TWitM: Patteson punches his ticket, Rave parties hard

Plus, do the Royals really need to spend big at the deadline?

This Week in the Minors is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less-heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: “Who had a good week?”

This Week in the Minors: Tuesday, June 4 to Sunday, June 9

AAA Omaha Storm Chasers (42-19, 1st Place, International League West)

The Storm Chasers went 3-3 on the week but maintained a healthy 8.5 game lead for first place in the division. They’ve scored 357 runs this season, good for second in the International League. The offense kept rolling last week for outfielders John Rave and Drew Waters. They each had a team-high seven hits on the week. Waters had seven RBI, including two home runs, and a 1.228 OPS. Rave had two home runs of his own, slashing .333/.417/.714.

Lefty Kris Bubic made two starts on the week, going nine full innings. He allowed just two earned runs while leading the team with five strikeouts. Reliever Tyler Duffey had a strong week. He didn’t allow a run over four innings, holding opponents to a .214 average. Andrew Hoffmann returned from the injured list but struggled in his lone outing of the week. RHP Chandler Champlain went seven innings in his lone start on the week, allowing just one earned run. The Royals optioned Carlos Hernández to Omaha and he responded with a scoreless week. He made three appearances, didn’t allow a hit in any of them, and struck out three.

AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (25-32, 8.0 GB, Texas League North)

The Naturals went 3-4 on the week, playing an extra game as part of a doubleheader to make up a game from earlier this season. Catcher Rodolfo Durán led the offense with a team-high ten hits. He slashed .435/.440/.696 with nine RBI on the week. Durán isn’t a prospect, simply because he’s already 26, but he could be a late-bloomer much like Freddy Fermin, and could factor in as a solid backup option if a need arises someday. The other catcher on the Naturals roster, Luca Tresh, finished second on the team with seven hits. Three went for extra bases, and he finished the week with a .826 OPS.

Outfielder Gavin Cross landed on the seven-day injured list with back spasms. Javier Vaz slashed .308/.400/.538 with three stolen bases. He continues to be an under-the-radar consistent performer night in and night out for Northwest Arkansas.

Luinder Avila is finally settling into a groove after a couple of rough outings earlier this season. He made two starts last week, going 11.0 innings in all. He struck out 14 and allowed just one run to score over those two starts. Noah Cameron continues to work back from the injured list, going just 2.1 IP in his lone outing on the week. Reliever Noah Murdock made two appearances, pitching 3.1 innings in all. He didn’t allow a run and was rewarded with a promotion to Omaha on Monday.

A+ Quad Cities River Bandits (25-32, 11.0 GB, Midwest League West)

The River Bandits struggled on the week to a 2-4 record. Despite the struggles, some key members of the lineup continue to perform well. First baseman Brett Squires had 11 hits on the week, slashing .423/.467/.654. He had five RBI, one home run, and two stolen bases. Strikeouts are a tad high at times, but he’s continued what he started last season and looks ready to test tougher competition in Double-A. Carter Jensen continues to provide steady production at the plate in 2024. He had five walks and just three strikeouts and hit his sixth home run of the season.

Outfielder Carson Roccaforte posted a .579 slugging percentage for the week, thanks to three doubles and a home run. He walked three times and robbed a home run with a fantastic catch in center field as well. Fellow outfielder, Spencer Nivens, has had a slow start to the season. Some of that could likely be attributed to a hamstring injury that sent him to the injured list for a short while. He slashed .273/.360/.545 with a double, triple, and home run.

RHP Ben Kudrna got back on track with six solid innings in his lone outing of the week. He allowed two earned runs while striking out a team-high five. Ryan Ramsey allowed just one run to score in his five-inning start but struggled some allowing four walks. Steven Zobac pitched six scoreless innings without a walk, holding opponents to just a .200 average. Frank Mozzicato allowed just one run to score in five innings of work and surrendered just one walk on the night. He continues to search for command this season but landed more than 60% of his pitches for strikes last week. Reliever AJ Block didn’t allow a run to score and only worked around two base runners in 2.2 IP.

A Columbia Fireflies (30-25, 5.5 GB, Carolina League South)

It was a fantastic week for the Fireflies, finishing a perfect 6-0 against Fredericksburg. The FredNats offense looked miserable at the plate, lacking any sort of approach at the plate. They were swinging at nearly everything and Columbia took advantage. Hunter Patteson went eight scoreless innings in his only start this week, giving him the most innings pitched by any Royals prospect in Fireflies franchise history. He allowed three hits, no walks, and struck out five. That strong performance was enough for him to finally earn a promotion to Quad Cities. He’ll make his High-A debut this week.

Emmanuel Reyes made two starts this week. His second start on Sunday took just 35 pitches to get through five scoreless innings of work. In ten innings, he held opponents to a .194 BAA and had a dominant 0.90 ERA. Logan Martin allowed just one base runner over four scoreless innings in his piggyback outing behind Blake Wolters on Saturday. Wolters allowed just one run to score over five innings before Martin took over in relief.

Reliever Chase Isbell was perfect over 2.2 IP, notching three strikeouts and punching his ticket to Quad Cities alongside Hunter Patteson. First Baseman Chris Brito led the way on offense last week. He had a team-high six hits (tied with Erick Peña and Erick Torres). Brito had four RBI and five walks against just one strikeout while finishing the week with a team-leading 1.117 OPS. Peña slashed .400/.500/.533 with two doubles on the week. He only had seven strikeouts, which is pretty solid by his standards.

Here’s a look at all the roster moves that took place on Monday.