Results tagged ‘ Kansas City Royals ’
Moustakas among five players named to Arizona Fall League roster
The Royals have announced that five minor leaguers have committed to play for the Surprise Rafters in the 2009 Arizona Fall League. Shortstop Jeff Bianchi, third baseman Mike Moustakas, outfielder David Lough, right-handed pitcher Danny Gutierrez and left-hander Ben Swaggerty will play for Surprise manager Brian Rupp, the current manager for the Royals’ Class A Advanced club in Wilmington. Kansas City will fill two additional spots on the roster by September 10.
Bianchi, 22, has split the 2009 season with Wilmington and Northwest Arkansas (AA), batting a combined .307 with 25 doubles, seven home runs, 59 RBI, 66 runs scored and 22 stolen bases. The 6-foot, 175-pounder from Lancaster, Pa. was the Royals’ second-round selection in the 2005 draft.
Moustakas, KC’s first-round pick (2nd overall) in the 2007 draft, has hit .252 with 27 doubles, 15 home runs and 79 RBI as a 20-year old for Wilmington. His RBI total places him tied for third in the Carolina League while his homers are tied for sixth.
The 23-year old Lough, like Bianchi, has split his time this season between Wilmington and NW Arkansas, and is currently batting .331 with 10 doubles, eight home runs, 28 RBI, 34 runs and 11 steals in 47 games for the Naturals. He was the Royals 11th round pick from the 2007 draft.
Gutierrez is 0-0 with a 2.11 ERA in seven games (three starts) for Wilmington, walking five and striking out 21 in 21.1 innings. The 22-year old right-hander was a 33rd round pick for the Royals in the 2005 draft.
Swaggerty is a left-handed reliever who was 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 16 appearances for Wilmington before posting a 3-1 mark with a 3.57 ERA in 22 outings at NW Arkansas. The 27-year old signed with Kansas City as an undrafted free agent in 2007.
The Arizona Fall League season begins on October 13.
Saturday lineup and Howser figurines
6:10 start tonight at Kauffman. All-Star Zack Greinke is on the mound. The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown out by Jana Howser, daughter of the late Dick Howser. The first 20,000 fans will receive a replica figurine of the Dick Howser statue.
Lineup:
(DeJesus – LF)
(Bloomquist – CF)
(Butler – 1B)
(Guillen – DH)
(Teahen – RF)
(Olivo – C)
(Gordon – 3B)
(Callaspo – 2B)
(Betancourt – SS)
(Greinke – P)
The Royals Hall of Fame opens FRIDAY – here's a sneak peek!
The Royals will dedicate the new Royals Hall of Fame with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 4:05 on Friday. After the brief ceremony, the Hall of Fame will be open to fans. No separate ticket is required for the Hall of Fame for fans with game tickets. Fans will be admitted every 15 minutes in groups of 40 to tour the Hall of Fame, which features interactive displays and exhibits that chronicle Kansas City’s baseball history from 1884 to the present.
The Royals Hall of Fame will be open during all home games and will operate daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. during the baseball season. On Thursday, there was a media tour and a reception for the Hall of Fame Classic. Royals photographer Chris Vleisides snapped a few pictures of Royals greats George Brett and Frank White as they took their first glimpses at the new displays. They say pictures are worth a thousand words…or in this case, 3,154…the number of hits George had, and the number of baseballs in this display.
Thursday lineup: DeJesus in center, Guillen in left
The Royals open a four-game series at Fenway Park tonight. David DeJesus will make his first appearance of 2009 in center field. Jose Guillen will shift to left field.
DeJesus – CF
Bloomquist – SS
Butler – 1B
Guillen – LF
Teahen – 3B
Jacobs – DH
Olivo – C
Callaspo – 2B
Freel – RF
Hochevar – P
Tuesday lineup: Freel makes his KC debut
DeJesus – LF
Bloomquist – SS
Butler – 1B
Teahen – 3B
Guillen – RF
Jacobs – DH
Callaspo – 2B
Olivo – C
Freel – CF
Chen – P
Fourth of July photo recap
Royals photographer Chris Vleisides sent us pictures from KC’s 6-4 win on the Fourth of July. Yes, your Boys in Blue are wearing red hats (to honor veterans). Thank you to the Missouri National Guard’s 139th Air Wing, which provided an incredible pregame flyover.
Monday lineup: Teahen hitting fourth
DeJesus – LF
Bloomquist – SS
Butler – 1B
Teahen – 3B
Guillen – RF
Jacobs – DH
Callaspo – 2B
Olivo – C
Maier – CF
Meche – P
Picollo to chat on Tuesday at royals.com
Tomorrow you can ask J.J. Picollo about his thoughts on the 2009 First Year Player Draft and Kansas City’s minor league system. Picollo, KC’s Assistant General Manager-Scouting & Player Development, joined the Royals in 2006 as Director of Player Development. He has been in charge of the Royals minor league system since that time and 2009 was his first year to oversee Kansas City’s draft process.
The chat starts a bit earlier this month – at noon. Have your questions ready and log on to royals.com!
Alex in Omaha and Trey Hillman Pregame Media Session
Alex is back, just not here (yet)
Third baseman Alex Gordon is back, he’s just not in Kansas City…yet. Gordon has been out since April 15 after surgery for torn cartilage in his hip, but continues his long awaited comeback tonight for the Triple-A affiliate, Omaha Royals. “There is no pain to report of in his hip at the present moment, the swinging of a bat is not a problem, however, running and moving laterally is still a tedious and difficult process we are working through,” says Manager Trey Hillman. “Running on the base paths seems to be the biggest hurdle we have to overcome with Alex, that and regaining the ability to maneuver comfortably.” We certainly hope for an exciting and special homecoming tonight for Alex in his home state of Nebraska.
Baseball is FUN-damental
There seemed to be an emphasis put on the fundamentals of baseball today during afternoon practice. With numerous blunders in the field and on the bases in recent weeks, Hillman made it especially clear that the fundamental mistakes that are continuing to hamstring this club are unacceptable and discouraging at the same time. “On a scale of 1-10, I would say the mistakes that are being made are a 10 on the difficult to handle scale. This game isn’t without challenges, I know not every team can play fundamentally sound baseball like the Minnesota Twins, but you still have to work extremely hard at the basics of game, as you can see, it can cost you games.” said Hillman.
Friday lineup: Greinke, Buck Night, Fireworks
DeJesus – LF
Bloomquist – 3B
Butler – 1B
Guillen – RF
Olivo – C
Jacobs – DH
Callaspo – 2B
Hernandez – SS
Maier – CF
Greinke – P
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