KC Royals: Pitching and hitting prospect notes from Spring Training

Khalil Lee, Outfielder

Lee looked fine in the outfield and I still haven’t been able to see him uncork a throw. He has a plus arm and I don’t think we will see anything in spring training, as managers aren’t keen on sending for an extra-base.

Lee struck out twice at the plate after he hit into a ground ball fielder’s choice in his first at-bat. His approach looks good and he made some good swings when he identified the fastball. His first encounters with the plus off-speed offerings of Kyle Hendricks and Jharel Cotton ended his at-bats with strike-outs.

There is a lot to like with Lee’s swing, speed, and defensive capability. He’s a dark horse to make the team out of spring training camp, as he is more likely destined to come-up to the big-league squad later in the year unless injury hits the outfield.

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MJ Melendez, Catcher

Melendez looked good at the plate in his two plate appearances, drawing a walk and making solid contact for a fly-out to center. After hearing this offseason that Melendez looked lost in his plate approach, these are good signs of the progress he’s made.

Behind the dish he struggled to get in front of Jesse Hahn breaking pitches in the dirt, which resulted in two wild pitches. He has an incredible arm and pop-time behind the plate and nearly threw out a stolen base attempt in the bottom of the eighth (shortstop failed to catch the ball).

It’s hard to get a grasp on his game-calling skills in spring training as managers want to evaluate how a pitcher’s stuff looks at this point in spring training. Hopefully the Royals will place Melendez as the catcher for all of the pitching prospects in AA Northwest Arkansas to start the 2020 season.

MJ Melendez has the defensive capability to be the Royals catcher of the future, but how well his bat progresses will determine his ultimate fate as either a starter or back-up.

Brewer Hicklen, Outfielder

Hicklen had pinch hitter duties in the game, relieving Khalil Lee in the top of the ninth inning. He showed good power, hitting a hard-hit fly-ball to the right-center field gap for a double.

Hicklen didn’t try to do too much with the pitch and drove the ball to the opposite field with power. There’s some swing and miss to Hicklen’s plate approach, but he’s a fantastic athlete with plus power and speed. It will be intriguing to see how much his bat progresses in AA Northwest Arkansas during the 2020 season.

Brewer Hicklen is capable of a 20 home-run, 30 stolen base season, if he reaches his potential.

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These were just my notes on these six players, but keep it locked in, as we still have a ways to go in spring training!