MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -SURPRISE, AZ – Kansas City Royals pitching prospects have seen their share of struggles in this year’s Arizona Fall League season, but they certainly aren’t alone.

The Surprise Rafters, made up of prospects representing the Royals, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals have struggled mightily from the pitching end, posting a collective staff ERA of 6.04 – worst in the six-team league -- and as of Tuesday had fallen to 10-14, last place in the AFL. 

Central Arizona’s fall climate certainly produces an environment more conducive to hitting, with warm and dry daytime air and cool and gusty night winds.  That is reflected in the fact that the team leading the league in pitching, the Phoenix Desert Dogs, the league’s champion the past two seasons, has a staff ERA of 4.56 while also leading the league in hitting with a .296 mark.

Nevertheless, it is a good exercise for organizations to measure up their prospects against those of other teams’ best talents, and the Royals are certainly no different in that regard.   But while the extra work will benefit in the long run, the struggles are apparent particularly amongst the pitchers.  Right-hander Aaron Crow, the 12th overall pick in last June’s draft, is now 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA through three starts for the Surprise Rafters in the Arizona Fall League.

Crow, who celebrates his 23^rd birthday Wednesday, allowed four runs and seven hits in four innings Monday in a 5-2 loss to the Peoria Saguaros. Opponents are batting .348 against him with 16 hits in 11 1/3 innings.  On the plus side he’s only allowed two walks in the three outings.  He’ll look to improve on some of his other numbers in his final two AFL starts.  As a member of the Royals’ 40-man roster, he’ll report in February to Major League Spring Training, where many observers see Crow on the fast track, bypassing the lower level clubs and receiving an opening day roster spot in Northwest Arkansas.

The two southpaws the Royals had in Surprise, Ben Swaggerty and Brandon Sisk, have both been shut down for the time being.  Sisk, a likely member of the Naturals’ 2010 bullpen who spent all of 2009 with Advanced Class-A Wilmington, had a 2.25 ERA and seven strikeouts in six appearances while Swaggerty also appeared six times and was unscored upon in three of them, but struggled in two of the others and left with a 9.45 ERA.

Perhaps no one pitcher has had more up and downs than Naturals’ right-hander Blake Wood, whose fall season has fallen in line with an up-and-down injury-riddled campaign during the regular season.  Wood has made six appearances (three starts), and has checker-boarded solid outings with poor performances.  His past two outings, both against the Mesa Solar Sox at Surprise Stadium, turned out completely different, as last Friday he started, lasted only 1 1/3 inning, and was tattooed for five hits and four runs.  Tuesday, he faced them again coming from the bullpen and retired five consecutive hitters, three via the strikeout, without allowing a hit.  The roller coaster has left Wood with an 8.49 ERA in 11 2/3 innings but with some impressive peripheral numbers; 10 strikeouts to just four walks. 

Through the struggles and injuries the constant has been Naturals’ reliever Aaron Hartsock, who has in many ways simply continued on course after a very solid regular season.  Hartsock has allowed two runs in four innings in the past week but still sports a solid 3.97 ERA, with 11 hits allowed in 11 1/3 frames.  He’s fanned eight and allowed just two walks.

Amongst the hitters, the spotlight was on prospect Mike Moustakas as he participated in Saturday’s nationally-televised Rising Stars game, which was held at the Royals’ spring home in Surprise.  Moustakas got the start at third base for the West squad and rapped a sharp single to right on the first pitch he saw of his second at-bat.  He came around to score one of the runs in an eventual 8-7 West victory.  Moustakas, likely to man the hot corner for the Naturals in 2010, is batting .254 with four homers and 15 RBI, which is second on the Rafters.  He’s faring much better against right-handed pitching (.292 in 48 at-bats), then against southpaws (1-for-11).

Naturals’ outfielder Jarrod Dyson brought a five-game hitting streak in tow coming into Wednesday’s games and is now batting .278 in 54 at-bats.  Defensively, after committing two errors in his first three games with Surprise, Dyson has been error-free in nine games since and has impressed scouts with his defensive efforts.  Infielder Jeff Bianchi has cooled off of late and has taken a few extra days off to rest.  He’s at .259 with a homer and ten RBI and since the first week has played primarily at short.

Further south, Julio Pimentel has joined on with his Dominican Winter League team, Toros del Este.  Pimentel, working his way back from arm injuries that derailed his entire 2009 season, is teammates with former Naturals’ reliever Carlos Sencion. Neither has appeared in a game.  Juan Abreu (Águilas Cibaeñas) has also been sidelined since October 31^st after struggling in an outing against Estrellas.  Estrellas lineup that day included former Naturals’ slugger Juan Richardson, who is batting .294 with one homer and seven RBI in 20 games.  Richardson missed most of 2009 after getting injured early in the season with the Wichita Wingnuts of the independent American Association.

Several current and former Naturals are playing winter ball in Venezuela.  Chris Nicoll is with Caribes de Anzoategui (Puerto La Cruz, Ven.).  Nicoll hasn’t pitched since he was roughed up in his second start, when he allowed five runs over two-plus innings to Aragua.  Manny Pina, who was on the disabled list and never suited up for the Naturals after being traded on September 3^rd from the Rangers’ organization, is 4-for-10 in seven games for Tiburones de La Guaira (La Guaira Sharks).  Pina has been used mainly as a defensive replacement.  Many minor leaguers playing international ball can find themselves stuck deep on a depth chart, commonplace in the international winter leagues where there are no restrictions on roster size and players with big league time sometimes join teams during the season.

Jose Duarte and Mario Lisson are both with Leones de Caracas.  Duarte got off to a hot start, batting .340 in his first 19 games, but has cooled of late and is now batting .305 with five RBI, 15 runs scored, and four steals in 23 games.  Lisson saw almost no playing time to start the season but has been in the lineup regularly in recent games.  He started four games at third in the past week and had two homers amongst his three hits.  He’s now batting .259 with three homers and seven RBI in 27 at-bats.  Leones is the Venezuelan Winter Baseball powerhouse; they possess 16 championship titles, the most in the league.  They currently reside in first place this year as well with a 20-7 record.

Federico Castaneda is with his Mexican Winter League team, Tomateros de Culiacan (Culiacan Tomato Growers).  He has settled down after two rough outings, allowing just one hit in two innings covering his past two appearances.  He’s now got a 1-2 record and 7.20 ERA in five games, but is getting the ball in some key situations, including last Wednesday when he pitched a scoreless 11^th inning against Hermosillo, setting the stage for a walk-off hit by Culiacan in the bottom of the frame.

The Puerto Rican Winter League is the lone international loop that has yet to begin play; it starts on Thursday.  Last winter, former Naturals Irving Falu and Geraldo Valentin, both Puerto Rican natives, played in the loop.

All the international winter leagues wrap up later in the winter with the top winter teams from the Latin American countries competing against one another in the Caribbean Series, an elimination-style tournament.  The series runs during the first week of February and is televised nationally on the MLB Network, providing fans a great chance to see minor league players on a big stage in an electric atmosphere of international competition.  Check nwanaturals.com weekly for updates on Arizona Fall League action as well as other Naturals playing winter ball. 

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale.  The 2010 season begins on Thursday, April 8^th.   Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

Commissioner Bud Selig shaved drug suspensions of players and broke the rules of MLB. Will Manny Ramirez and three others do a year? What will happen to dozens of minor league players whose records, teams, and leagues are affected? Read the whole story at SZ ( www.mlnsports.com).