Kansas City Royals: The Next 5 Prospects to Follow Rookie Eric Hosmer
Kansas City Royals uber-prospect Eric Hosmer has just completed his first week in the big leagues, and the early results have been encouraging.
Hosmer has shown himself to be a plus defender at first base and appears major league ready offensively. In his first road series, he slammed two home runs against the New York Yankees.
So it begs the question: If Hosmer is so ready, how far away are the rest of the Royals' lauded farm system?
The answer is not very. Here is a list of the of the next five most MLB-ready prospects of the Kansas City Royals.
5. Mike Montgomery
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Seeing arguably the best pitching prospect in the Kansas City Royals system so early in this list may be disappointing for some, but let me explain why it should actually be exciting.
This list is about the most MLB-ready guys, and the truth is that Montgomery probably needs a couple of more months at Triple-A to shore up some commands issues. It's a good sign of the strength of the talent base that Montgomery is No. 5. There are impact players knocking on the door.
The stuff is there with Montgomery but he has walked 25 batters in 42 innings. It's nothing that hurts his status within the system; it just might take some time and innings to work out.
Remember that Montgomery spent significant time on the disabled list last year. He started 20 games and threw just 92 innings. It won't hurt him to make regular starts at Triple-A.
As you'll see, there are a couple of other pitchers ahead of him in the promotion line as well.
4. Everett Teaford
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Everett Teaford may not be an elite prospect, but he will almost certainly pitch for the Royals before the summer is over.
Teaford has recently been moved to the bullpen, and it looks like he might be the guy who the Royals add to provide their bullpen another lefty. Tim Collins is the only left-handed reliever on the team now.
Teaford has shown well at Triple-A Omaha so far, posting a 3.04 ERA over 26.2 innings. He has recorded 24 strikeouts while only walking six. That is exactly the kind of control that Ned Yost looks for in a bullpen arm. The fact that he's only given up 16 hits shows that it's not a soft 3.04 ERA that he's carrying.
He may not be a huge impact player for the Royals, but he's ready to lend a helping hand.
3. Lorenzo Cain
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Lorenzo Cain broke out of a slump in style over the weekend. Cain hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs in the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers' 16-11 victory on Saturday.
His OPS in now up to .859 and he has a reputation as an excellent center fielder. Cain has the added benefit of having playing in the major leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers last year. His solid performance there (.303 batting average, .763 OPS) shows that he wasn't intimidated by major league pitching.
Whether it be by trade, injury or slump, Cain will find a spot in the Kansas City Royals outfield sooner rather than later. He was a candidate to make the major league roster out of spring training before Jarrod Dyson was given the fifth outfielder spot.
Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francouer are signed to one-year contracts and would be of value on the free-agency market. My guess is that Cain will be up with the Royals by the trade deadline.
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2. Mike Moustakas
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Mike Moustakas has been playing like a man who wants to be promoted.
He has batted .351 in the last 10 games with a .444 on-base percentage and a .676 slugging percentage. It looks like a major push to join the talented Hosmer with the major league team.
Although his season average is just at .262, Moustakas is setting things straight at just the right time. Chris Getz is in the middle of a prolonged slump and may soon find himself on the bench. That would mean that Mike Aviles could shift to second and a spot would hypothetically open up for Moustakas to play.
The problem with that scenario is that Wilson Betemit has been playing very well as a part-time third baseman this season. The switch-hitter is a valuable commodity that has frankly earned playing time with his sold start.
Moustakas will wait in Omaha for an injury or a trade. Betemit has probably amassed considerable value after following up his surprisingly productive 2010 with an impressive opening month and a half of 2011.
But if he continues to rake in Triple-A like Hosmer, the Royals will have to find a spot for him.
1. Danny Duffy
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Danny Duffy is ready for the major leagues. He has struck out 43 batter in 36 innings in Triple-A and holds a solid 3.00 ERA.
Now that Vin Mazzaro has been called up to the Royals to take Bruce Chen's rotation spot, Duffy is the next man in line for a call-up. Duffy might already be in the majors if not for the hiatus from the game that he took in the opening months of the 2010 season.
Duffy has been an amazing consistent performer throughout his climb through the system. He's always been a high strikeout pitcher and has never recorded a full-season ERA above 3.00. Duffy threw 126.2 innings in 2009 before dipping down to 62.1 innings in 2010. He will need to be monitored closely because of the inconsistent workload.
But Duffy should still throw 150 innings this season, and there is no reason he can't do that at the major league level. The 23-year-old has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues.
I would be shocked if he hadn't made his major league debut by June 15th.
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