David DeJesus just made a catch to finish off the Cleveland Indians, after a delightful game. That John F. Buck grand slam was a treat, and now the Royals are in first place. Say that with me now, because who knows how long it will last: The Royals are in first place!
Meanwhile, down on the farm, here’s some of what’s up:
Tonight at Round Rock, Brian Bannister had an excellent game. 7 innings, just 3 hits allowed, no runs, no walks, and 4 Ks. He threw 96 pitches, which is right in line with the pace he sets for himself – he has said he likes to allow himself 15 pitches per inning.
I do feel obligated to point out that this was against a struggling Express team, so it’s not like he shut down a team of Ruths. But still, the fact that he kept the pitch count down and did not walk anybody is encouraging. I’m still holding on to hope that he can get back into a Kansas City uniform sometime soon.
Last night at Kinston: Johnny Giavotella had one HECK of a night at the plate. He went 3-4 with two homers – one of which was a grand slam! – and 7 RBI total. That makes his season line .250/.375/.550, with three walks and 5 strikeouts. He’s a favorite around here, so I’ll be keeping an eye on him as the sason progresses.
Tonight at Corpus Christi: Danny Cortes improved a little bit, but still took the loss for Northwest Arkansas. He’s 0-2 after the Naturals got pounded 9-1. However, this start was better than his first and Cortes was victim to poor defense tonight. The team committed three errors, but Cortes himself committed one of them.
1st start: 3.0 IP / 6 H / 5 R / 5 ER / 2 BB / 6 K / 0 HR – 64 pitches, 17 batters faced
2nd start: 3.2 IP / 5 H / 4 R / 1 ER / 1 BB / 5 K / 1 HR – 75 pitches, 19 batters faced
I was hoping Cortes would get off to a better start, so he’d be promoted to Omaha sooner. Still, it’s early, and his performances in these two games aren’t too out-of-touch with what we already know about Cortes: He’ll strike out a decent number of hitters (8.32 K/9 in his career), but doesn’t have great command (3.47 BB/9 career).
Speaking of Omaha…it occurred to me this morning that the ORoyals home opener is THIS WEEK. If you are in Omaha, I hope you can make it to the game on Friday (and dear Lord, please don’t let us have another Opening Day rainout…I will cry if that happens again). For those of you who are not in the Omaha area, are there any specific players you would like me to watch for you? I’m no expert/scout but I do watch as carefully as my work at the stadium permits.
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