Naturals SS Sanchez Promoted to AAA
June 26, 2008 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
The Kansas City Royals have promoted Angel Sanchez to Triple-A Omaha, it was announced Thursday morning.
Sanchez, a 24-year old resident of La Piedras, PR, hit .261 with one homer and 23 RBI in 63 games with the Naturals this season. A member of the Royals' 40-man major league roster, Sanchez sat out 2007 recovering from injury after spending most of 2006 at the Double-A level with Wichita, where he hit .282 and earned a late season call-up to Kansas City. This season, Sanchez improved both at the plate and in the field as the year progressed, hitting .326 in May and .278 in June following a slow start. Originally an 11th round selection in the 2001 draft, Sanchez was named to the Texas League All-Star team and went 0-for-2 as the North Division lost in extra innings Wednesday night in Springfield.
Taking Sanchez's roster spot with Northwest Arkansas will be versatile infielder Ed Lucas, who returns to the Naturals after spending three weeks with Omaha. The 26-year old Deltona, FL resident batted .260 in 25 games earlier this year with the Naturals and hit .128 in 16 games during his stint with the O-Royals, which was Lucas' first experience at the Triple-A level. He has appeared with the Naturals at all four infield positions plus left field, and can be expected to share time with Mario Lisson and Irving Falu at shortstop as well as provide additional roster flexibility for Naturals' Manager Brian Poldberg.
Lucas will wear #21 as he did during his initial stint with Northwest Arkansas. The Naturals roster continues to stand at the Texas League limit of 24 active players.
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. The Naturals have a toll-free ticket hotline (1-877-444-2637) for fans to purchase Naturals tickets. Our website also offers fans the opportunity to purchase tickets online and avoid lines at the ticket windows by printing their tickets at home or at the office.
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