Don’t miss your chance to win an autographed Billy Butler jersey before we record tonight!
We’ll have another update on some of the college bats I like for KC in this year’s draft later this week, but for now, check out our first top-10 draft prospects list.
Much has been made about Druw Jones in this draft cycle, and the son of the should-be MLB Hall of Famer resembles his father in a lot of what he does on the field. He hits for a ton of power and is one of the most polished defensive center fielders that you’ll ever see at the high school level.
Be sure to check out our April players of the month before we get too far into May.
It didn’t take long for Pasquantino to pick up right where he left off in 2021 with the NW Arkansas Naturals. He slashed .282/.398/.507 with a .905 OPS. In 21 games, Pasquantino hit five doubles, three home runs, drove in seventeen, and stole three bases.
AAA Omaha (15-14): W 4-3
The Storm Chasers are finally back over .500 after taking four of six from Columbus this week, who were 16-8 heading into the series. Brady Singer looked great in his start this week. Jon Heasley struck out seven in four innings. Jackson Kowar actually had a nice little start on Sunday. The team is still missing Pratto, who is on the 7-day concussion IL after being hit in the head with a pitch, but they’re finding ways to win without two of their best three hitters from Opening Day (Melendez). Omaha hits the road tomorrow to take on the Iowa Cubs at 6:38 pm.
Box Score:
– Clay Dungan: 0-2, BB
– Brewer Hicklen: 0-4
– Vinnie Pasquantino: 1-3, HR, BB
– Gabriel Cancel: 2-4, 2 2B, K
– Dairon Blanco: 2-2, BB
– Jackson Kowar: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 3 ER
– Foster Griffin: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 R
– Colten Brewer: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 R
– Jose Cuas: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 R
AA Northwest Arkansas (14-13): W 9-5
Speaking of getting over the .500 hurdle, the Naturals are finally back over .500 for the season after taking four of six from the Springfield Cardinals. Anthony Veneziano made his first good start of the season last night, and the offense continues to pile it on as the Naturals are heating up here after one month of play. Yefri Del Rosario was cheated out of a save when the offense scored four runs in the top of the 9th, but he fired a scoreless inning to lower his ERA to 1.77 on the season. NWA travels to Wichita today to take on the Wind Surge at 11:05 am on Tuesday morning.
Box Score:
– Maikel Garcia: 2-5
– Nick Loftin: 1-4
– Michael Massey: 1-2, 3 BB
– Robbie Glendinning: 1-4
– John Rave: 2-5, K
– Nate Eaton: 1-4, HR
– Tucker Bradley: 1-3, 2B, BB
– Anthony Veneziano: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 0 R
– Yefri Del Rosario: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 R
A+ Quad Cities (11-16): L 1-2
The River Bandits offense continues to be mostly hit-or-miss this season. They scored more than three runs just once in their series with Cedar Rapids this week, and won just two games. They’ll return home to take on the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Tuesday at 6:30 pm.
Box Score:
– Peyton Wilson: 1-4, SB, BB, 2 K
– Herard Gonzalez: 1-4, BB, 2 K
– Luca Tresh: 1-4, 2B, 3 K
– Noah Murdock: 4.1 IP, 1H, 2 BB, 6 K, 0 R
– Christian Chamberlain: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 0 R
– Kasey Kalich: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 ER
A- Columbia (10-17): W 7-3
Columbia has been an interesting group to watch this year. I’ve never seen someone be as unlucky as Carter Jensen has been so far. First of all, Jensen is 18 playing in a league where the average hitter is over 21 years old. Secondly, the AVERAGE pitcher in the league is currently over 22 years old, meaning Jensen is basically a college freshman facing a bunch of fifth-year seniors. He’s got the fourth worst BABIP (.189) in all of Low-A and is one of just five hitters with a mark under .200. The most surprising part of all this is that Jensen appears to be crushing the ball. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Jensen blister a ball into the outfield just to be caught. Jensen’s K% is currently 25%, which may seem high, but the average K% in Low-A right now is damn near 28%, so Jensen is actually below average there. His BB% is also 6% above league average, which is pretty damn impressive for a kid who is three years younger than the average hitter and four years younger than the average pitcher. I know the traditional stat lines don’t look good for him, but I’m zeroes concerned about the Park Hill graduate at the moment.
Box Score:
– Edgar Martinez: 4-5, HR, K
– Darryl Collins: 0-3, 2 BB
– Carter Jensen: 1-4
– Omar Hernandez: 2-4
– Erick Pena: 0-4, 2 K
– Wilmin Candelario: 2-3, 3B, 3 SB, BB, K
– Jaswel De Los Santos: 1-4, HR, K
– Luinder Avila: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 ER
– Heribert Garcia: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 ER
– John McMillon: 1 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 ER
Royals Farm Report 