Kansas City Royals Prospect Watch: Noel Arguelles

There was a lot of buzz surrounding Cuban pitcher Noel Arguelles when the Royals inked him to a contract back in late 2009.

He was known as a big left-hander that had excellent stuff for a starting pitcher at his age.

Two-and-a-half years later, Arguelles now finds himself in the starting rotation for Double-A Northwest Arkansas, slowly moving his way up through KC's farm system.

Here are his up-to-date numbers for the Naturals heading into play on Monday night:

G: 6

GS: 6

W: 1

L: 3

ERA: 7.52

IP: 26.1

H: 39

ER: 22

BB: 14

K: 10

WHIP: 2.01

K/9: 3.4

E: 1

Arguelles is obviously struggling through the first month of this season.

He is having problems, not only with his command, but his control, as well.

At just 22 years old, he still has plenty of time to develop into a ML-quality pitcher, but he needs to show the ability to get hitters out at the Double-A level.

Time will tell if this Cuban defector can turn his season around and pitch like he did last year—when he put together a 3.20 ERA in 104 innings pitching for Single-A Wilmington.

Until then, keep an eye on this kid. He has the potential to be a future star for this franchise.