Almonte Continues to Progress in Arizona Fall League
October 24, 2014 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- It is never too early to begin speculating and prospecting on who may be donning a Northwest Arkansas Naturals uniform in 2015. It's easy to assume who might be returning for another season in Northwest Arkansas; but the exciting part is predicting who might be the fresh new faces, big new bats and live new arms that might be roaming around Arvest Ballpark.
The Double-A level is often an exhibition of baseball's best prospects - as demonstrated this season in Northwest Arkansas. Names such as LHP Brandon Finnegan and OF Lane Adams - both of who appeared in Kansas City uniform this season - headlined the Naturals roster. So it is not surprise that the Royals No. 5 prospect, according to MLB.com, RHP Miguel Almonte is assumed to have a significant role during the 2015 season as he continues his progression through the Royals minor league system.
Almonte, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, is currently honing his craft within the prospect-laden Arizona Fall League with the Peoria Javalinas. The hurler's future manager, Vance Wilson, has already witnessed what could be a prominent power-pitcher within his rotation in near future.
"[Almonte} has shown why he is a top-prospect," said Wilson. "He's got a good fastball and right now the biggest thing is to just get him back into shape."
With a roster comprised of 20 pitchers - including Almonte - one will rarely see a pitcher on display for more than three innings during a single outing. So the 21-year old will work in the balmy autumn climate of Arizona in a steady combination of in-game action and bullpen sessions. The young pitcher's repertoire consists of his fastball which, according to Wilson and MLB.com, sits in the mid-90's consistently along with an "above-average" change-up all the while continuing to mold his breaking ball.
In the Fall League thus far, Almonte has appeared in four games making one start and is 0-1 with a 3.24 ERA over 8.1 innings of work. The hard-throwing hurler has struck out six batters while holding the opposition to just a .231 batting average.
Almonte was one of the main headliners in a Wilmington Blue Rocks (Hi-A) rotation that featured three top-10 Royals prospects for the better part of 2014. The right-hander posted a 6-8 mark for Wilmington in just his second season pitching in the United States while logging a 4.49 ERA in 23 games (22 starts) while fanning 101 batters in 110.1 innings of work.
In related Arizona Fall League news, LHP Daniel Stumpf replaces RHP Kyle Zimmer on the Peoria Javalinas roster. Zimmer, the Royals No. 2 prospect according to MLB.com, has been shut down for the remainder of the fall league after exiting a start early on Saturday, Oct. 18. Stumpf appeared in 32 games for Wilmington while making eight starts this past season. The 23-year old southpaw finished with a 3-8 record, a 3.77 ERA in 74 innings and racked up 79 strikeouts.
Keep tabs on all the latest of the Arizona Fall League by following @MLBazFallleague on Twitter.
Season 8 of Naturals baseball will begin with a six-game road trip to Midland and Frisco before returning to Arvest Ballpark for their home opener on Thursday, April 16 against the Midland RockHounds (Double-A Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics).
The Season 8 promotional schedule, game times and other details on discounted ticket plans as well as group information will be made available throughout the off-season. For any questions regarding our 2015 season, please give us a call at (479) 927-4900.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark. For more information including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.
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Texas League Stories from October 24, 2014
- Almonte Continues to Progress in Arizona Fall League - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
