- Full name Shawn Sonnier
- Born
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
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The Royals got bad news in January, when they learned that Sonnier's shoulder needed more extensive surgery than originally thought. He had his labrum and rotator cuff repaired and his shoulder tightened. He probably won't start throwing until May at the earliest. Before he ran into shoulder problems in 2001, Sonnier had breezed through the minors after signing as a nondrafted free agent. He spent time at two junior colleges and Louisiana Tech before finally attracting attention at the 1998 National Baseball Congress World Series. When healthy, Sonnier can challenge hitters with a 90-94 mph fastball, a slider and a splitter. He doesn't always get a lot of life on his fastball or throw strikes, two shortcomings he'll try to address when he gets back on the mound. -
The Royals have endured bullpen trouble in recent years, and Sonnier may be the closer they've been looking for. If he is, scouts Craig Struss and Bill Price deserve credit for uncovering him after he spent time at two junior colleges and Louisiana Tech. Sonnier offers intimidating size and stuff. He has a mid-90s fastball and a hard slider, and he uses a splitter as a strikeout pitch. He ranked third among minor league relievers last year with 12.7 per nine innings, and he led Double-A Texas League relievers with 5.8 hits allowed per nine innings. He comes straight over the top, which costs him a little life and deception on his pitches, and he could tweak his command, but it's hard to argue with his results. Sonnier could factor into the Kansas City bullpen sometime in 2001.