Left-hander Will Smith made what was basically a spot start in the 2nd game of a doubleheader against the Indians. He was sent back down immediately after the game. Smith threw 89.2 innings with the big league team last year and while he wasn't very effective, his peripherals were above replacement. Smith started 2013 in the PCL where was dominant over 4 starts. However, despite a 5/1 K/BB in his 4 innings ...

The 2012 Royals rotation has been a disaster, there is no other way to describe it. Whether through injuries or just guys just plain old sucking, the rotation has easily been the Royals biggest weakness. However, like all things it can be fixed, unfortunately this is the Royals though and therefore nothing is easy. It will mean Dayton Moore will have to truly admit this is a problem and be both aggressive a ...

Twitter Rules: The Morning After Royals @ Mariners, 7/27/12 1st inning:  Mariners strike early as John Jason connects for a three-run homerun (5).  Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie gave up 5 hits in the inning. @KSCaliforniaboy: Great trade Dayton Moore. #Royals -___- Seriously?  What the hell were you thinking we’d get in exchange for Jonathan freaking Sanchez?  Getting anything more than some used batting pr ...

Royals got solid starting pitching to go 5-2 on the day.  HR Roll Call Paulo Orlando (3)    Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Angel Baez 6 IP 2 H 1 R 0 ER 2 BB 10 K Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Paulo Orlando 2-3 2b, HR, RBI, 2BB Pine Tar Press Rookie League Player of the Day Sam Selman 5.1 IP 5 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 7 K   Omaha Storm Chasers 4 Iowa Cubs 3 Will Smith seems to be getting the hang of A ...

A good day for Royals affiliates with 5 wins and just 1 loss.  HR Roll Call Wil Myers (27) Julio Rodriguez (1)  Brett Eibner (10) Jose Bonilla (2) Matt Fields (1) Jorge Bonifacio (7) Dean Espy (2) Adalberto Mondesi (1)    Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Wil Myers 2-3 HR, BB, 3 RBI Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Will Smith 6 IP 3 H 0 R 1 BB 9 K Pine Tar Press Rookie League Player of the Day Adalbert ...

A weekly list of the top performances in the Royals minor league system. We take in account age, level and experience in regard to these rankings.       #1 Kyle Smith 2 GS 9 IP 0.00 ERA 3 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB  11 K - A tremendous start to his pro career for the 2011 4th round pick and this doesn't even include his 11K in 5 inning first start.                 ...

Royals affiliates went 2-3 with losses in both rookie leagues.  HR Roll Call Cheslor Cuthbert (5)    Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Cheslor Cuthbert 2-4 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Will Smith 7.2 IP 5 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 7 K 80/103 Strikes/P     Omaha Storm Chasers 5 Oklahoma City RedHawks 1 Ten days between starts is all lefty Will Smith needed to find his groove.  The Roy ...

Back to back 1-3 days by Royals affiliates.  HR Roll Call Wil Myers (22) Jorge Bonifacio (5)   Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Jorge Bonifacio 3-5 HR, 4 RBI   Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Sandy Garces 6 IP 2 H 0 R 4 K   Omaha Storm Chasers 9 Iowa Cubs 7 Plenty of offense in Des Moines lead by the Cubs and Royals top prospects hitting home runs.  Will Smith's return to the Storm Chasers ...

Royals Recap: Royals at Indians 5.29.12 (Will Smith vs. Justin Masterson) I'm sure there were plenty of eyerolls and here-we-go-agains uttered after the first inning tonight throughout the Royals' fanbase. Just like yesterday, the Royals scored two runs in the first, this time on a Mike Moustakas homer. Unlike yesterday's game, the Royals wasted no time giving up the lead, with Will Smith surrendering two w ...

Five runs, three homers, six hits, 3 1/3 innings and 2,499,621 bad puns later, the big league debut for Royals prospect Will Smith is in the rear view mirror. After retiring his first batter, Derek Jeter, on a grounder to short, things got out of hand for Smith rather quickly. For someone who has a hard time seeing past the immediate results on the field, it will be difficult to sell that Smith is anything ...

Photo by Minda Haas When news started to circulate that Will Smith may have been called up from AAA Omaha and then was finally confirmed, my first thought was that the Royals didn't feel comfortable with Luis Mendoza starting without a long reliever ready to go. Then I got to thinking that maybe the Royals felt more comfortable with Luis Mendoza as the long reliever and the young lefty would potentially mak ...

Royals Re-cap: Royals at Yankees 5.23.2012 (Will Smith vs. Andy Pettitte)  I must have heard the name Eduardo Villacis a dozen times today, and each time that name was mentioned it came with an assurance that tonight’s debut of Will Smith was entirely different.  For those that don’t remember, in 2004 the Kansas City Royals called up the virtually unknown Villacis to make his Major League debut in Yankee st ...

A 2-2 day for the farm clubs thanks to a couple home runs from David Lough and some more offense in Arkansas.  HR Roll Call David Lough 2(3) Wil Myers (6) Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day David Lough 2-4 2 HR Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Sugar Ray Marimon 3 IP 1 H 0 R 5 K 0 BB Omaha Storm Chasers 3 Memphis Redbirds 2 I doubt that the finish of the game Thursday is how the Chasers predicted it would go ...

A 1-2 day with the struggling Blue Rocks as the only team taking home a victory for the Kansas City Royals minor league affiliates.  HR ROLL Call None Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Angel Franco Wilmington 3-3 BB, R, RBI Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Will Smith 7 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 5 K     Round Rock Express 2 Omaha Storm Chasers 1 Will Smith put in his best effort Friday night but was eve ...

Another tough day for Wilmington hitters and Omaha pitchers lead to a 1-2 day for Royals affiliates.  Kane County continues to bash Midwest league pitching, leading the league in OPS after 10 games.  HR Roll Call Murray Watts (2), Jorge Bonifacio (1), Orlando Calixte (1), Anthony Seratelli (2) Grand Slam, Clint Robinson (2), Max Ramirez (3) Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Anthony Seratelli 2-4 HR Grand Sla ...

@ClintScoles   Affiliates took three of four with only a Naturals loss.  HR Roll Call Johnny Giavotella (1), Irving Falu (1) Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Irving Falu 4-8 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Jeremy Jeffress 3 IP 1 H 0 R 2 BB 3 K Omaha Storm Chasers 9 Round Rock Express 8 F/16  Round Rock 0 1 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 16 1 Omaha 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 19 1 ...

It wasn't a great day for opening day starters at two of the three affiliates but as expected the loaded Single A and AAA rosters came away with victories thanks to plenty of runs produced by both offenses. Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day   Lane Adams 2-4 2b, Grand Slam HR, 4 RBI, BB  Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Chris Dwyer 4.1 IP 2 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K   Omaha Storm Chasers 8 Albuquerque Isotope ...

Louis Coleman photo via Minda Haas   Kane County Cougars Pitchers:  Scott Alexander, LHP 6th Rd 2010 Aaron Brooks, RHP 9th Rd 2011 Eric Cantrell, RHP 7th Rd 2010 Edwin Carl, FA RHP 17.8 K/9 career 33 appearances Jonathon Dooley, RHP 26th Rd 2010 Santiago Garrido, RHP IFA  BP Mike Giovenco, RHP 14th Rd 2010 Nick Graffeo, RHP 38th Rd 2010 Jason Mitchell, RHP 15th Rd 2010 Kellen Moen, RHP 7th Rd 2011 Brooks Po ...

@ClintScoles Heading into last season it would have been a pretty simple proposition to line up an organizational depth chart at each position considering the Royals had the #1 farm system based primarily on the strength at the top.  A year later with the graduation of 9 different prospects the organization looks much different but despite that large number of graduations the farm system was still rated the ...

@ClintScoles One of my favorite holidays arrived the other day when I received my 2012 Baseball America Handbook at my doorstep.  Every year I rip open the packaging and read as many reports as my eyes can take or until the sun rises whichever happens first while analyzing their reviews against my own personal thoughts.  Yes I know I'm just an amateur in the scouting game but I tend to believe I have a pret ...