TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Three Naturals Selected by Royals for Arizona Fall League

Published on August 25, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


Three Naturals players have been selected to participate in the 2009 Arizona Fall League, a prospect-heavy league that competes at five different MLB Spring Training sites (Phoenix-Municipal, Mesa, Peoria, Scottsdale, and Surprise). Preliminary rosters were released Tuesday evening.

Naturals outfielder David Lough, shortstop Jeff Bianchi, and left-hander Ben Swaggerty have been selected at the Royals' representatives along with 3B Mike Moustakas and RHP Danny Gutierrez, both from Advanced Class-A Wilmington. Two more representatives have yet to be announced.

Bianchi, the 22-year old Lancaster, PA resident, has split the 2009 season between Wilmington and the Naturals batting a combined .307 with 25 doubles, seven home runs, 59 RBI, 66 runs scored and 22 stolen bases. He was the Royals' second-round selection in the 2005 draft.

The 23-year old Lough, like Bianchi, has split his time this season between Wilmington and the Naturals, and is currently batting .331 with 10 doubles, eight home runs, 28 RBI, 34 runs and 11 steals in 47 games for the Naturals. The Clinton, OH resident was the Royals 11th round pick from the 2007 draft.

Swaggerty is a left-handed reliever who was 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 16 appearances for Wilmington before posting a 3-1 mark with a 3.57 ERA in 22 outings at NW Arkansas. The 27-year old resident of Afton, TN signed with Kansas City as an undrafted free agent in 2007.

The prestigious, six-team league will begin its 18th season on Tuesday, October 13th and plays six games per week, wrapping up with a Championship Game on Saturday, November 21st. In its 17 year history, the Arizona Fall League has seen over 1,700 of its alumni reach the Major Leagues, including six MLB MVP's (Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard, Dustin Pedroia, Justin Morneau, Albert Pujols, and Jimmy Rollins), three Cy Young Award Winners (Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay, and Brandon Webb), 18 MLB Rookies of the Year, three World Series MVP's, 33 Gold Glove Award winners, 24 Major League managers, and eight MLB batting champions.

Team rosters in the Arizona Fall League consist of 35 players per team, seven players provided by each of five different Major League organizations. Along with the Royals, the Rafters roster will be comprised of prospects from the Texas Rangers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals organizations. Fans can log on during the fall for updates on the Rafters in the Arizona Fall League along with the progress of other Naturals playing winter ball in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.

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, nwanaturals.com 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.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from August 25, 2009


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