Zack Greinke dominates (again), Juan Cruz's new nickname is "The Committee" ??

Doctor's Office

Joakim Soria is injured.  He will not be going on the DL immediately, however, which is encouraging.  Apparently he has some shoulder stiffness which all of the Royals' Brass are saying is not a big deal.  I'll believe it when I see him dominating on the mound again.  Trey Hillman says that he is going to use a closer by committee while Joakim the Dream is injured.  I guess that means Juan Cruz's new nickname is the committee, as he is the only one who should be closing.

It really doesn't get any better than this.

Greinke may have ended his scoreless streak tonight, but who cares?  He's first in the league in almost every pitch category and he continues to dominate.  Allard Baird is smiling somewhere..

I don't think Greinke will continue to go 9 innings 0 earned runs the rest of the year, but if he can even be anywhere close to this he's a lock for the AL Cy Young.  Awesome.

Our offense wasn't awful today either, banging out 8 hits and drawing 4 walks for 6 runs against a pretty good young pitcher.  Teahen and Callaspo both had home runs, which was a nice touch.

Hitter of the Game

We'll go with Mark Teahen who was 1-4 with the 2 run home run in the first inning, which would have been enough runs on its own for the win.  Teahen scored a run himself (obviously) and did not strike out or walk.

Pitcher of the Game

Zack Greinke - 9 ip 3 h 0 er 10 k 1 bb

really?

enough said.

Tomorrow 

Kyle Davies will face Zach Miner tomorrow in a 6:10 start.  Supposedly the Royals have already sold 30,000 tickets, so it should be packed again as it's jersey give-away night.

Lets take a look at 3 minor league hitters who have impressed me so far this spring.  All of them are outfielders.

Derrick Robinson - High A - Wilmington Blue Rocks -  His defense is what he's known for, it's his offense he's been needing to work on.  Tonight Derrick was 2-5 with 1 run scored and 2 strikeouts.  He also stole a base.  On the season Derrick is hitting just .226/.314/.226.  This sounds unimpressive, but he's really not doing too poorly, having scored 10 runs in 14 games and driven in 5 himself.  He is also 9 for 11 in stolen bases in his first 14 games.  He has drawn 8 walks to 12 strikeouts.  Derrick isn't off to a great start, but his stolen bases and walks are what are impressing me so far.  Expect the hitting to come around, I know I do.

Jose Duarte - AA - Northwest Arkansas Naturals - Jose was 0-2 with a walk, a sac bunt and no strikeouts tonight.  He scored a run and stole 3rd base as well.  On the season Jose is hitting .348/.456/.457 which is awesome.  Jose is 24 this season and in his 2nd year of AA so it's expected he'd do well, but I'm very impressed.  Jose has drawn 10 walks to just 6 strikeouts and is 7-7 in stolen bases.  He has scored 9 runs and driven in 4.  Jose is regarded as the best defensive outfielder in the system.  I'd expect him in AAA probably sometime around the all star break.  If you've read my blog at all, you know I'm a huge fan of Jose.

Chris Lubanski - AAA - Omaha Royals - Chris was 0-3 with a walk tonight.  On the season he is hitting .302/.397/.492.  He has scored 15 runs in 16 games and has driven in 8 runs.  He has drawn 10 walks against 15 strikeouts and has 7 extra base hits so far.  He is also 4-4 in stolen bases.  I've obviously written a lot about Chris and you know I'm a fan of his.  If he continues to hit .300/.400/.500 (or very close) expect him in KC at some point this season.

Teahen Tees off Twice..

The Royals lit up Barry Zito today for 6 runs in 5 innings on 10 hits, beating the Giants 11 to 3 today.  As bad as the Royals were yesterday is as good as they were today.  The offense managed 17 hits including 6 extra base hits and scored 11 runs.  The hitters drew 6 walks against just 4 strikeouts, a trend that has been continuing as of late (drawing more walks than strikeouts).  The pitching was stellar as well, although they gave up 12 hits, they only allowed 3 runs.  The pitchers did only walk one batter however, which is awesome, and did strike out 6 giants.  Overall, a very good game for the boys in blue.

Hitter of the game

Mark Teahen gets the award for hitter of the game today, as he went 3-4 while drawing a walk and not striking out.  Teahen scored 4 runs and drove in 2 runs as well.  Mark's three hits were a double and 2 home runs.  His spring batting average sits at .400.

Pitcher of the game

Luke Hochevar will be the pitcher of the game today, as he went 4.1 innings, allowing just 1 run.  Luke did give up 6 hits, including a double and a triple, however he only walked one batter, while striking out two.  Luke's spring ERA sits at 2.92.

Tomorrow

The Royals will travel to Camelback Ranch for a 3:05 game against the Chi Sox tomorrow afternoon.  Gil Meche gets the nod for the good guys, he will face Bartolo Colon.

A couple of hitting prospects to keep your eye on this summer

I figured I would let you in on a couple of prospects that I am going to keep my eye on this summer.  They're not really unheard of, but they don't get a lot of press either.  Adrian Ortiz and Paulo Orlando are both centerfielders that intrigue me because of their abilities.  Both Orlando and Ortiz will probably start the year in Wilmington.  Neither of them may every amount to more than Joey Gathright, but I think that both of these young players have a lot of potential.

Thanks as always for reading.