Another week has gone by in the winter leagues. Ten KC Royals players have begun play, while there is an update on the newest Royals player in winter ball.

The one player I am most jealous of with his choice of winter league location is outfielder Carlo Testa. He began play last week in Australia with the Melbourne Aces. In three games, he went 2-for-11 (.182) with two walks, two runs scored, and a stolen base. He did strike out three times.

The other winter league that got started last week was the Puerto Rican League, where the Royals have four players participating.

Christian Colon played in three games last week for Leones de Ponce, two at shortstop and one at second base. He went 3-for-13 (.231) with two runs scored. His teammate is Cesar Ogando, who was drafted by the Royals in 2011. In his one game, he pitched two perfect innings of relief while striking out two.

There is also a Royals duo with Indios de Mayaguez. Irving Falu played in four games last week, all at second base. He went 3-for-15 (.200) with two doubles. He scored three runs and drove in two. He walked twice and struck out once, while stealing a base. Lefty Ryan Dennick made one start. Over 3.1 scoreless innings, he allowed four hits and one walk while striking out four.

» Continue reading “Royals Winter League Update”

The Major League Baseball transaction page is full of KC Royals moves on Friday.

Remember when I mentioned they had a full 40-man roster and needed to make room for three players on the 60-day DL and newly acquired pitcher Ervin Santana? Well, they made room and made more moves.

• They designated four players for assignment:

Pitchers Tommy Hottovy, Blake Wood, and Jeremy Jeffress, and outfielder Jason Bourgeois. Wood, who missed the 2012 season due to Tommy John surgery, was then claimed by the Cleveland Indians. GM Dayton Moore said they were hoping to keep Wood, as he pitched very well (really?).

Local guy Hottovy is a lefty reliever that could be claimed, or he could take the assignment back to Triple-A Omaha. Jeffress is interesting. He has great stuff, but hasn’t figured out how to harness it. Is this the Royals giving up on him? He was acquired in the Zack Greinke deal.

» Continue reading “Royals Make a Bevy of Moves”

Oakland A’s starter Guillermo Moscoso became yet another Major League baseball pitcher to come close to a no-hitter this season. He carried a perfect game into the 6th inning when he walked KC Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar with two outs.

He still had the no-hitter in tact with two outs in the 8th inning. Royals rookie catcher Salvador Perez ended Moscoso’s no-hit bid when he took the high and outside pitch into right field for the Royals first hit. The very few in attendance in Oakland stood and gave Moscoso a standing ovation. Check out the video of Perez’ hit HERE.

Moscoso seemed to run out of gas in the 9th inning (129 pitches will do that to you). He left with two outs and two men on base. The Royals picked up another hit in the 9th inning off him (two total). Alex Gordon singled and Billy Butler reached on Scott Sizemore’s throwing error.

The Royals did not score and lost 7-0. They did however win the series, two games to one. They now head to Seattle for their weekend series against the Mariners.

The best thing about the game? Jeff Francoeur picking up two outfield assists. The best one was when he threw A’s rookie Michael Taylor out at first base on a base hit to right field. It’s not that Taylor wasn’t busting it down the line. It was a hard one hopper to Francoeur that he just came up firing. Check out the video HERE. He also threw Jemile Weeks out at the plate.