Myers Making Impact for Surprise
Published on October 11, 2011 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
SURPRISE, AZ - Naturals' outfielder Wil Myers has been one of the stars early on through the first week of Arizona Fall League play.
Myers hit his second home run of the Fall League season Monday, part of a 1-for-3 day that included a pair of walks. Entering play Tuesday, his team, the Surprise Saguaros were 4-1 and sat atop their division. Myers was batting .313 and had four RBI's and a .450 on-base percentage, having played in four of his team's five games. Batting out of the number three spot, on two occasions already Myers has hit back-to-back homers with Texas Rangers' prospect Mike Olt, who leads the AFL with four round trippers.
Anthony Seratelli had appeared in two games but had his first home run, a solo shot which came in Saturday's 7-1 win while Naturals' infielder Christian Colon has struggled thus far. Colon is batting .143 (2-for-14) with a double and a pair of runs scored.
The early goings have been solid on the pitching end for Brendan Laffertyand Jeremy Jeffress. Lafferty has tossed three scoreless innings over two appearances thus far, while Jeffress fanned two in a two-inning relief outing Saturday. In that outing Jeffress did not walk a batter and fanned two. It's been slower going for Bryan Paukovits, a reliever who was with Advanced Class-A Wilmington this past season. Paukovits has made two appearances and has a win, but also has given up three runs (two earned) in his first two innings.
Check back on nwanaturals.com for updates on the progress of these players. You can also get updates by following the Naturals on Facebook and Twitter.
Naturals/Texas League Notes
Instructional Insights: Former Diamond Hog and Royals' prospect Brett Eibner has been using the Advanced Instructional League to shake off the rust from missing nearly half the season with injury and attempt to put himself in a better spot to compete for a starting outfield job with Advanced Class-A Wilmington next season. Accomplishing that feat would put him one call away from suiting up for the Naturals. Eibner had a triple and scored a pair of runs last Thursday and has displayed solid play thus far...2011 first-round pick Bubba Starling took batting practice Tuesday at the Royals' Surprise complex. Starling has been slowed by the minor quad ailment for the past week or so but should be able to do some things before the fall league concludes.
Winter Ball Begins: Several current and former Naturals are off to destinations in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela as winter ball begins in those countries. The Mexican Winter League gets underway Tuesday afternoon, the Venezuelan League begins Wednesday, and Friday marks the beginning of the winter season for the Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico's winter league doesn't begin until November 4th.
Federico Castaneda is the lone Naturals' representative in the Mexican Winter League, taking his regular spot with Culiacan, where he has pitched the past couple off-seasons. Not all Venezuelan and Dominican teams have posted their rosters, but Former Naturals' outfielders Jarrod Dyson and Jose Duarte will play with Caracas in the Venezuelan League, Mario Lisson will suit up for Magallanes, and former Natural Ernesto Mejia will return to Zulia, where he was the Venezuelan League Rookie of the Year two seasons ago. Dominican clubs have yet to release their rosters, but several current and former Naturals are expected to be in the league, including pitchers Everett Teaford, Mario Santiago, Brandon Sisk, and Willy Lebron, along with former Naturals' outfielder David Lough.
These teams and respective leagues will play the round-robin Caribbean Series which takes place in February just before early reports for Major League Spring Training.
Team Canada: Naturals' OF Tim Smith and INF Jamie Romak are playing for Team Canada, who clinched first place in Group 1 after round one at the 39th IBAF Baseball World Cup. The team has traveled from Panama City to Chitre, Panama and will open the second round against Australia in Santiago. Team USA, whose roster features Arkansas Travelers' pitcher Matt Shoemaker, is 1-2 in the same tournament, which leads up to the 2011 Pan American Games later this month in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Transaction log: OF Nick Francis was among 13 minor league players released by the Kansas City Royals last week. Francis missed the last two weeks of the regular season and the playoffs after being suspended for a violation of organizational policy. The 25-year old batted .260 with three homers and 25 RBI's in two different stints in Northwest Arkansas this season, his first year at the Double-A level. He also logged time with Advanced Class-A Wilmington. A Tallahassee, FL resident, Francis was the Royals' 15th round selection in the 2006 draft.
New skipper to lead Missions: There's been no indication from the Royals yet on whether the Naturals' unprecedented stability within their coaching ranks will continue, but the Texas League Champion San Antonio Missions will be in need of a new skipper after former Major Leaguer Doug Dascenzoaccepted a new position as the minor league baserunning and outfield coach with the Atlanta Braves' organization. After two roving instructors finished the season in North Little Rock following the mid-year departure of Travs' first-year skipper Bill Mosiello, that club is likely to have a new manager for next year as well. Whoever takes over the Missions will inherit a club that should be well equipped to defend its title in the Texas League, as the Missions' parent club San Diego Padres' Advanced Class-A club in Lake Elsinore won the California League Championship this past season.
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. Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.
Texas League Stories from October 11, 2011
- Myers Making Impact for Surprise - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Doug Dascenzo Accepts Position In Braves Organization - San Antonio Missions
- Bud Light Fan Camp to Stop in Corpus Christi - Corpus Christi Hooks
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