Before the game this afternoon, Ryan Lefebvre interviewed J.J. Picollo, the director of player development for the Royals. Picollo spoke about a few players in the minor leagues that Royals fans are definitely interested in hearing more about.
Here's a summary of what he said...
- Billy Buckner (currently pitching in Wichita): Picollo said that Buckner has found the right release point on his breaking ball. Let's hope it helps. He's off to a bit of a rough start. In his three starts, he's 1-2 with a 4.70 ERA.
- Luke Hochevar (currently pitching in Wichita): The Royals recently boosted his pitch count by 15 pitches. He was on a low pitch count because he missed so much time last season. He was dominant in his last outing, during which he threw 7.2 innings of shut out ball against the San Antonio Missions. He struck out eleven guys. After three starts, he's 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA.
- Billy Butler (currently playing in the outfield in Omaha): Picollo said that Butler has noticed a difference between Double-A pitching and Triple-A pitching already. In Triple-A, he's noticed that pitchers change speeds better. Butler is working on laying off pitches that are off the plate. He's doing a pretty good job of it. In 17 games, he's hitting .322 with 4 HR and 16 RBI. He's also drawn 12 BB.
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