This is our first update of the Kansas City Royals winter league players. Let’s take a quick look at how everybody has performed so far.

The Hitters

• Venezuela
  • Humberto Arteaga- 21 G, .213/.247/.275/, 17 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 3 BB, 12 SO, 6 R, 6 RBI, 1 SB (Navegantes del Magallanes)
  • Angelo Castellano- 16 G, .147/.189/.147, 5 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 4 SO, 5 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB (Bravos de Margarita)
  • Carlos Diaz- 12 G, .208/.240/.292, 5 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB (Bravos de Margarita)
  • Luis Villegas- 35 G, .274/.341/.504, 32 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 8 HR, 12 BB, 17 SO, 20 R, 15 RBI, 0 SB (Tigres de Aragua)
  • Cristhian Vasquez- 3 G, .000/.000/.000, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 R, 0 RBI, 0 SB (Cardenales de Lara)
  • Jecksson Flores- 26 G, .368/.390/.491, 21 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 7 SO, 13 R, 12 RBI, 2 SB (Cardenales de Lara)
  • Samir Duenez- 24 G, .227/.352/.267, 17 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 15 BB, 11 SO, 11 R, 7 RBI, 0 SB (Navegantes del Magallanes)

Not a whole lot of good going on here. The only players hitting well are infielder Jecksson Flores and catcher Luis Villegas. Something did catch my eye… Samir Duenez has a superb 11:15 K:BB ratio in his first 24 games, leading to a .352 OBP. Finding ways to get on base has been a problem for Duenez, but this is encouraging.

• Dominican Republic
  • Jorge Bonifacio- 19 G, .280/.316/.453, 21 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 18 SO, 9 R, 15 RBI, 0 SB (Tigres del Licey)
  • Cam Gallagher- 16 G, .288/.339/.385, 15 H, 5 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 3 B, 6 SO, 6 R, 9 RBI, 0 SB (Tigres del Licey)
  • Raul Mondesi- 4 G, .125/.118/.250, 2 H, 0 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2 R, 2 RBI, 0 SB (Tigres del Licey)
  • Frank Schwindel- 22 G, .348/.385/.506, 31 H, 8 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 9 SO, 10 R, 17 RBI (Estrellas Orientales)
  • Ramon Torres- 13 G, .122/.157/.184, 6 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 BB, 5 SO, 4 R, 2 RBI, 3 SB (Gigantes del Cibao)
  • Elier Hernandez- 1 G, .250/.250/.250, 1 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 SB (Gigantes el Cibao)

Frank Schwindel carried his 2017 success to the Caribbean, hitting a very impressive .348/.385/.506. Cam Gallagher is batting .288 in 16 games and Jorge Bonifacio has hit .280 in 19 games, with eight of his 21 hits going for extra-bases. Ramon Torres has only collected six hits in thirteen games. Raul Mondesi has only played four games, hitting a single and a triple.

• Mexico
  • Billy Burns- 29 G, .268/.333/.301, 33 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 11 BB, 17 SO, 17 R, 4 RBI, 10 SB (Charros de Jalisco)
  • Donnie Dewees- 15 G, .291/.361/.436, 16 H, 0 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 12 SO, 8 R, 7 RBI, 3 SB (Charros de Jalisco)
  • Hunter Dozier- 19 G, .211/.294/.368, 16 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 9 BB, 22 SO, 12 R, 12 RBI, 1 SB (Naranjeros de Hermosillo)

Billy Burns has 33 hits through 29 games, but 30 of them are singles. He has also stolen ten bases. Donnie Dewees has had a good stroke down in Mexico, hitting .291/.361/.436 in his time, knocking out two home runs. The average isn’t pretty for Hunter Dozier through 19 games, but he does have four home runs.

• Australia
  • Ryan Dale- 14 G, .205/.255/.250, 9 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 3 BB, 21 SO, 3 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB (Melbourne Aces)
  • Allan de San Miguel- 15 G, .308/.419/.481, 16 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 11 SO, 6 R, 9 RBI, 0 SB (Melbourne Aces)

Allan de San Miguel has played in Australia during the offseason for a long time, as this is his eighth season, second with the Melbourne Aces. He is off to a nice star, currently owning a .900 OPS. Ryan Dale is playing his sixth season in the Australian Baseball League, but he has had less fortune this year, batting .205 and striking out in 44.7% of his plate appearances.

• Arizona Fall League
  • Nick Dini- 12 G, .211/.302/.237, 8 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 5 BB, 3 SO, 6 R, 6 RBI, 0 SB (Surprise Saguaros)
  • Nicky Lopez- 20 G, .383/.433/.568, 31 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 14 SO, 15 R, 10 RBI, 3 SB (Surprise Saguaros)
  • Elier Hernandez- 19 G, .206/.286/.309, 14 H, 4 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 7 BB, 16 SO, 10 R, 6 RBI, 0 SB (Surprise Saguaros)

Nicky Lopez earned himself on the AFL Prospect Team after batting .383/.433/.568 in 20 games with the Surprise Saguaros, ranking near the top of the league in almost every statistical category. Elier Hernandez got off to a hot start, but really struggled as November went on.

The Pitchers

• Dominican Republic
  • Miguel Almonte- 1 G, 6.75 ERA, 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO, 0.33 GO/AO (Gigantes de Cibao)
  • Pedro Fernandez- 2 G, 4.50 ERA, 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.67 GO/AO (Aguilas Cibaenes)
  • Kevin Lenik- 1 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 3.00 GO/AO (Tigres del Licey)

Miguel Almonte made his first appearance in a game since July 24th, making a start for Gigantes de Cibao. He allowed four runs in 2.2 innings.

• Arizona Fall League
  • Jacob Bodner- 11 G, 4.22 ERA, 10.2 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 9 SO, 0.47 GO/AO (Surprise Saguaros)
  • Zach Lovvorn- 6 G, 6.48 ERA, 21 IP, 29 H, 20 R, 15 ER, 7 BB, 14 SO, 0.60 GO/AO (Surprise Saguaros)
  • Jared Ruxer- 9 G, 3.75 ERA, 12 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 9 BB, 12 SO, 1.75 GO/AO (Surprise Saguaros)
  • Matt Tenuta- 10 G, 6.39 ERA, 12.2 IP, 17 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 3 BB, 11 SO, 1.08 GO/AO (Surprise Saguaros)

Jared Ruxer only allowed five runs in 12 innings of work. He was wild, striking out 12 batters and walking nine.

Photo Credits: Mark J. Rebilas—USA TODAY Sports