 which we’re going to give here in a second what are your thoughts on the Royals farm system as a whole and how it’s perceived well
I I tend to agree with the perceivers if you will okay the people who comment on on rank systems and that sort of thing Baseball America MLB pipeline um does fangraphs do a systems ranking I can’t
Remember if they do or not but um I tend to agree with those people I think the talent level is lacking and I’ve said that several times on this uh podcast i i people will talk about how
The hitters are further behind than the pitchers I disagree with that I still think the pitching is bad there may be a little bit more depth now in pitching I think in the minor league system than
What we’ve seen in the past but the top end Talent I don’t know that it’s there and there’s not a lot that’s close to Major League ready either so um I agree I tend to agree with those perceivers um
Lack of advanced pitching lack of advanced hitting right now I’d still call it a bottom seven system but I would say that there are some indicators that the development side may be improving and that’s Reason for Hope you just have to now get the talent into that that fits that development
And then you’ll get into one of those really good systems again yeah I I sort of agree sort of disagree with you I think the system lacks a clear number one and maybe lacks topend Talent
Especially on the hitting side I think but I also think that it has more depth Than People realize anytime your system lacks the sort of bigname star power that some other systems have guys who look
Like they might be all stars at the MLB level then in my mind it tends to get underrated by prognosticators and commentators and all that sort of thing and the Royals essentially lack any Surefire topend Talent like it had when Bobby Wht Jr was in the system when Bobby Wht Jr was in
The system everybody knew that the Royals had at least one guy who could be a superstar okay and they knew they had a couple other times guys at that time who might be pretty good now it looks
Like there’s nobody in this system who’s like a Surefire gonna be a superstar looks like he has that kind of potential kind of guy in fact you know they don’t even have maybe that second tier
Guy where you’re like okay this guy looks like he could be an All-Star a lot of their guys are more High variants than that or they look more like guys like Nick Lofton or Tyler Gentry who look like okay maybe they’re not they’re more borderline everyday players slash good rooll
Players than anything else and so because a lot of their system has a lot of those types of guys a lot of guys who could be back-end starters or or good relievers or something like that then it’s
Going to get rated less High because it’s missing that star power but it does have quite a bit of those guys it has a lot of guys who could be you know maybe Fringe everyday players maybe even with
The potential to be really good everyday players but not a ton of guys who have that Superstar capability or that Superstar potential and as a result yeah it probably is a bottom 10 system I
But I think it’s closer to 20 than it is to 30 if that makes sense and so I think what’s interesting is the ways that’s why I put bottom seven yeah I I think I think it’s interesting the ways in
Which some of those guys who represent like high variants could also have very high ceilings and we’ll talk about some of those guys here in a second but uh let’s dig into that top 30 that
Way we can have something reference Mike you got something to say yeah I just wanted to throw one one more thing in there you know if you are a high a or double a player who’s a fringe major
Leager to me you’re just an you’re a Jag you’re just another guy okay there’s a million Fringe Major Leaguers and a million Fringe everyday guys who may be possible role players in double A and Triple A so that doesn’t that doesn’t move the needle a whole lot for me and I’m not saying
You’re going to have guys that are superstars just up and down your your organization but if if you’re looking at a guy and you’re if you’re not looking at a handful of guys that you think can be
For sure everyday Major Leaguers or Allstars then you have a bad system let’s talk about I mean you have a bad system because you get years and years to collect this talent and and bring it up through
Your minor league baseball and the Royals just haven’t done it and so that’s why they are where they are and so yeah that that’s why I rate them probably a little bit lower than you do and lower
Than some do I’m looking for guys that can be that are sure like maybe not sure fire because it’s minorly baseball but our guys you’re going yep if he’s if he develops like he should he’s an
Everyday guy and he’s going to be a good everyday guy yeah that makes sense but it’s also important to note that they’ve graduated a ton of players over the last year and a half two years right so
Bobby Jr MJ Melendez Vinnie pasquantino like they got a lot of guys who aren’t on our Prospect list right now because they have so much Major League time you know even guys like Al Martian and H zura
They’re no longer on our list honest because of how much time they’ve got and let’s be h honest a lot of those guys should be in minor league baseball still right a lot of those guys should
Should never have gone up to Major League Baseball um and so yes if you think of if you think of Michael Garcia and you think of MJ Melendez and you think of maybe Kyle Isbell and and a couple
Of these other guys if they were still in triaa or double A how would our system look if enhel zerpa hadn’t been rushed up and was just pitching his way through double A now how would they look the
System would look greatly different I agree with that yeah so let’s dig into this top 30 so that we have something to reference we’re actually talking about players this is going to be a test of Mike’s
Reading ability so look out uh we’ll start with guys who just missed the list and then uh and this was tough to to put together actually because like I said they have a whole bunch of guys who
Probably fit in the back half of a team’s top top 30 any team’s top 30 for most teams and so we had to sort of leave some guys off who it was really tough to distinguish between them and guys in the
Back half of the Royals top 30 Mike please give us the guys who just missed out on top 30 status in the Royal system read those for us please okay yeah just missed out here our honorable mention
Uh Hunter Patterson starting pitcher I believe when we drafted him he was a going through Tommy John or just had Tommy John so he missed most of last year but an intriguing left-handed pitcher somewhere out of Florida if I remember right um Luca Tres catcher uh struggled in doublea
Last year had some success in 2022 if I remember right he was a free agent in that weird draft in 20 it only had a few rounds in it is that right I don’t know i’ take a lot of pills I think so if I
Remember right he was actually one of the top free agents if I remember right then Ben Sears the relief a command first reliever just missed the top 30 Tyler Tolbert a guy that I really
Like and a guy that is more of a utility guy very athletic not a lot of power but he he got a long look in spring training last year um and so it’ll be interesting to see his trajectory will Klein
The the flame-throwing reliever that was just added to the 40 Man Mar and I at some point are going to have a little discussion on here about what we think his role might be moving forward
In the bullpen or maybe not in the bullpen this year a guy that I am absolutely just enthralled with hero Wyatt hero Wyatt starting pitching high school starting pitching Prospect we just drafted this year why am I enthralled with him he’s got a real loose arm a Wipeout slider he
Reminds me very much of like a trinon McKenzie Cleveland kind of pitching Prospect guy I’m I’m excited for hunter or for hero Wyatt another guy I’m excited for is Hunter Owen these are both guys from last year’s draft that I was excited about he’s a big bod Lefty out of uh
Vanderbilt had some injury concerns in college but did have some very big showings uh kind of inconsistent but very very uh strong showings for Hunter Owen Tyson Guerrera starting pitcher big strikeout numbers but didn’t translate very well to daa so he’ll get another shot there this year
And then shandrick OD duber 19-year-old starting pitcher in the Dominican summer league very raw talent but great strike out to walk numbers and we’ll see what he looks like when he gets over here for uh you know some of that full season ball so yeah honorable mentions of that group
I think you really nailed on the head with hero Wyatt he’s the one I’m really excited for as well we’re gonna talk more about him later but a guy who hasn’t pitched yet in pro ball still really
Young probably only 19 years old uh but lots of upside there his frame is not as big as a Tristan McKenzie but he yeah he’s a lot shorter but you’re right like McKenzie really loose arm like McKenzie uh I don’t know Mackenzie has a killer slider but Wyatt we’ve seen video of
That slider it looks like a bug’s bunny pitch it is insane how much movement and velocity he gets on that slider it’s crazy and he looks like a guy similar to Blake Walters I think I think why it’s
A Northeastern guy like from northeastern part of the United States who could be overlooked a little bit because maybe it was a late Riser cold weather State guy I’m really interested in him I’m really interested to see Hunter Owen pitch as well didn’t get any time last year after Maybe
Some injury concern at Vanderbilt uh but you know a guy who some people were saying has some of the best stuff in in the uh draft and and was really an effective pitcher for Vanderbilt so I’d love
To see him uh next year as well so yeah those are some guys who just missed out don’t be surprised if some of them end up on the mid-season if we did a mid-season I’m not sure we’re going to but
If we do a mid-season top 30 don’t be surprised if some of those guys end up on there because uh a lot of potential in some of those guys uh on that just missed honorable mention list I’m going
To read uh number 30 through 20 for us because you want to hear a different voice than Mike’s I’m sure and of course I made the document I’m reading from extra tiny so I can’t see it okay
Here we go uh our top 30 uh begins with number 30 Andrew Hoffman a 23- year-old starting pitcher who pitched in double A and triaa last time guy who made big changes to his delivery during the season last year the overall numbers weren’t very good but his strikeout of walk numbers did get
Better uh during last year and he’s an intriguing guy to see what those changes will will create in him number 29 uh a guy named jior Marte now you might remember the Royals had another Prospect
Named yunior Marte a few years ago this is not the same unior Marte I think this is a I think he was a Royals Prospect this was a diff this is a different unior Marte he’s only 20 years old he’s
A starting pitcher he was in the complex League last year big athletic looking dude uh good good strike out to walk ratios we’ll see if he makes it to uh Colombia this year and can provide some
Uh interesting innings for them at 28 we put the Royals rule five pick from this year Matt sour uh at 28 on the list he’s a starting pitcher in the past he’ll relieve this year at the MLB level of
Course because he has to stick with the MLB team but a big strong physical guy good slider doesn’t have a ton of vlo on his fastball but it’s still pretty effective and so he’s an interesting guy looking forward both as a reliever this year and maybe as a starting pitching Prospect in
The future uh number 27 we put Spencer nens a 22-year-old outfielder he he played in rookie ball in low a last year walked him morning than he struck out he’s a left-handed hitter Corner Outfield type didn’t have great overall numbers but he did have uh really good secondary numbers
And it could be that he’s just actually too advanced of a hitter for Loa a lot of Lowa guys have trouble throwing strikes and if you’re a guy like Spencer niens and you’re not going to swing
It bad pitches Lowa can be a somewhat complicated level for you uh number 26 we put Steven zobach 22 year-old uh starting Prospect maybe relief Prospect we’ll see if he ends up becoming a relever he pitched at low a and high a last year he’s a right-handed pitcher came out of the same
Draft as um Mason Barnett and and those guys um an interesting dude because yeah David sandin was another one in that draft you’re right um he’s an interesting guy because not a ton was expected of him but he really showed improved stuff upon Landing in Major League or professional baseball
And just continued to have success he limits walks he has average to slightly above average stuff but it’s the fact that he doesn’t walk a ton of guys and that he still has pretty decent strikes strikeout numbers that makes him look like he could be a viable player moving forward number
25 Eric Torres a 19-year-old outfielder from the he played in the Dominican Summer League last year he’s a right-handed hitter good overall numbers good strikeout and walk numbers not a ton of power in his profile right now and he’s not a huge dude I think he’s only like 510 but if
He can stick in center field not a ton of power requirements from him and he still has plenty of time to add power at only 19 years old a really good-looking Prospect from the uh from Latin
America number 24 Trevor Warner I know Mike’s a big fan of his a 22-year-old third baseman played in rookie level and and aall last year this dude probably had a better offensive season than any Royals Prospect last year completely exploded when he got to pro baseball power on top of
Power on top of power it looks like a real pull oriented power uh right now I think he pulled 50% of the balls he put in play last year uh but a guy who is showing that he can take a walk
Uh can limit strikeouts enough right now anyway and has something that is prized in all prospects and that’s a powerful bat and so that’s good uh number 23 we have Jared Dicky a 21-year-old left fielder or right fielder he played in rookie ball and a ball last year left-handed hitter
Another drafty from the class of of last year like Warner a good strikeout and walk numbers from him as well he has some power potential and some pop in that bat uh he just needs to maybe get a little bit more Loft consistently right now it’s a very contact oriented approach it’s
A slashers approach and you’d kind of like Dicky to be a little more power focused and and have a power disposition up there at the plate at 22 we have Carson rocker for we have a little stretch
Of 2023 draft right here Carson Rocka for coming in just ahead of Jared Dicky a 21-year-old center fielder 2023 drafty again rookie ball and a ball last year he’s a left-handed hitter a really good
Defender in center field uh last year he another guy who can put the ball in play hard had decent offensive numbers but when he starts lofting the ball he’ll He he’ll find a lot more success at the
Plate as well so hopefully he can do that that in 2024 at 2021 we’re going to come in with Joe Town’s finest Noah Cameron uh 23y old left-handed Joe town uh 23y old starting pitcher uh from he
Played an A A or Advanced a and doublea last year a guy who was really mowing down Advanced a just destroying Advanced a with really great secondary stuff a low 90s fastball he goes to doublea and the stuff was not playing as well the strikeouts dropped the walks increased a little little bit
And he started getting hit around a lot we’ll see if he can sort of recover learn from last year and provide some better performance as he repeats da a next year and then rounding out our top 20 or
Our our 20 through 30 uh samod the god Taylor uh 25-year-old utility player second base in Outfield mostly played in Triple A and saw a little bit of Major League time last year he’s athletic he can
Do lots of things he needs to learn to limit the amount he’s swinging the strikeouts as he moves to the major league that will be the distinguishing factor for him he’ll be a major league player if
He can limit that strikeout number and put more balls in play Mike what are your thoughts on that 20 through3 for us for the Kansas City Royals well I’m gonna talk about two guys that I really like I
Like Carson Rocka for because I feel like there’s not a lot that you need to change with Carson Rocka for to make him a really solid everyday kind of guy because the defense is already there
In center field so Carson rocker for a couple uh swing changes to a swing plane and things like that uh I think you’re looking at a guy who’s an everyday guy and then Trevor Warner is extremely intriguing to me because when he when the Royals drafted him I thought man here’s an unathletic
Guy who they’re gonna try and get to play Third Base although I did not see that sticking and I honestly didn’t think that he was gonna have the the uh bat to ball skills that he that he’s
Shown so far now the strikeouts are still kind a little elevated but he’s walking a lot more than I thought and I really did not see the power surge and it really makes me when I’m looking at this
List it makes me think man that Quad City’s team this year is going to be very interesting to watch because at some point you should have Rocka for and Warner both come through there Carter Jensen will probably start there um as well as some some really intriguing pitching options so you know if
You’re looking for who’s the team to watch and and the Royal the Royals affiliate to watch this year Quad City might be the one because those guys intrigue me uh tremendously I’m not as big
On Spencer niens by the way as most people are I’ll just I’ll just put that out there as well yeah with Werner with Rocka for with some of the pitchers they’re going to have in Quad Cities um
I think it that will be a very very interesting and exciting team to watch next year Warner’s a guy who if if he continues to hit the way he does he is going he he did last year he is gonna
Shoot up not just our board everyone’s board okay because he showed that that thing Mike you always mentioned that the Royals are always going to have trouble signing power bats because power’s so expensive by them like on the free agent market and so to find a guy like him I don’t even know
What round he was taken in but it definitely wasn’t the top three uh to find a guy like him later in the draft who looking like he could have some serious power potential even if it is
Pulls side power right now the dude hits the ball incredibly hard and I don’t care if he’s not like you know Scott Rolland over there at third base if you hit the ball hard and you can control your
Strikeouts and take walks and things like that you are going to find a place in Major League Baseball Trevor Warner showed that he could do that last year now it was against low a competition and
I’ll be interested to see how he does as the competition evolves but man if he keeps it up what a gem that the Royals found found later in the rounds because he is uh putting bat to ball
And crushing the crap out of it uh last year so hopefully that that that continues Mike give us our 20 through 10 players please I’m gonna go 19 through 10 because you screwed up and did number
20 um sorry so I will start with number 19 a guy that I really like and have liked since we drafted him out of I want to say Arkansas or Alabama I forget which one uh pton Wilson’s at number 19
For us a 24 yearold second Blan slash outfielder finished up in doua last year he’s a switch hitter super athlete can really run can put a charge in the ball although it’s not as consistent as maybe
You would like um I really like him I’m hoping that he can limit the strikeouts and you know really limit The Swinging and and take more walks and become a guy that finds the spot in Major
League Baseball at some point uh number 18 Anthony Veno who was through three levels double a tripa a and I think he even got I don’t know did he did he ever get a start in Major League Baseball I don’t
Remember not a I don’t know if he got a start he did only get like a couple of outings like that but he did get a couple yeah he threw a couple innings in Major League Baseball Lefty more of a
Um more of a spot Lefty I don’t know that he’s not a power arm or anything like that he’s got decent stuff uh but can he make his uh mechanics you know consistent can he throw strikes consistently he’ll
Be an interesting one if somebody goes down to see if they go to him this year because he’ll be in that AAA rotation probably to start the year 17 James MacArthur a guy that we saw a lot last year
Uh relief pitcher 27 year old he’ll start in the Major League Bullpen probably assuming he doesn’t get hurt or anything like that Sinker slider combo who found some command and found some success uh later in the year for the Royals it’ll be you know we talk about bullpens being volatile we’ll see
If MacArthur can avoid that volatility another guy that was in the Major League Bullpen last year went from uh High a to double a straight to Major League Baseball that’s that’s good indicator of poor pitching depth in your organization um was John the whammer McMillan and and McMillan
Had some outings that were really good I remember that first outing that he had it was like man he strikes guy out blowing pitches by people then he gives up a huge home run and so you know big hard
Throwing righty with a killer uh curveball he he’s he was injured late in 23 and I’m not even do you did they ever say what it was they they said it was like a forearm strain or forearm tightness
Or something like that one of those things that makes you think oh no is that is that Tommy John but it wasn’t Tommy John he just let him rest and and I think he’s back throwing again so he’s all
Right yeah well that was always a mystery to me uh that’s at 16 John the W McMillan at 15 we’ve got Javier vase a guy I think just about everybody likes and is rooting for uh 23-year-old second
Baseman SL center fielder who ended the year in daa last year uh very difficult to strike out Javier vas he does not strike out very much he does walk he’s a versatile Defender but he is
Power less he’s not a big Power guy and so Javier vase if he can hit the ball hard enough to to get you know hits and consistent uh you know some extra base hits he’ll be a major league guy at
Some point uh 14 is Kaden Wallace and some of you might be surprised by that because that’s a little lower than a lot of other places you’re going to have him he’s a 22y old third baseman ended at daa
Last year right-handed hitter he’s a good Defender at third but the power hasn’t materialized at third base just yet and he still has a little bit of issues with the strikeout although he did
Improve those a little bit in 2023 so it’s a big year for Kaden Wallace we’ll see what he can do at the doua level uh starting out there 13 is the can Kansas City area’s own Ben cadna 20-year-old
Starting pitcher finished at high a last year um projects as kind of a backend work hor type guy I saw a fantastic comp for him the other day oh somebody compared him to James Shields kind of at
His Peak that would be like probably Alex Alex loves to compare sheld yeah um because he does throw a pretty decent uh change up already as well at times it’s just a little inconsistent um he draws the weak contact he’s got a good decent fast ball good change up does miss a lot
Of bats which he like to see but he can have out or stretches where he gets roughed up so another big year for him and he’ll be another one in that probably starting in that high a rotation as well
Uh number 12 is a guy that I’ve been very high on for a long time Carter Jensen another Kansas City kid catcher uh ended the a year in high or was in high a all last year I believe left-handed hitter
Uh he’s been last year he was kind of that true three outomes guy he had a lot of walks he had a lot of strikeouts and then he didn’t hit for quite as much power as maybe you want to see he
Was hitting the ball hard he always has but they weren’t leaving the park as much as you’d like for a guy like that so I’m he’s probably and we’ll talk about this more later he’s going to be one
Of my guys I talk about most interested to see this year is Carter Jensen and his development another guy that you and I were high on and watched when we were in spring training last year and I remember thinking this guy’s swing is terrible and he’s gonna be awful and he went out
And he actually had a pretty good year Austin Charles the 20-year-old shortstop thir baseman who was in loow last year he is gigantic he’s s 66 67 somewhere in that range uh big athletic Short
Stop SL third baseman he’s got some pop in the bat the bat path is flat the swing is weird and it’ll be interesting to see how he continues to use that this year um when I saw him I was like
Nope this guy put him on the mound or something but after seeing it work a little bit I’m gonna let him keep doing it and see what uh see what it turns out because it’s very interesting to
Watch you’re G to let him you’re large I mean are you okay I’m not gonna tear into Austin Charles because his swing is goofy looking Mike is the new manager of Quad Cities everyone I’m EXT I’m
Extremely intrigued by the guy now you know I was always intrigued by him because he was a two-way guy and we knew he threw heart off the mound and he’s a big athlete and you know sometimes
Those big athletes turn into like Frank Thomas or you know you know somebody awesome or Aaron judge or you know whatever um but is that now I’m even more intrigued because when you and I watched him
Hit tell me when you watched him hit in spring training you thought oh this guy is going to be great I I thought what I think when I see a lot of hitters his age which is the mechanics they
Need adjustment like his swing is not very good and what’s weird is that’s some of the easiest adjustments to make sometimes like swing mechanics aren’t that tough to change for a guy who gets to
Work on his swing every single day and so you know I wasn’t too worried about the s mechanics you’re right that he hits the ball really hard uh he does need to LOF that ball the mechanics he needs there
Are two elements to the mechanics that he needs to change one there’s like a hitch in his swing it’s like not smooth at all it’s not smooth or it wasn’t when we saw it right and then two there’s
Another element where he needs to Loft the ball more than he does especially with that much power that he’s got he’s really got to utilize it um and so those are two things he’ll be working on you
Know great potential in that guy though like a ton of potential for a dude that athletic that strong that big you’re excited to see where that go and that young so really young for his level so Mike
Was did you hit all of them did you go all the way down to 11 I can’t is Charles 11 I did okay I W I want to talk about the Kaden Wallace thing so that I don’t get a bunch of people coming after me the
Kaden Wallace ranking is one of those things where it’s like if he shows that he’s got the power then this ranking is bad right like if he shows that the power will materialize he’ll shoot up the board the problem is it hasn’t materialized and if anything it looks like it’s dissipated as
He’s tried to adjust to take fewer strikeouts and so that worries me right he needs to be able to hit the ball for game Power not just hit the ball hard which is another concern I have but actually
Tap into that with game Power by lofting it and hitting it hard and getting out now he has some advantages he’s relatively young remember he was taken I think as a draft eligible sophore super
Two guy right yeah draft and so he is a little bit young for his sort of Journey Through pro ball which is good you know maybe the power will come I think he’s a little bit tapped physically but if
He can find a way to access that power if he can find a way to unlock it and keep the strikeouts under control he’s shooting up this board quite a bit because I like the defense I I think he can
Take a good played appearance it just you cannot be a third baseman and not have power right I know Michel Garcia is doing it right now sort of but he’s not our ideal for what a third baseman would
Right he’s actually a shortstop playing third and so if Kaden Wallace wants to be a third baseman wants to have success moving forward he’s got to hit for power I’m a little bit worried it’s
Not GNA come but if it does then this ranking was wrong and I’ll admit that right I’ll say that I’ll come on here and just cry and apologize I promise Mike anyone first time it ever happened not cry I
Cry all the time uh Mike was there anybody in the 19 to 11 range that you really want talk about oh I’m GNA talk about most of them I really like Carter Jensen still still on that I Javier
Vas and and I guess we can continue to toot that horn Javier vase is so intriguing to me he’s so he looks like an obvious major leager it looks like oh it’s just a matter of time for this guy can he
Keep doing that can he keep taking fantastic plate appearances and walking and driving the ball you know hitting a billion line drives and if he can he’s going to be a hell of a Major League baseball
Player um and to get him where the Royals did it seems almost ridiculous now after we’ve seen what he done because he did it in college too just nobody bought into him because he’s small and
He does not hit the ball over the fence and so but if he can boy if he can come in and do what he’s done so far he’s he’s a lock and he’ll play a good center field too right now the reason people
Didn’t buy into him are the reason he has sort of a cap on his ceiling which is that he doesn’t hit the ball hard enough to have legit Major League power and as a result he’ll never be you know
Cody Bellinger in center field or you know n name a second baseman who hits with serious power Jeff Kent is is the one that comes to my mind right now uh he’ll never be somebody Aron Bo Aaron Bo
Remember how many roids he was doing he played second yeah anyway uh so yeah he’ll never he’ll have a ceiling a little bit on on that potential offensively now that doesn’t matter still be a valuable major league baseball player unless he develops that power he’s not going to really be an
All-Star caliber guy and it’ll be a question as to whether or not he can be an everyday Major League player but he is you’re right like a lock to be a major league player uh and so that’s really great
To see a guy like that in their system I’m going to move on to the top 10 because we’re going to this episode’s goingon to be so long right now um I the top 10 for the Royals I get the
Pleasure of reading for you at number 10 we have David Sandlin a right-handed starting pitching Prospect he pitched in low a and high a last year guy out of Oklahoma who we took I think
In the 11th round and gave a little bit of extra money to a good fast ball that even improved upon uh his Pro debut command improved in his Pro debut a major league caliber slider right now Big Time
Strikeout numbers from him he got hurt after went up to high a so only pitched about 67 is Innings last year but a guy with a ton of potential in there hoping he’ll go back to I think a high next
Year and we’ll see what he can do but another one of those guys who the Royals have produced who is getting legit strikeout numbers and looks like the command is improving as he’s in the minor
League level or as he’s made his Pro debut and in the minor league level so that’s great to see uh at number nine another uh another pitcher a guy who’s a real strike thrower in Chandler Champlain
23-year-old starting pitching Pro or Prospect pitched in high a and double A and had a bunch of success last year a big bodied strike thrower good fast ball slider combo uh he’ll miss the question is will he miss enough bats in the high Miners and Major League Baseball or is he gonna sort
Of have a ceiling of backend starter fingy major leager because he can’t miss enough bats right uh if he’s gonna limit walks he’ll always give himself a chance if he keeps limiting the walks he’ll always give himself a chance to pitch in M Major League Baseball but the question will be
Can he find a pitch that will help him Miss enough bats at number eight I put the Royals 2023 first round pick Blake Mitchell 19yearold catcher played in the complex League last year he’s a left-handed
Hitter um we talked about this on our draft show last year a ton of potential in Blake Mitchell but the profile of a high school catcher not great in the first round he did not have tremendous success
In the complex League though he does did show the ability to take a walk he did show a selectiveness at the plate he needs to swing uh at more quality pitches and make more contact because he struck
Out way too much but hopefully he gets a chance to improve that offense next year the reports on his catching were pretty good which is good to see uh it’s always dicey on a high school catcher
And it’s always dicey to see if those reports will ring true as he moves forward but I look forward to seeing him in Colombia this year I I’ll be watching a lot of Columbia games to see
What those bats look like at number seven we have Nick Lofton 24y old utility player he was in triaa and the major leagues last year a right-handed hitter improved his power in 2023 he’s a low
Strikeout low walk guy so he doesn’t strike out or walk very much which means he lives on batted ball outcomes and that can always be a little dicey can always be a little streaky uh he had
Good Major League numbers overall last year but a lot of that was on a just batted ball success balls falling his expected batting average and expected slugging were pretty low we’ll see if he ends up making the major league team out of spring training the odds are a little long on
That but maybe he gets some major league time this year and we’ll see what he can do at number six is the Royals Prospect darling of the moment this guy has gotten so much heat he’s gotten so much
Heat over the last month or so his name is no one seen him play because no one’s seen him play and because he had amazing numbers in the DSL last year right uh and the few people who have seen
Him play have raved about him and Soh that guy’s name is Ramone Ramirez he’s an 18-year-old catcher who played in the DSL last year right-handed hitter big potential still a long way to go the thing that people love is he takes a really good plate appearance and he has serious legit
Power as a catcher and if you’re a catcher and you can hit for power people are going to love you and so we’ll see what Ramon reros looks like should come State Side this year and we’ll get a
Chance to look and see what he looks like uh over here at number five his 2022 first round pick gra Gavin cross 22-year-old right fielder he played in high a and double a last year a left-handed hitter
He had a horrific 2023 very very bad but he still has big Power in his Bat great exit velocities he just needs to find consistency putting the ball in play like his strikeout numbers weren’t horrible
They were not good but they weren’t horrible he needs to lower those a little bit but even when he was putting the ball in play they weren’t falling for hits he wasn’t getting a consistent Line Drive rate he wasn’t getting anything that was really helping him you know get a good enough batting
Average seriously to be a serious Prospect and so we’ll see what he’s still got but the potential is still all in there for Gavin cross number four we have Blake Walters 19-year-old starting pitching Prospect he was drafted in 2023 but didn’t pitch at all he’s the guy who their unders slot move
For Blake Mitchell was really done for and there have been great reports on how Blake Walters has looked he’s a big athletic right-handed pitcher flamethrower there’s reports that he’s running his fastball up to 98 miles an hour a good slider from him a guy who’s athletic and needs to develop
More and more but a lot of potential and a lot of uh hype around Blake Walters I’m very excited to see him pitch at number three is my boy my favorite Prospect my baby Tyler Gentry 24
Yearold outfielder right fielder he’s in Triple A spent spent the whole year in Triple A last year a right-handed hitter slumped big time to start 2023 but the guy takes a great plate appearance walks quite a bit limits strikeouts he just needs to Loft the ball more to tap into that power and
He is ready to go uh we’ll see he should get Major League time this year honestly at some point but we’ll see if if that ends up happening at number two we have Mason Barnett a 22-year- old
Right-handed pitcher spent time in high a and double a last year man he has four MLB average or better pitches a good curveball came on last year and really showed us that he could command
The baseball that was his big issue coming into the draft he walked way too many people he had no command he showed that he can command the baseball a little bit last year needs to continue to work
On that and walk fewer guys but that guy has some serious potential and I know some people disagree but I think mid- rotation starter could be his ceiling if he can find a way to keep those pitches consistent and keep that command consistent and then our number one Prospect for the Royals weekly
Top 30 Mike give me some sort of something give me something Jazzy to introduce this thing we are the dorkiest people it’s Frank masado Frank masato is our number one ah Frankie boy if you don’t know him he’s a 20-year-old left-handed starting pitching Prospect he pitched in low a
And high a last year the the reason we put masakado number one is the projectability right he is getting a lot of high a hitters out striking out a lot of high hitters I should say
He’s also walking a ton of high hitters but he’s striking out a lot of high hitters right now with a tall projectable body and a fast ball that sits in the low 90s what does that mean that
Means he’s missing bats with all his other pitches and maybe even his fast ball sometimes and if he adds velocity and finds command you’re talking about a guy with legit front end potential Frank masakado could be an ace he could never reach Major League Baseball but he could be an Ace and
At 20 years old you have to give the credit and the benefit of the doubt to the guy with the most potential and so tall projectable body you got to think he’s going to try and add velocity this
Offseason you got to think he’s going to try and add velocity constantly and work on that command and honestly he took a big step forward in 2023 he pitched pretty well in Lo if he takes another
Step forward in 2024 you’re talking about a guy who is going to get a lot of Buzz among national uh Prospect writers as well so that is our top 10 Mike what are your thoughts on that group of of
Pitchers or sorry players there’s some players well I was actually GNA talk more about the pitchers anyway so Blake Walters is a guy that I’m very intrigued by his to me his secondary stuff is still very raw as far as command of that and and that’s to be expected for a 19-year-old but
It’s extremely inconsistent in the locating that secondary stuff but also every once in a while he throws one and you go that’s a Major League pitch and so it’s it’s that but I’m excited to see him
If anywhere just I mean I’m sure he’ll be in the comp start in the complex and then probably move to hopefully we get to see him an a ball at some point this year um you know Blake Mitchell we’ve
Talked a lot about Blake Mitchell the other thing that gets me about Blake Mitchell the the reports are that his catching is good and that’s that’s fantastic but Blake Mitchell is not a great athlete he’s he’s a kind of slow you know he’s not not g to tear it up on the
Base path or anything like that so that worries me a little bit about him excited to see Ramon Ramirez honestly I was never a Gavin cross guy and I’m still not necessarily but I’m excited to see
What changes are there for him because coming out I when they drafted him I really thought well at least here’s a guy who’s likely to reach Major League Baseball because he’s a pretty decent athlete in the Outfield and he makes contact hard now it wasn’t home run contact because the Loft
Wasn’t there but I thought well that’ll get him to Major League Baseball now I’m like H I don’t know so I’m excited to see what he can do um those are probably the guys I’m most excited about Tyler
Jentry they protected on the 40 man so you got to think they got a plan for him some way or at least they like him for depth so we’ll see yeah I I got a big question who’s going to catch for
Colombia Blake Mitchell or Ramone Ramirez that’s that’s my question oh great question and I know I know nothing about Ramon marz or his catching ability so what’ll happen is one of them will DH and one of them will catch like they’ll switch off and on I guarantee that’s what happens because you
Know that seems like it makes the most sense but yeah you’re right that is Blake Mitchell Blake Mitchell is an interesting athlete he’s not a a dude his athleticism means he’s only going to play catcher or like first base probably not the Outfield he’ll be a bad outfielder if he is one
Um but he does have decent athleticism for what a catcher is asked to do he has like short burst quickness to move around the plate which is good that’s what you want as a catcher the problem is
He can’t actually run very well and so you know Salvador Perez is actually very similar in this respect he is a big man Salvador Perez but he moves surprisingly well around the plate he’s agile and he is quick around the plate we’ve seen it before a lot of catchers have that so
It will help him catching but if he needs to Mo off catcher his athleticism is not going to do him any favors let’s just say that I’m really excited to watch Blake Walters too I think he
Goes to Loa I think he might spend some time in the complex league but I think he’ll move pretty quickly to Loa because his stuff is just that good I think and so very excited to see him
Very excited for my boy Tyler Gentry very excited for Ramon Ramirez as well so I think there’s a lot of talent uh potential upside in this top 10 but we’ll see uh as we move into 2024 Mike what stands
Out to you as you look at our top 30 what stands out to you looking at it as a whole well to me and I already said this and I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer here but it seems to lack talent to me and
It seems to lack a real Direction now here’s it the thing to me when I look at this this list of players is I wonder how much will it change over the next couple of years because you remember the
There’s a only a smattering of guys that this front front office selected or traded for okay most of these guys are left over from the Dayton Moore era okay and so my thinking is when I say it
Lacks talent and it lacks Direction well in two or three years will we be able to look at our top 30 list and go okay these pitchers in here they were all picked for a reason and we know why they were
Picked and we understand what the Royals minor league pitching system is trying to do same thing on the hitting side like are we focus that we’re going to look at this and say hey these guys are focusing on these things as an organization when it comes to their pitchers and they’re focusing on
These things as an organization when it comes to their hitters that’s really my goal moving forward in the next couple of years is one yes the talent to increase because I think we we’ve swung and miss too much on especially High picks and then the other thing I want to see a coherent
Plan when we’re drafting signing and trading for minor league Talent yeah I think a lot of the way that this top 30 is received hinges on a only a few guys right so I think those the two biggest
Ones are Blake Mitchell and Gavin cross right if those guys find a way to turn around their Prospect status this year if Blake Mitchell comes out and destroys Columbia if Gavin cross goes and destroys Quad Cities and then moves to dou a if those two things happen this this system
Looks a lot different to people right especially if you add things like Blake Walters looks like he’s you know a legit pitching Prospect and and some of these other guys continue to progress like they have if that happens the system looks a lot different and so a few guys especially the
Ones who were drafted at the top are really holding back this system because they haven’t shown that they have the type of potential that it looked like they had when they were drafted right and so if Gavin cross does that if BL Blake Mitchell does that this system will start to look
A lot better but a lot of it hinges on their performance and the question is can they go out and reestablish some of that Prospect value for themselves and for the system as a whole Royals weekly is brought to you by nap family wealth Mike can you think of anything more
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Fipc since this episode is focused entirely on the farm system we’re going to devote the spotlight segment to looking more closely at pitching and hitting prospects I want to start with the pitching because going into 2023 we were adamant that the pitching Player Development had
To improve that was the big thing we were talking about the Royals made some changes on that front before the 2023 season and it looks like it paid dividends a November post from baseball America ranked Royals pitching prospects 10th in their stat cast pitching
Rankings and a number of pitching prospects made large stri large strides in 20123 Mike where do you think this pitching Player Development is compared to before the 2023 season well I think that it’s it’s certainly better and I think that that is because they have a strategy and they’re
Working on executing that strategy but the the odd thing is what I just mentioned there they’re implementing a strategy with mostly players that they did not choose and so it’s still early to me you know if they continue with this strategy and they’re continuing here’s how it kind of works
You’re gonna put that strategy in place you’re going to execute it for some guys they’re going to be able to pick it up and they’re going to run with it for others they’re not and they’re going
To kind of get kicked out as time goes they’re gonna get traded away they’re going to fizzle out as as players altoe whatever and then you start you continue to bring in your guys and the guys
That you feel fit that strategy best and over time we should see continued Improvement so yes this is a positive it’s a step in the right direction but I want to see those steps continue I don’t want to
Get derailed somewhere else so next year at this same time I want to be talking about how they’ve taken another step forward in that pitching development yeah and what’s interesting about what they’ve done so far is that none of the guys who are really the Vanguard of what looks like the
Evidence that this Player Development has changed represent highend draft Capital so guys like Mason Barnett David sandin Chandler Champlain was not drafted by the Royals but he was the third guy in in the Andrew Ben endi trade uh Stephen zobac A lot of these guys weren’t taken later or were
Taken later in the draft and yet they’re looking like legit prospects they’re looking like they’re doing what you said some guys are going to pick it up and run with it they’re picking it up and running with the new attitude towards Player Development the new disposition and approach
Towards Player Development from this pitching coaching staff and is pitching coordinators and all that sort of thing they’re running with it and they’re not even dudes who were drafted that high this year the Royals took Blake Walters and hero Wyatt in the second and third round I think
I think it was second and third or second and like compensatory second round or something like that and so with their second and third pick they took Walters and Wyatt and they overpaid each I think a little bit Walters a lot and then Wyatt a little bit to get those guys they represent
Legitimate draft Capital they represent guys who have high-end ceiling for pitching prospects and so it’ll be interesting to see what the Player Development does with them what do they look like as they move through low a or really probably complex League low a and then maybe High a next
Year or the year after that right and so you’re right I think it’s very interesting to note that it will get even better but it does look like it looks drastically different than in years past are there anything things you think this pitching Player Development staff is doing that led to the
Improvement that we’ve seen uh in stuff and in command from these guys I think certainly the focus on Pitch data has heavily impacted that and and just the use in data in general but you know getting guys their information on their pitches and then developing plans on how to improve those
Pitches or sometimes to scrap those pitches and and focus on something else I think that’s huge the other thing I think that you and I talked a lot about in during previous regime is that you are starting to see signs for holding pitchers accountable to more than just game results right
And what I mean by that is you may go out and dominate double a pitching but if we don’t like the pitch data that we’re getting on you and we know that’s not going to effectively get out tripa
A or major league pitchers they’re not just going to move you up because you had a stretch of six or seven starts in double A that were effective because you leaned on your one pitch that’s
Really good um and and I think we’re starting to see indications that that’s the the case I mean take a look at a guy like Drew Parish how long would Drew Parish have languished as a triaa
Pitcher in the Royal system before this regime a long time he’s gone he’s gone they said you’re not gonna cut the things you’re doing aren’t going to cut at Major Leagues we don’t need you around right and so and that’s nothing against Drew Parish Drew Parish was a fine Prospect and a
Good pitcher but you know if they see something that is not what they’re looking for as far as your development they’re not just going to move you along because you had good game results and I think that needs to be the case uh continuing forward I think Andrew Hoffman represents a great
Example of what you’re talking about right like Andrew Hoffman could do okay getting guys out at the high a and doublea level he did all right not great but not terrible he got to triaa and they
Were like we’re changing a lot of stuff about you right like we’re going to change a bunch of stuff because we know what you’re doing isn’t going to work as you move up like Your Arsenal isn’t good
Enough and so we’re going to make changes to make it better and they had him change a lot something mechanically his vertical approach angle on his fast ball is getting better it was noticeable even though the overall numbers aren’t looking good for him they know that what they’re doing will have
Better results moving forward or has a better chance of working moving forward than what he was doing previously and that’s great that’s the sort of thing that you definitely need to see and it’s an emphasis on making arsenals better making pitches better by using that pitch data by having
Guys add pitches masakado added a slider last year some you know these sorts of things are helping make these guys will make them competitive as they move forward they’re not just saying hey Brady singer go out and throw two pitches and dominate Minor League Baseball it’s like well yeah because
They’re you know really good it’s gonna hurt him when he gets to the major leagues though right like and so you’re right they’re emphasizing this notion of like we’re gonna take a modern pitching approach by working on Your Arsenal and command I mean they they are obviously implementing
What they’re working on at the major league level they’re implementing in the minor leagues as well they’re they’re trying to have guys walk fewer people fewer walks is a is a obvious emphasis of this Major League or the minor league uh pitching coaching staffs and that’s really great and so
You’re seeing guys with profiles like Steven zobac like Chandler Champlain have success right they’re guys who they’re not going to strike out the world but they’re going to limit walks and that’s really helping them find success with multiple profiles and that’s really important um Mike which players
You particularly excited or sorry which pitchers are you particularly excited to watch in 2023 from this top 30 uh I’m really looking forward to seeing what hero Wyatt does in his debut in professional baseball and then David sandin and his continued Improvement uh does the command
Continue to improve and how does the fast ball play I expect him to go back to high a but then does he does he perform well enough there with the fast ball and the command uh to move up to
Double a if he does I think David sain’s another guy that you could see in that top 10 uh well I think he’s already in their top 10 maybe number nine or or something but a guy that you could
See as as a legit rotation Prospect uh maybe in the next couple of years uh moving forward yeah I’m super excited to see Blake Walters uh as well along with hero Wyatt they’re probably on roughly
The same track I I am just looking at Walters having seen some video of him pitch having heard reports and things like that I’m really excited for him I think like I think there’s a decent chance that National Prospect writers are talking about Blake Walters mid-season in 2024 and so keep
An eye on him because the athleticism is there the stuff looks great if he can command the baseball he looks like he’s going to have some success I’m excited to see step zobach because he’s a
Big question mark in some ways is he gonna be a reliever is he gonna be a starter you know you always wonder if the wheels are going to fall off guys who didn’t have a ton of draft pedigree uh
But he looks like a guy who can really make it if he continues to be consistent as a starting pitcher and he looks like a guy that’s consistency I think is the word for zobac the fact that he has
Consistency and pitch ability is allowing him to get some guys out will that continue uh seeing as he only has probably average stuff we’ll see on that one and then of course I’m I’m interested to see Frank masakado did he add any velocity this off season can he improve that command if
He can If he if he added velocity and he improves the command look out he’s gonna just shoot up and just insanely uh go nuclear but he’s still very very young for a prospect so a lot a lots of like
There a lot of projectability we do have to talk about the hitters as well and so M uh let’s talk about those it was not nearly as exciting of a year for them in 2023 uh many top royal seating
Prospects struggled uh especially guys like Gavin cross Mike who do you or do you have a theory as to why the hitters struggled as much as they did in 2023 I do yeah um I think a lot of these
Players that are still in our system were drafted on sort of an Antiquated way of thinking about why hitters are successful in Major League Baseball and and I think I think therefore you know it they then struggle to make adjustments when a new hitting regime comes in and says hey these
Are the things that you need to improve on well you know that was never my forte that was never my thing and so some of them again are going to struggle making those adjustments I think as we
Move forward we’re seeing more and more that um swing decision is a very important part of your success in Major League Baseball your success in professional baseball I mean but it’s specifically Major League Baseball and then some guys who don’t have that we we took a lot of those guys okay we
Took Gavin cross and we took Kaden Wallace and we took players like that who were kind of Swing first ask questions later kind of guys not that Gavin cross had you know didn’t walk and stuff but
It’s those swing decisions now that are coming back to bite them because you know you have to improve the quality of that decision- making you have to make sure that you’re not swing even if
They’re in the zone you’re not swinging at pitches that are going to get bad outcomes and we have too many guys that do that and when when you were you know when you had a regime in the old regime that
Was looking at some of the wrong things I think uh you’re going to end up with a lot of those guys and now we’re trying to recover a lot of those guys and it’s not working for everybody
I think that’s mostly right I it seems like they have very few guys who have what we would consider good approaches and also hit the ball hard enough to be impact bats moving forward right so you look
At a guy like Javier vas he he has good approach he he he can limit strikeouts and tick walks but he doesn’t hit the ball that hard right and then you have a guy like Gavin cross who his approach
Isn’t great he’s not swinging at the right pitches he’s not doing damage in the Z like in the heart of the Zone a lot and it’s like yeah he hits the ball super hard majorly quality exit velocities but he doesn’t have the approach and so we can’t we’re not getting like two we
Not getting on the same page there right and and what’s interesting you look at a system like the race let ask question let me ask you this question which one of those things is easier to improve in
My mind it’s easier to improve approach right and so uh you really I think it’s the other way I think it’s easier to teach somebody to to hit the ball hard to build muscle to to get those you
Know your um swing velocity I I think it’s easier to those things harder to teach them to swing at good pitches have a cap on that and and they are connected you can only grow so much and they
Are connect Ed so if you swing at better pitches you’re going to have better exit velocities you’re going to hit the ball harder if you’re swinging more at pitches in the heart of the plate right
So they are connected to some degree but you look at a system like the Rays system okay what do the rays do they draft really athletic dudes who are gonna be able to hit the ball hard and then they
Teach them a worldclass approach right and so that is the secret sauce to the Royals or the ray hitting development is that they take dudes who mash and then they’re like we’re going to teach you to be super patient at the plate we’re going to teach you to only swing at
Pitches inside the strike zone or inside the the heart pitches you can do damage on right and so I think that that is an approach that could work right but whether you’re doing it one way or the other whether you’re drafting guys with approach and making them hit the ball harder or drafting
The guys who can hit the ball hard and giving them approach you have to know what you can do well you have to take individualized approaches with some of these guys and find a way to make them better
At whatever they got to do they’re just not there right now hopefully that gets better 2024 Mike what hitters are you particularly excited to look at and see if they’re getting better with approach or hitting the ball harder well two two guys we’ve already talked about in Carter Jensen and Javier
Vas Javier vas is simple I just want to see if he can keep doing what he’s been doing because it’s been very impressive to this point Carter Jensen is I you just he’s a guy who if the reports are
Accurate and he’s is catching his above average the amount that he walks if he can just turn some of those strikeouts into home runs or at least hard hit balls the sky is the limit for
Him and so I’m really pulling for Carter Jensen yes of course he’s from the area so I pull for him for that anyway but there’s there’s something to unlock there and if you do I feel like he’s a
Great player just waiting to come out yeah a lot of potential in those hard hit balls he hits the ball insanely hard and the approaches there in a weird way a little bit passive a little bit like
Nick might to be more aggressive very passive at the plate might need to swing a little bit more uh and so and his problem may also just be plate coverage related and so does he have trouble on
The edges of the strike zone in the shadow when he makes contact is is it not good enough contact with those types of pitches we’ll see as moving forward If he if he can work on some of that I’m
So I’m looking at Gavin cross and Blake Mitchell obviously because so much of the system hinges on whether or not those two recover their Prospect uh Value Cross is a lot like Jensen right like there
It’s in there if he finds a way to improve the approach if he finds a way to create line drives from his swing if he finds a way to do better in the shadow of the plate the SKU the limit for him
He could be a middle- of the order bat who’s a really good defender in the Outfield but if he you know he’s got to find a way to produce more consistently offensively Blake Mitchell’s the
Same way potential middle of the order bat got to find a way to do it with his approach gotta swing uh make more contact and that sort of thing Austin Charles is the other one I’m looking at and he’s
Sort of a bellweather of a lot of things right like he can he he strikes out a little bit too much he doesn’t walk as much as you’d like he has swing mechanic issues he’s a bellweather for a lot
Of the things you would want the Royals hitting development to be able to do you would want them to be able to fix a guy swing mechanics you would want them to be able to work on his approach you
Would want them to be able to help him um limit strikeouts and improve walks and that sort of thing so he’s sort of a bellweather and I’m sort of watching him as like a test case for their
Hitting development especially at at low a where he’ll probably go back and and start 2024 so I’m very interested in all three of those guys I think it’s a lot of potential in Cross Mitchell and
Charles Royals weekly is brought to you by Eric oxer of West USA realy Phoenix has all of our favorite things Year Round Golf yearound baseball and Eric oxer of West USA realy whether you want to buy your dream retirement home or just stay a while and catch spring training Eric can help
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He’s 100% no pressure one of the best people we know and frankly he’s got a voice of an Angel we’ll wrap up our discussion of the Royals farm system with some New Year’s resolutions these are our resolutions for individual players and they’re related to
Things that we’d love to see from those players in 2024 we’re each going to do three resolutions one for one so we’ll have six total Mike kick us off with the first New Year’s resolution that you have for for a Royals Prospect my first resolution is that
Carter Jensen turns some of those strikeouts into home runs I love that it’s like just just just hit the Home Run Stop striking out and just hit home run H more home runs man it’s so simple stop striking come on Carter it’s not that hard just hit home runs instead of
Strikeouts uh you sound you sound so much like the guy sitting behind me at every Royals game honestly oh that’s great okay my first resolution comes for Tyler Gentry and I resolve for him to
Loft the ball more the the sky’s the limit for well he he’s a four War player if he lofs the ball a little bit more which is great you know he could he could be that level of good Mike round two who’s your second New Year’s resolution my second resolution is that Ramon
Ramirez destroys professional baseball in the United States wouldn’t that be so exciting to hear to see to see oh oh let me imagine let me give you a fantasy scenario Royals fans we have a catching uh Blake Mitchell and Ramone Ramirez at Lo and both of them
Are just destroying Lo what if what if that happens wouldn’t that be hilarious and fun no oh speaking of my my next resolution is Blake Mitchell round two uh my resolution is Blake Mitchell makes thought you were having a stroke Blake Mitchell makes more contact uh yeah so yeah
I would love for Blake Mitchell to make some more contact to show us he can be a legitimate hitting Prospect Ramone Ramirez Blake Mitchell catching in in Columbia can’t wait to see it should be a really exciting time Mike round three real quick third resolution what are you going for uh Carson
Rocka for starts getting more Loft but keeps the approach that he already has therefore resulting in more extra base hits I’m excited about Carson rockeford I didn’t talk about it a ton today but we haven’t had a legit offensive center field Prospect in quite a while and so uh I think he
Can be that if he can resolve to get more Loft on the ball yeah that’d be really cool he is a legit center fielder and a guy who has that offensive potential my third resolution is for my man Samad
The god Taylor I just resolve that he swings less swing less right uh we we’ve been saying that with some guys swing less it is he is a dude who hits the ball hard enough enough hard enough
Not super hard but hard enough athletic can do a lot of things well he just needs to swing less because he strikes out too much right now needs to command the center of the Zone Force pitchers
To throw him balls in the strike zone I think he can do it hopefully he makes that adjustment this offseason we’ll end this week’s episode like we end every episode with our just outside segment where we talk about something that’s interesting to us outside the world of baseball somehow we
Have gone insanely long probably because we had to read a big list of 30 players Mike really quickly what has been going on in the baseball for the last month I guess for you uh because it’s been
A month since we did this what’s up well I thought I was going to do dots pretzels but then I thought I think I’ve already done those maybe if if you haven’t tried dots pretzels honey mustard pretzels
They are so good they have sugar cinnamon ones too that are also very good but I’m not going to do that one because something happened to me today and made me think about something so today
I was driving home from the grocery store and I was at a stoplight I was the first car there there was next to me there was another car in the same another turn lane we were both going left we
Were both at a red light we heard uh Sirens from a fire truck sirens go off there was a guy the L next to the guy next to me who was also the first one at the light firet truck’s coming
Our lights all turn green at the same time we me and the car next to me stay there the car on the in the far Lane starts driving well there’s a fire truck coming and it’s going to hit that person if
If they stay in their Lane this person is on their phone they’re not paying attention to what they’re supposed to be doing and they get stuck out in this median with a fire truck narrowly missing
Them while it Sirens are on okay and I haon at them when they took off to let them know you’re about to get hit by a fir truck okay and it got me thinking because it took a long time there was
Actually two fir trucks took kind of a long time for them to get through the intersection by that time our light had turned red again so all of us were stuck there except for the idiot that
Did the wrong thing okay and he got to go and it made me think like sometimes doing the wrong thing is beneficial right but what you have to do is in my mind I don’t believe in fate or anything but I
Have to sit back and I have to believe that that guy something is there’s going to be something that happens in his life where he gets something for doing that does that make sense it’s the only
Way that I can choose to justify not doing the wrong things it’s not the only reason there’s other reasons just be a good person that’s that’s enough but I have to in my mind think that there are consequences for people who do the wrong thing but get good outcomes and that’s what
I tell myself all the time so that one I don’t get angry about it and two I can go on living and say I’m not going to do the wrong thing even when I know it could get me a better outcome and
So that’s my goal or that’s my hope for us in a new year is when you see somebody who’s getting you know something because they’re making a bad choice don’t think of it as oh man they’re
Getting away with something think of it as theirs is coming down the road and my my thinking is like always I think you’re right I think like often times those people do end up getting something bad because their process is bad right like that person’s process is bad next time they’re going to
Get hit by somebody like they’re fire trck right yeah their process is bad right and so you know a lot of times they will but sometimes we’ll see people who are like really wealthy or you know and
Then who’ve done like horrible horrible things and that looks like they have a lot right looks like they’ve W you know gotten a lot the thing I remember about those people is that they have to live with themselves right like they have to live with the those people are like rarely happy right
Like they have to live with the horror of being a horrible person which I could not live with right like and so they know they know what they did to get there like they know like you know whoever
Jeff Bezos knows that he you know Stomps on the hearts of workers right like he knows that you he destroys the environment all these people know these things right like it’s not like you know they understand what it took to get to the top some of them are comfortable with that and
That’s fine but they have to have moments where they’re like wait am I just like a net negative on the world it’s like yeah probably like and so yeah I I sleep better at night knowing that
That that’s nice um but yeah also maybe that’s a good approach to it as well also dots pretzels fantastic fantastic oh Chang my life H hone mustard oh man so good uh I’m talking about like
The feeling that I have now that it’s it’s January 1 so we’re literally recording this on New Year’s Day um and I was talking to my partner earlier we were folding some laundry and I was like you know
What New Year feels like I got a good hand on things and she’s like I feel like that’s just a feeling everybody has in here I’m like yeah you’re probably right like this is probably a
Feeling that we all have that it feels like we have a good handle on things and I feel like the contest of the new year is to see how long you can go while still feeling like you have a good handle
On things right like so let me just be the first one to encourage you in your new year you can have a handle on things all the way for the rest of this year okay I’m going to have a handle on
Things you’re going to have a handle on things we’re all going to have a handle on things for the rest of this year because listening to Royals weekly because we’re watching the Royals because
We’re having a good time you got this we got this we all got this that’s all I have for this week that’s all we have for this week please tune back in I don’t know when our next episode’s going to
Be lately I’ve just been like randomly deciding to to have episodes uh at the very least we will come back in one month with another episode until then be good to each other and go Royals
4 Comments
So blessed to be awake for this! (first lol)
Royals have the worst LHP pipeline in baseball.
The Cayden Wallace slander will not be tolerated!
This is bold but Wolters is my top prospect in the royals system right now.