The provisional rosters for the World Baseball Classic were released this afternoon and there are quite a few current and former KC Royals on those rosters.

I wrote earlier about lefty reliever Tim Collins being a member of Team USA.

It was rumored that lefty starter Bruce Chen might join Team China. Well, it looks as though the crafty veteran will be anchoring the Chinese staff in the WBC. I am surprised that he is going to be leaving the Royals early in spring training when he is going to be in a tight battle for the final rotation spot. Their pool, Pool A, begins play on March 2nd, but China starts play on the third against host Japan.

Pitchers are only allowed to throw 65 pitches in the first round of pool play, so if Chen can be economical, he could realistically go five or six innings (unless he gets ripped).

Joining Chen in Pool A is Royals minor leaguer Paulo Orlando. The outfielder was a member of the surprise Brazilian team that upset Panama in the WBC Qualifier. He will be with Brazil in their first WBC when they begin play on March 2nd against host Japan. As of right now, Brazil’s lone big leaguer, catcher Yan Gomes, who played in the qualifier, is not on the roster (but they only have one catcher listed on their roster).

The Netherlands shocked the world in 2009 and look to do the same in 2013 in Pool B with some players with a little more name recognition (like Jair Jurrjens, Andruw Jones, Andrelton Simmons, and Jurickson Profar). Pitcher JC Sulbaran, who the Royals received from Cincinnati for Jonathan Broxton, is a member of the Netherlands pitching staff.

I am most looking forward to seeing some of the veteran Netherlands players, like Robbie Cordemans and Yurendell de Caster, along with some of the prospect guys like Jonathan Schoop, Xander Bogaerts, and Spencer Kieboom.

The Netherlands begin pool play on March 2nd against Korea in Taiwan.

Former Royal Justin Huber is yet again a member of the Australian team that is looking to use some of that explosive offensive (over .300 average in 2009) to make it out of the pool.

Huber will be joined with other veterans Luke Hughes, Peter Moylan, and Brad Harman. They also have some young prospects like Stefan Welch, James Beresford, and Clayton Tanner.

» Continue reading “WBC Rosters Full of Royals”

JC Sulbaran, who the KC Royals received from the Cincinnati Reds as part of the Jonathan Broxton deal, made just one start in the Arizona Fall League and has been shut down.

After three innings of work for the Surprise Saguaros on October 19th, the right-hander was sent home for precautionary reasons due to a sore right arm.

Replacing Sulbaran on the Saguaros roster is fellow right-hander Malcom Culver, who spent the entire 2012 season with Low-A Kane County. There, he was 2-1 with a 3.69 ERA in 37 relief appearances. He allowed just one homerun all season (63.1 innings).

Culver was drafted in the 8th round in 2008 out of high school. He played in the infield until the 2011 season.

The Surprise Saguaros went 4-1-1 (yes, a tie) during Week 2 of the Arizona Fall League. The KC Royals contingent were a big reason for their winning ways.

It all started on Monday, as Justin Marks picked up his first AFL victory. He allowed just one hit over three scoreless innings. He struck out three and threw 28 of his 48 pitches for strikes.

In the first inning, Whit Merrifield singled, stole second base, and then scored on a single. He went 2-for-3 as the DH and batted leadoff. Brian Fletcher batted third and played left field, but went 0-for-3. He walked, struck out, and scored a run.

Edwin Carl pitched in relief and threw 16 of his 25 pitches for strikes. He allowed one hit and a walk over two scoreless innings. He struck out one.

In Tuesday’s win, Merrifield didn’t start, but went in to play second base. He went 1-for-2. Fletcher batted third again, but was the DH. The results were the same, as he went 0-for-4. He walked twice and scored two runs, but struck out three times.

Alex McClure played in his first game of the week and batted ninth. The shortstop went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, two RBIs, and two strikeouts.

In Surprise’s fourth win in a row, Orlando Calixte played shortstop and batted eighth. He went 2-for-4, but struck out twice. Merrifield was back in left field and batted second. He went 0-for-3 with two walks, a run scored, an RBI, and a stolen base.

Jon Keck made his first and only relief appearance of the week and it wasn’t a good one. He record the first out of the inning on a ground out, but he then proceeded to walk the next four batters. Keck allowed two runs and only threw eight of his 24 pitches for strikes.

» Continue reading “Royals in the AFL Week 2 Update”

The 20th Anniversary season of the Arizona Fall League begins today. The KC Royals have a contingent of eight players on the Surprise Saguaros team made up of prospects from the Boston Red Sox, NY Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Rangers.

Problem is, only two of the eight Royals are actually considered “prospects”. Maybe someone will impress enough to emerge as a prospect?

The first games of the 2012 AFL season begins soon (12:35pm MST), as Scottsdale visits Phoenix and Surprise visits Peoria. Surprise plays Peoria again on Wednesday for their first home game.

Let’s take a look at the Royals‘ participants:

Left-hander Justin Marks will be getting the start for Surprise on Opening Day. He had a very good 2012 season, in which he earned a late season promotion to Triple-A Omaha to help in their playoff chase. He was a Texas League All-Star, but an injury kept him from participating.

Marks made one regular season start for the Storm Chaasers (which lasted just 1.2 innings) and one playoff start in the divisional series. He pitched 4.1 innings in which he allowed three earned runs on five hits in the clincher.

» Continue reading “The AFL Begins Today”

There were a number of trades that went on Tuesday and a number of deals that never happened. The Ryan Dempster saga continued (until the last seconds). The Philadelphia Phillies began a small fire sale (though Joe Blanton is somehow still a Phillie).

With the KC Royals falling into last place and no real expectation of them digging their way out, many expected some Royals to be on the move.

There were rumors involving outfielders Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur. I heard about lefty reliever Jose Mijares and infielders Yuniesky Betancourt and even Chris Getz.

Instead, the only piece they could move was closer Jonathan Broxton. The Cincinnati Reds were looking for some extra excitement late in games to join fire baller Aroldis Chapman and picked up Broxton.

The Reds are one of the hottest teams in baseball (they are 9-1 in their last ten games) and have a three game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central.

At least Broxton gets a shot at the postseason, which he would not have gotten if he stuck around in Kansas City.

So what do the Royals get from the Reds?

Pitchers JC Sulbaran and Donnie Joseph.

Sulbaran had been pitching for Double-A Pensacola. In 19 starts, he is 7-7 with a 4.04 ERA. He is a strikeout pitcher: 111 in 104.2 innings this season. He has walked 54 while allowing 17 homeruns. Keep in mind that whether he reports to NW Arkansas or Triple-A Omaha, he will be pitching in a hitter’s league.

Sulbaran last pitched on July 27th which would mean he is set to start again on August 1st.

Joseph has been pitching for Triple-A Lousiville (well he started the season in Double-A and was promoted after posting a 0.89 ERA). In Louisville, he was 4-1 with a 2.86 ERA in 18 games out of the bullpen. He had five saves and 22 strikeouts in 22 innings. Walks have not been a problem for Joseph: just 17 this season in 52.1 innings. He’s also only allowed one homerun. Joseph was named to the Southern League All-Star team this season.

Join me in welcoming them to the Royals organization! Hopefully they can help the team in the future.