2003 Wrapups: Kansas City Royals
With the 2003 minor league season coming to a close, we will be providing a brief wrapup of the season for all 30 minor league teams. In each report, we will take a look at how the team's Top 10 Prospects performed, identify some emerging prospects and organizational leaders, and report on the performance of their top draft pick.
Complete index of Team Wrapups 2003 League Wrapups
By Kevin Goldstein
October 10, 2003
Season Results
* won league championship
Performance of Top 10 Prospects
Here's how our top 10 prospects entering this season performed in 2003.
| 1. Zack Greinke, rhp
Age: 20 |
When he pitched in the Puerto Rican League over the winter just six months after his high school graduation and held his own, the Royals knew they had something special. Was the Carolina League Pitcher of the Year despite spending just two months at Wilmington, and if you take away one bad start on July 24, his Texas League ERA was 2.01.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Wilmington (High Class A) |
11-1 |
0 |
1.14 |
14 |
87.0 |
56 |
16 |
11 |
13 |
78 |
| Wichita (Double-A) |
4-3 |
0 |
3.23 |
9 |
53.0 |
58 |
20 |
19 |
5 |
34 |
|
| 2. Angel Berroa, ss
Age: 25 |
Berroa looked like a future star early in his career, but some gave up on him too early after he hit .215 at Omaha last season while he battled through a series of nagging injuries. One could nitpick and say he needs to walk more, but he's a solid defender at shortstop who is capable of putting up 20-20 seasons annually, and that's a rare find.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Royals (MLB) |
158 |
567 |
92 |
163 |
28 |
7 |
17 |
73 |
29 |
100 |
21 |
.287 |
.338 |
.451 |
|
| 3. Jimmy Gobble, lhp
Age: 22 |
Like Berroa, Gobble rebounded from an injury-plagued 2002 and found himself in the major leagues after putting up a 1.33 ERA in his final six starts for Wichita. Won his first two starts for the Royals (both vs. Tampa Bay), but struggled down the stretch.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Wichita (Double-A) |
12-8 |
0 |
3.19 |
22 |
132.2 |
128 |
57 |
47 |
40 |
100 |
| Royals (MLB) |
4-5 |
0 |
4.61 |
9 |
52.2 |
56 |
32 |
27 |
15 |
31 |
|
| 4. Ken Harvey, 1b
Age: 25 |
A career .328 hitter in the minors, Harvey was given the starting first-base job on the heels of a historic performance in the Arizona Fall League, where he set records for batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging. Failed to duplicate his minor league success with the Royals, as a .721 OPS (on-base plus slugging) is well below the standard for a major league first baseman.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Royals (MLB) |
135 |
485 |
50 |
129 |
30 |
0 |
13 |
64 |
29 |
94 |
2 |
.266 |
.313 |
.408 |
|
| 5. Mike MacDougal, rhp
Age: 26 |
Was one of the keys to the Royals' fast start (nine saves in April), and one of the keys to them falling out of the race in the second half (8.34 ERA in July-August). It's hard to be a closer when you surrender a .406 on-base percentage to righthanders.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Royals (MLB) |
3-5 |
27 |
4.08 |
68 |
64.0 |
64 |
36 |
29 |
32 |
57 |
|
| 6. Alexis Gomez, of
Age: 23 |
Failed to build on last year's solid season at Wichita (.295-14-75), and his stolen bases dipped from 36 to four. Doesn't hit lefties, doesn't get on base enough and is out of options. Not a good combination.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Omaha (Triple-A) |
121 |
456 |
49 |
123 |
23 |
8 |
8 |
58 |
26 |
91 |
4 |
.270 |
.308 |
.408 |
| Royals (MLB) |
5 |
10 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.200 |
.200 |
.200 |
|
| 7. Colt Griffin, rhp
Age: 21 |
Well it's progress. Griffin led the minor leagues in walks, but made some advancements with his secondary offerings. Saved his best outing for the Carolina League on the final day of the season, as he had his only zero-walk game of the year.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Burlington (Low Class A) |
9-11 |
0 |
3.91 |
27 |
149.2 |
127 |
80 |
65 |
97 |
107 |
| Wilmington (High Class A) |
1-0 |
0 |
0.00 |
1 |
6.0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
Fourth overall pick in 1999 finally reached the majors after a solid April in Triple-A. Shoulder problems limited him to just 15 starts for the Royals, in which he earned only one win.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Omaha (Triple-A) |
3-0 |
0 |
2.79 |
5 |
29.0 |
28 |
9 |
9 |
6 |
15 |
| Royals (MLB) |
1-6 |
0 |
5.17 |
15 |
85.1 |
94 |
52 |
49 |
21 |
39 |
| Royals 1 (Rookie) |
0-0 |
0 |
4.50 |
1 |
2.0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Wichita (Double-A) |
0-0 |
0 |
0.00 |
1 |
5.0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
| 9. Andres Blanco, ss
Age: 19 |
Voted by league managers as the best defensive shortstop in the Carolina League, Blanco still has quite a way to go with the bat, as his .287 slugging percentage demonstrates.
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Wilmington (High Class A) |
113 |
394 |
61 |
96 |
11 |
3 |
0 |
25 |
44 |
50 |
13 |
.244 |
.330 |
.287 |
|
| 10. Jeremy Hill, rhp
Age: 26 |
Couldn't throw strikes at Omaha, which got him demoted to Wichita, where he couldn't throw strikes. Acquired by the Mets for Graeme Lloyd and was assigned to Binghamton, where he couldn't throw strikes.
| Team |
W-L |
SV |
ERA |
G |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Omaha (Triple-A) |
1-3 |
1 |
7.81 |
26 |
40.1 |
42 |
38 |
35 |
42 |
41 |
| Wichita (Double-A) |
0-0 |
0 |
0.00 |
2 |
2.0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
| Binghamton (Double-A) |
0-2 |
0 |
10.38 |
11 |
13.0 |
14 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
10 |
|
Top Draft Pick:
| Chris Lubanski, of
Kennedy-Kenrick HS, Schwenksville, Pa. Bonus: $2.1M |
The fifth overall pick in the draft, Lubanski was an offensive catalyst for the Arizona League championship team, reaching base in 22 of his last 24 games and being named by league managers as the circuit's top prospect. Could become a tremendous prospect if his power develops, and while his speed is at the top of the scale, he is still learning the intricacies of baserunning (was caught stealing 10 times).
| TEAM | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Royals 1 (Rookie) |
53 |
221 |
41 |
72 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
27 |
18 |
50 |
9 |
.326 |
.382 |
.452 |
|
Emerging Prospects:
David DeJesus, of: Continues to be plagued by injuries because of his maximum-effort approach, but is an on-base machine when healthy, as he scored 63 runs in 76 games between Wichita and Omaha.
Byron Gettis, of: A supreme athlete, Gettis floundered in the Royals system for five years after being signed away from a football scholarship. Everything seemed to come together this year, as he hit .302-16-103 at Wichita to regain his status as a prospect.
Donald Murphy, 2b: A fifth-round pick in 2002, Murphy had 98 RBIs to place him behind only Milwaukee's Prince Fielder in the Midwest League, despite the fact that he hit only five home runs. Hit .415 with runners in scoring position.
Statistical Leaders
| Batting Average |
Donald Murphy |
.313 |
| Home Runs |
Jarrod Patterson |
18 |
| Runs Batted In |
Byron Gettis |
103 |
| Stolen Bases |
Mel Stocker |
41 |
| Earned Run Average |
Zack Greinke |
1.93 |
| Wins |
Zack Greinke |
15 |
| Strikeouts |
Jonah Bayliss |
133 |
| Saves |
Jorge Vasquez |
29 |
