[Farm] Miguel Almonte
The Kansas City Royals promoted right-hander Miguel Almonte from Triple-A
Omaha to the major league roster this morning. This is a short-term move; he
takes the place of Dillon Gee on the roster, with Gee taking some days off
for paternity leave.
Although Almonte may not see much action at this point, he is one of the
better, if erratic, prospects in the Royals system. Here's a quick profile.
First, the basics from the 2016 Baseball Prospect Book:
Miguel Almonte, RHP, Kansas City Royals
Bats: R Throws: R HT: 6-2 WT: 180 DOB: April 4, 1993
2013: Grade C+; 2014: Grade B+; 2015: Grade B
The whole has been less than the sum of the parts for Miguel Almonte the
last couple of years. He has plenty of arm strength, working at 90-95 as a
starter and hitting 97-98 in relief. His change-up is usually effective and
he uses it a lot, but his curveball remains inconsistent and his command
comes and goes. He finished 2015 as a reliever and that’s most likely his
best role going forward, but he needs more time in Triple-A to iron out the
kinks. I have been very optimistic in the past and I still like his upside.
Grade B-.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY:
Almonte performed pretty well in spring training, seeing 10 innings of work
with the major league team and posting a 10/4 K/BB with a 2.70 ERA. This was
enough to get him on the short list for potential recalls but his early
outings at Omaha were more difficult: he threw just five total innings in his
first two starts due to command troubles, giving up eight runs on three hits
and seven walks. He did fan eight.
Since he's pitched in my neck of the woods I've seen Almonte in person
several times. When he's right he's quite tough, firing up a mid-90s fastball
and mixing it with a good change-up while flashing an effective breaking ball.
When he's wrong he loses the bite on the breaking ball. When that happens,
everything goes down hill; he tends to start overthrowing the fastball on
days when the breaker isn't reliable, causing his walk rates to rise and all
three pitches to play down.
Essentially, Almonte is still learning the difference between throwing and
pitching, between throwing simple strikes and commanding location within the
strike zone. Although relief work may very well be his ultimate destination,
I don't think it is a foregone conclusion just yet. He is still just 23 but
since he's been on prospect lists for several years, it is easy to lose
patience.
Almonte seems like the type who would be served well by the Earl Weaver
strategy of young pitcher deployment, breaking him in as a long reliever but
with an eye to still making him a starter eventually. For now, Almonte will
fill a roster spot until Gee has fulfilled his family obligations, then will
likely return to Omaha for more innings.
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