TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Series Preview: Naturals Look To Cool Off Hooks

Published on April 11, 2010 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


The Northwest Arkansas Naturals began the 2010 season with an up-and-down series against the San Antonio Missions at Arvest Ballpark. The Naturals won season opener 5-1 before splitting the final two games of the series. After getting blown out 13-1 Friday the Naturals came back and won the series finale 4-3. Kurt Mertins' RBI single in the bottom of the eighth brought in Anthony Seratelli for the winning run in the finale, giving the Naturals a feel-good series win despite being outscored 17-10 in the three games. Newcomers Manny Pina and Ernesto Mejia both hit home runs in the San Antonio series.

Corpus Christi on the other hand played spoiler in Tulsa. The Hooks were the very first visitors to brand new Oneok Field, and put a damper on the festivities by sweeping the Drillers. The Hooks won the first game at Oneok Field with a 7-0 shutout. The Hooks kept on rolling by crushing the Drillers 9-3 Friday night before completing the sweep Saturday with a 4-3 victory. Lou Santangelo hit a solo home run in Saturday's game to help the Hooks to victory.

The Hooks came into 2010 with some of the Astros top pitching prospects. Jordan Lyles, a right-hander who spent last season with Class-A Lexington, is the Astros third best prospect according the Baseball America. Lyles fanned a league high 167 batters last season in the South Atlantic League and this season, will tackle a two-level jump to become the second youngest starter in the Texas League. Lyles features a fastball that will sit around 89-91 mph, but can touch 93-94 mph. Lyle's changeup is one of his best pitches as it has fade and heavy sink. A curveball in the mid-70's is also a weapon in Lyle's arsenal. Lyles will make his Double-A debut in the series opener Sunday with the Naturals.

A scan of the Houston Astros' prospect list lets you know this isn't the 2008 or 2009 edition of the Corpus Christi Hooks. Those clubs were thin on prospects and poorly managed. This season, the Hooks have no fewer than eight of the Astros' top 30 prospects according to BA. The rest of the ranked prospects are RHP Chia-Jen Lo (#5), OF Jon Gaston (#9), OF T.J. Steele (#10), RHP Danny Meszaros (#12), RHP Matt Nevarez (#15), INF Koby Clemens (#20), and RHP Henry Villar (#27).

Lo pitched well in the opening victory for the Hooks. In two relief innings Lo struck out four while only giving up one hit and no runs. His fastball will consistently be in the 93-96 mph range.

Steele is a highly talented outfielder would have been ranked even higher had he not been plagued by injuries last year. He hit .345 with 40 RBI for the Lancaster JetHawks, Houston's Advanced Class-A affiliate. So far in 2010 Steele is 3-15 with an RBI and a double.

Gaston had a successful series against Tulsa. He went 4-10 with two doubles and an RBI, including going 2-3 with a walk in Friday's game. Clemens hit .286 in the Tulsa series which including going 3-5 with a home run Friday night. All of these sluggers posted superlative numbers in Lancaster's hitter-friendly park, which is universally regarded as the best park for power hitters in all of minor league baseball.

The Naturals won eight of their 12 games with Corpus Christi in 2009. The Naturals split their six games against the Hooks in the confines of Arvest Ballpark last season.

Sunday will feature a match up between the aforementioned Lyles going up against the Natural's Edgar Osuna. Osuna, a Major League Rule-5 draft pick from the Atlanta Braves, is ranked as the Royals 27th best prospect. He was offered back to the Braves; however the Braves declined to take him back, allowing the Royals to outright him to the Naturals. Osuna will mix a change up with a fastball in the mid-80's, and a plus curveball. He also does a good job of locating his pitches, which should serve him well as he moves up the ranks.

Monday will put the Naturals Blake Johnson against Hooks right hander Jeremy Johnson. Blake spent all of 2009 with the Naturals and put together an 8-8 record with a 4.57 ERA. Jeremy compiled a 5-8 record last season with a 3.51 ERA in 21 games with the Astros' Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock.

The series will close out Tuesday with a match up between Aaron Crow and Sergio Perez. Crow, the Royals No. 2 prospect, made his debut in the Naturals season opener, and turned in a solid performance. Crow went four and two thirds innings and gave up only one unearned run. Crow finished one out away from being eligible for the win and was pulled after reaching a pitch count of 80 pitches. Perez, making his second turn in Double-A, was impressive himself in the Hooks' opener at Tulsa. Perez shutout Tulsa over five innings, and only gave up four hits. The victory moved Perez into third place on Corpus Christi's all-time wins list with 14, one behind Josh Miller and three behind franchise leader Chance Douglass.

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. You can purchase season tickets and group outings with the Naturals by calling (479) 927-4900.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from April 11, 2010


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