Gabe Speier had a great season with AA Northwest Arkansas before being promoted to Omaha. At AA, Speier posted an 11.28 K/9 and 2.42 ERA in 22.1 IP. Speier struggled with the homerun ball a bit upon arriving in the PCL, but still struck out 10.13 batters per nine and kept his walk rate firmly in check. Speier works with a low to mid-90’s fastball and a nice breaking ball that keeps lefties firmly in check.

Erick Mejia, the utility infielder that KC acquired in the Joakim Soria debacle, had a good season with the bat at Omaha. In 552 PA, Mejia hit .271/.340/.381/.721 34 XBH and 19 SB. The power hasn’t quite arrived yet for Mejia, but he’s got above average plate discipline and ought to fill in nicely as a utility man for KC. He plays all over the field and should provide Ned Yost with some added versatility off the bench.

Takeaways

1. The big thing most of you noticed right away is that Richard Lovelady did not get recalled. Lovelady has completely dominated AAA to this point, so much so that other teams were calling KC about possibly acquiring him in a trade last year. He’s had some relative struggles at the big league level, but on the periphery, you could argue he was just plain ole unlucky as well. I don’t expect this to linger into 2020, when Lovelady figures to have a prominent role in the bullpen on day one.
2. I think Kelvin Gutierrez and Nick Heath would both be on their way to Kansas City had it not been for unfortunate, late season injuries. Both guys were really heating up in August and could have feasibly contributed immediately at the big league level. I expect we’ll see both of them very soon in 2020, if not on Opening Day.

Photo Credits: Minda Haas Kuhlmann (@minda33)