TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Winter Ball Update: AFL Wraps Up, Puerto Rico Begins

Published on November 24, 2008 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


The mercury in Arkansas may be dropping, but baseball remains hot on the minds of several Kansas City Royals farmhands who appeared in a Naturals uniform during the 2008 season are continuing to get at-bats and innings with fall and winter league teams located in Arizona, Venezuela, Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

For the Surprise Rafters, the Royals' Arizona Fall League partner, the season wrapped up on Friday with the Rafters finishing with a 12-26 record, seven games off the pace of the Phoenix Desert Dogs, who won the fifth straight league crown. The Naturals relief pitchers that participated, however, did manage to finish their AFL campaigns on a high note.

Rowdy Hardy (1-2, 6.97) and Gilbert de la Vara (0-0, 6.12) each finished with two straight scoreless appearances, while Chris Hayes (2-0, 4.30, 1 SV) regained some of the dominance he had during the regular season, posting scoreless appearances in nine of his last ten outings and walking just one batter in his final six appearances. For his part, Hardy no-hit the Scottsdale Scorpions through three frames in his final appearance last Tuesday.

Brian McFall (.194, 4 HR, 12 RBI) also had a great finish to the AFL season, with three home runs and five RBI in his last two games, and Dan Cortes (0-3), who struggled mightily through six of his first seven starts, turned in a one run, four inning effort in his final trip to the mound Thursday. OF Joe Dickerson (.269, 3 HR, 12 RBI) and SS Chris McConnell (.203, 3 RBI) were the Royals' two other representatives in the AFL. Both played the 2008 season at Advanced-A Wilmington but will likely see time in Northwest Arkansas in 2009.

In the Dominican Republic, Kila Kaaihue's average has tumbled in the past two weeks but he still has three homers and 10 RBI. Just as he did during the regular season, Kaaihue has demonstrated his typical superior plate discipline, taking 23 walks and fanning on just 18 occasions. Kaaihue is sharing the field once again with former Naturals' teammates Dusty Hughes (2-1, 2.86 ERA in 22 IP) and Roman Colon (0-1, 6.00 ERA in 12 games). The trio of ex-Naturals play for Santo Domingo, which generally fields one of the stronger teams in the Dominican League. Juan Richardson was also with Santo Domingo but has been traded to San Pedro de Macoris, a struggling Winter League team that hasn't won a title since 1968. Richardson has one homer and six RBI in 11 games between both clubs. Julio Pimentel has struggled for La Romana, allowing seven runs over three short appearances.

Caracas in the Venezuelan League feature two Naturals teammates, Mario Lisson (.250, HR, 6 RBI), and Jose Duarte (.238, 7 RBI, 2 SB). Lisson hasn't played in over a week. Caracas has 16 Championship Titles, the most in Venezuelan baseball.

Puerto Rico has not fielded a Winter League slate for the past couple of seasons but has some former and current Naturals in the loop. Former Natural Angel Sanchez, now with the Toronto Blue Jays organization, is hitting .269 with two RBI for Santurce. Greg Atencio has a 5.14 ERA over seven appearances for Carolina, and Irving Falu has yet to hit safely while playing for Mayaguez.

Four Royals farmhands also played Hawaii Winter Baseball. Like the Arizona Fall League, the four-team loop has wrapped up its campaign. Among them, Kyle Martin (.245, 6 HR, 26 RBI), who played with Class-A Burlington this past season, was an offensive catalyst for the North Shore Honu, while teammate Kurt Mertins also has 16 RBI but finished the campaign mired in a slump.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and will open the home portion of their 2009 season on Thursday, April 16th against the San Antonio Missions. For season ticket packages and group information for the 2009 season, please call (479) 927-4900 or visit nwanaturals.com.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from November 24, 2008


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