Farm System Update: Arizona Royals

The Arizona Royals are having a good season with several good debuts by 2005 draft picks. After a good 1st half, the Arizona Royals are 6-5. Here's a look at some of the players on the Arizona Royals.

Position Players:

Jeffrey Bianchi/SS/'05 2nd Round Pick: The most impressive debut has been shortstop Jeffrey Bianchi's. Bianchi has an amazing .411/.483/.758 line through 95 ABs, including 7 doubles, 4 triples, and 6 homeruns. Bianchi has good speed (5 stolen bases in 7 attempts) and has played well defensively (just 4 errors in 27 games). Ladnier said Bianchi was a five-tool shortstop, and Bianchi has demonstrated those abilities so far. Bianchi has already appeared on Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet.

Joseph Dickerson/CF/'05 4th Round Pick: Dickerson has also had a great debut. Dickerson is hitting .324/.415/.545 in 145 ABs with 10 doubles, 8 triples, and 2 HRs. According to the Royals, Dickerson's strength is his defensive abilities. Bianchi and Dickerson have been pleasant surprises.

Other Notables:

Jose Duarte/OF/Undrafted/20 years old: Hitting .345/.388/.518 in 110 ABs
Felix Peralta/OF/Undrafted/19 years old: Hitting .302/.357/.518 in 116 ABs

Pitchers:

Rayner Oliveros/SP/Undrafted/19 years old: Oliveros leads the team in ERA at 2.08. His control has been outstanding, with just 4 walks in 52 IP. Strikeout rate is a bit low, with just 4.8 K/9 IP.

Brent Fisher/SP/'05 7th Round Pick: Fisher has shown great control in his debut as well as a high strikeout rate. Fisher has struck out 50 in 40 innings and walked just 7.

Angelo Morales/SP/Undrafted/19 years old: Morales has also demonstrated very good control like his teammates mentioned above. Morales has walked just 2 batters in 23 2/3 IP and struck out 17.

These 3 starters will be worth watching and hopefully can add some badly needed starting pitching prospects into the Royals' farm system.

Other Notables:

Henry Barrera/RP/'04 5th Round Pick: Barrera is still pretty raw, but has pitched better as the season has progressed. Barrera's fastball can reach the upper 90s.

Eric Cordier/SP/'04 2nd Round Pick: Cordier injured himself doing drills in the outfield. He's on a limited throwing program, so he probably won't see much, if any action this year.