KC Royals: Jorge Bonifacio And Hunter Dozier Are Raking
By Scott Dillon
Northwest Arkansas Naturals: 3-3
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals also had a split this past week as they went 3-3 from the 24th through the 30th of April.
Frank Schwindel and Hunter Dozier are leading the offensive charge for the Naturals this season.
Schwindel is a capable backstop but isn’t one of the Royals’ top prospects. If he continues to hit, that may change.
This season he’s got a .327 average with four home runs. Eight of those hits and three of those home runs came in this past week as he also tallied five RBIs.
Hunter Dozier looks like he may have finally figured out his offensive game also. He really struggled last season as he was trying to up his power numbers at the expense of his batting average.
With a spacious Kauffman stadium waiting for him in the future, being a gap-to-gap hitter is more important that being able to put one in the drink.
His new approach at the plate, that includes a shorter stroke, is yielding positive results. He’s got a .310 batting average with six home runs and seven doubles on the season. It looks like he hasn’t sacrificed any power and has become a better hitter.
Bubba Starling and Raul Mondesi are both sliding a little at the plate. Mondesi is flashing some increased power with five home runs, including two this past week, but the pair also struck out 14 times with only eight hits combined.
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On the mound the Naturals saw some good things out of their pitchers.
Alec Mills went 12 innings this past week and struck out eight. He did allow five earned runs but also posted two quality starts. In 29 innings this year he has a 2.79 ERA with 27 punch outs and only three walks.
Eric Skoglund got a tough no-decision this past week as he pitched seven innings of great baseball. He allowed five hits and a walk while only allowing an earned run and struck out five. His ERA of 3.22 on the year looks pretty good for the Royals’ future.
Matthew Strahm is another craft lefty at the Double-A level for the Royals. In 22.1 innings of work he has a 2.82 ERA with 20 strikeouts and only three walks. He pitched seven innings this week and gave up only five hits and walk to go along with two earned runs.
Former top prospect Christian Binford has been good in his last two outings. He only has four walks on the year, and his last outing saw him last seven innings. He gave up two each of earned runs, hits, and walks while striking out seven.
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