Crown Crazed » Royals (Burlington)

Burlington Royals: The Best in the League

Chris Link — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:48:21 +0000


The Burlington Royals open a three game series with the Greenville Astros tonight at Burlington. As I begin to type, the Royals have a 9-3 lead in the bottom of the 7th, well on their way to what will be their seventh straight win. The Royals took first place from the Danville Braves last week, on the strength of a 4-game sweep over the Braves, who had the best record in the entire league. That honor now belongs to the Royals, who have also won 11 of their last 12 games.

The main focus of Burlington in the pre-season had been the arrival of outfielder Bubba Starling, the Royals 2011 first round (fifth overall) draft pick, and Bubba has not disappointed. Starting off the season with a hamstring injury, Starling has been getting better every week, going into tonight's game as the team's leader in batting average with .292 and on-base percentage with .425. He hasn't been doing it by himself though; he's been getting help from some previous Royals draft picks, including this year's seventh round pick, Fred Ford. Ford got off to a rocky start, but has been a big part of the Royals winning ways by hitting .306 with six homers in his last ten games. Last year's 20th round pick Terrance Gore has been igniting the offense all season, hitting .284 and swiping 14 bases in just 25 games, good for second in the league. [caption id="attachment_12125" align="alignnone" width="189"] Terrance Gore has been deadly on the base paths this season.[/caption] Let's not give all the credit to the offense however, as Burlington's pitchers have been excellent, from starting rotation to bullpen. The rotation is highlighted by Daniel Hernandez, who missed the entire 2011 season due to elbow surgery, and 18-year-old Colin Rodgers, who was the Royals 3rd round pick this year. Hernandez is 2-0 through 6 starts with a 2.23 ERA, and has pitched at least five innings in all of his starts thus far. Rodgers has been nothing short of phenomenal this year, with a 2-0 record an a microscopic 0.92 ERA, giving up just 8 hits in 19 innings pitched this year. If he keeps this pace up, one can only wonder what level of the minors he'll end up in at season's end. The bullpen has been just as spectacular this year, with former Penn State starter John Walter taking over the closer role. Walter was selected in the 29th round by the Royals this year and has proven to be a huge steal, with a 3-0 record and four saves in nine games, including 16 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched. As I previously stated, the Royals were winning in the bottom of the 7th when I began writing, and I am pleased to report that they have indeed won their seventh straight. Terrance Gore went 3-4 with three runs scored and for now, has tied the lead league with his fifteenth stolen base, and Patrick Conroy picked up his first save of the season, pitching four shutout innings in relief of starter Jake Junis, who picked up his first win of the season. That makes Burlington 21-8 on the season, and this team is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.

Burlington beats Danville, tied for first place

Chris Link — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:33:05 +0000

The Burlington Royals entered into a first place tie Tuesday night, on the strength of a 4-2 win over the Danville Braves. For the second straight start, Colin Rodgers, the Royals 3rd round pick in this year's Major League draft, was outstanding, giving up only one hit and one walk over five scoreless innings to pick up his second win of the season. The Braves sole hit off of Rodgers, a fifth inning single by Edison Sanchez, ended a streak of 10 2/3 hitless innings going back to Rodgers last start. The Royals offense came in the second and fourth innings, thanks to a pair of consecutive ground-rule doubles by Kenny Diekroeger and Fred Ford in the second inning. Henry Moreno smashed a two-run homer to left field in the fourth to give the Royals a 4-0 lead, which would sustain them through the remainder of the game. It was the latter part of the Royals lineup that really shined last night, including a 3-for-4 game from catcher Cameron Gallagher, who doubled and picked up an RBI and a run scored. Collectively, the five through nine hitters in the order went 9-for-19 in the game, while the lead-off hitter through the clean-up spot went 0-for-14. Burlington hosts Danville again tonight, with the winner taking sole possession of first place in the Appalachian League East. Christian Binford will take the hill tonight in search of his first win of the year. Binford, the Royals 30th round draft pick from last year's draft, is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in just one start thus far.

Bubba Starling Makes Professional Debut

Aaron Wilson — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 22:36:22 +0000

Bubba Starling, the Kansas City Royals' 2011 first round draft pick, played his first professional game Thursday against the Johnson City Cardinals. While Starling's performance was mediocre at best, the Burlington Royals got their biggest win of the season with a 14-2 victory over the Cardinals. After losing their last series at home, the Royals hit the road hoping to rejuvenate their offense by finally starting Starling in the line-up. Starling hadn't played a game since Burlington's exhibition against Kernersville on June 16 where he injured his hamstring rounding the bases. While Starling did not contribute much to the Royals offense, the team took advantage of poor pitching from the Cardinals' bullpen to gain a large lead that never dwindled. The game was scoreless until the 3rd inning when the Royals went on an 8-run tear, which included a Kenneth Diekroeger grand slam. Deikroeger had an impressive performance, going 3-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI. Patrick Leonard, Henry Moreno, and Fred Ford also went deep last night. Leonard leads the league with 6 homeruns for the season. Starling, unfortunately, did not have the grand entrance into professional baseball that he had hoped for, going 0-5 with 3 strikeouts (he was 1 of only 2 Royals' batters who didn't get a hit Thursday). However, the young outfielder did walk once, which eventually led to a run scored. Burlington's Yender Caramo earned his first win of the season with 6.0 IP, 2 ER, and 4 K. Caramo has yet to walk a batter in 2012. The Johnson City bullpen wasn't so fortunate and struggled to keep the ball in the strike zone. In the 3rd inning alone, Cardinals' pitchers Stalyn Lopez and Jared Springer combined for 7 BB. Two of those walks occurred with the bases loaded. Thursday's win moved the Royals to 6-4 for the season. They play the Cardinals again Friday in Johnson City at 7:00PM.

Burlington’s Power Put on Hold, Bluefield Gets the Win

Aaron Wilson — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 05:40:07 +0000

The Burlington Royals lost to the Bluefield Blue Jays for the second game in a row on Tuesday night. The defeat moved the Royals to 4-4 and is the first time the team has been at .500 in 2012. The Blue Jays confined the Royals to a season-low 4 hits on the night (even in their 2-18 blowout loss to Elizabethton on Saturday, Burlington managed 11 hits). Bluefield's bullpen was sharp Tuesday and never allowed the Burlington offense to gain any momentum. Starting pitcher Tom Robson had 3 H and 1 K though the first four innings, but it was Kevin Comer that really stifled the big bats of Burlington. Comer relieved Robson at the top of the fifth and struckout 4 batters over the next 4 innings, allowing only 1 hit during that span. The Blue Jays' Colby Broussard earned his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth that included 3 K's and 1 BB. The Royals' offense hasn't been the only issue this week. The defense will need to tighten up if they want to avoid the sweep, as three errors have helped bring in three separate runs. Two infield errors occurred in Monday's loss, and an over-thrown pickoff attempt by pitcher Mark Peterson in the ninth inning of Tuesday's game moved Blue Jays' Dickie Thon from first base to third. A ground ball single brought Thon in for his second run of the evening, effectively closing the door on the Royals. On a positive note, the Royals' Chris Elder has extended his hitting streak to 7 games with a single and a stolen base in Tuesday's loss. Elder's now batting a solid .400 for the season. The Royals look to turn things around Wednesday as they finish out the three-game series against the Blue Jays. The team will then hit the road for the next week, first to Johnson City to face the Cardinals, followed by a trip to Danville to play the division-leading Braves.

Royals Win Rubber Match, Improve to 4-2

Chris Link — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:13:41 +0000

The Burlington Royals effectively wiped away the memory of an 18-2 rout on Saturday by taking two out of the three from the Elizabethton Twins in their first home stand of the season. After being down 2-0 after 4 innings, the Royals tied the game in the 5th, and took the lead on the strength of Henry Moreno double the next inning. Mark Peterson picked up the win out of the bullpen, throwing two hitless innings in the process. Patrick Leonard also contributed to the win with his fourth home run of the young season. The Royals move to 4-2 on the season and have been doing it on the strength of come from behind victories in their last three wins. They kick off another three game series at home tonight against the Bluefield Blue Jays.

Bangs Gets Banged Up, Burlington Suffers Its First Loss of the Season

Aaron Wilson — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:08:24 +0000

The Burlington Royals plan on continuing their strong offensive output as they host their first home game this Friday. The Royals (2-1) will try to regroup after their first loss of the season to the Pulaski Mariners. The Royals had hoped to sweep the Mariners in their opening series and looked poised to do so through the first five innings of Thursday's game. Burlington pitcher Daniel Hernandez had 5 K's and didn't allow a single Mariner on base in his first start of the season. Leading 3-0 and heading into the bottom of the sixth, Parker Bangs relieved Hernandez and hoped to follow his example. Instead, Bangs hit two of the first three batters, surrendered a stolen base, and gave up a three-run shot to Pulaski's Brock Hebert, allowing the Mariners to score four runs off of two hits. An error from right fielder Fred Ford didn't help matters, but most of the blame lay with the Royals' pitcher. Bangs was far from in control as he hit three Mariners total in his two-inning outing and exited with a miserable 18.00 ERA. The Royals went on to lose the game 4-3. Burlington looked strong, despite the loss, and continued to make consistent contact at the plate. They've scored 18 runs off of 23 hits in their first three games of the season, with the first three batters of the lineup all batting .333 or better. Keep an eye on Chris Elder, who already has 3 RBI, .429 OBP, and an impressive 1.095 OPS. The percentages (especially his OPS) are sure to drop slightly as the season progresses, but look to Elder to be a big part of this offense. The Royals head home to Burlington for their next six games, starting with a three-game series against the Elizabethton Twins (2-1).

Royals 2011 #1 Draft Pick, Bubba Starling, to Start Pro Career in Burlington

Travis Pflanz — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:54:47 +0000

The Kansas City Royals 2011 1st round draft pick (#5 overall), Bubba Starling is set to start his professional baseball career with Burlington Royals.

The Royals gave the 6'4" 180 lb. outfielder from Gardner Edgerton High School a $7.5M bonus, wooing him away from the football field and a Nebraska scholarship.

The Appalacian League begins play on June 19 and players are set to report to Burlington in the middle of next week.