He is batting .423.  His OBP is .500 and his OPS is 1.115.  It's only 7 games, so its a small sample size.  Still, it's impressive, particularly in Wilmington where we keep hearing about it being death valley for hitters.  Obvously his hand and his eyesight are much better, but now the early promotion last year makes a lot more sense to me.  Wonder when he will be promoted to Arkansas?

Assuming that Montgomery and Hosmer are at Arkansas by the end of the year, the Naturals should be in the playoffs again.  Last year Burlington, Wilmington and Northern Arkansas all made the playoffs - hopefully this year that will extend to Omaha.

Last spring, there was a lot of gloom on the pending roster and the undoubted inclusion of Ross Gload on it.  It looked like the Royals were so committed to Gload that nothing would stop them from bringing him back.  Then as spring training wound up, the Royals traded him for a player to be named later.  This year there are at least two places where they will probably have to trade or lose someone.  In the outfield, unless someone gets injured, one person will have to go (I am already assuming Brian Anderson starts in Triple A).  Of Podsednik, DeJesus, Ankiel, Guillen,  and Maiers, it looked like Maiers was the odd man out going into the spring.  He happens to be playing great; is out of options; and I will be totally torqued if he is cut or traded.  Any chance any of the others could be traded?

At infield, Callaspo, Bloomquist, and Fields are fighting for a spot.  That assumes that Aviles starts the year on the disabled list and that Gordon might start the year in Triple A on a rehab assignment.  Until Aviles comes back, Betancourt will have a job (I think), Getz is the second baseman and Butler the 1st baseman.  Oh and I forgot Kila who is also out of options and hitting well.  Somebody's got to go.  Fields might make it through waivers.  Callaspo probably has the highest value of the guys the Royals would trade - though it would tick off the fan base to trade the second best hitter last year.

Personally I am hoping Guillen gets traded for cash; Getz plays shortstop while Aviles starts the year at second; Betancourt gets traded for PTBNL; Fields gets through waivers; Gordon starts at Triple A.  Even with all that, I don't see how they can keep Kila, which bums me out (unless they traded Callaspo for someone good and Gordon could play opening day at third).  In any case, it seems to me that the Royals have more good players to give away than they have in the recent past.

EOC stands for Eternal Optimist Club.  I have only been a Royals fan for a few years (actually I have only been a baseball fan for a few years - late bloomer).  I don't have anywhere near the baseball statistical expertise that most of you have, but I believe that if a few things go the Royals way this could be an exciting year.

1.  Soria, Mahay, Meche and Greinke pitch as well as they did last year.

2.  Davies last two months of the season weren't a fluke.

3.  Hochevar continues to improve (say, dropping a half point off his ERA).

4.  Bannister rebounds to close to his 2007 season.

5.  McClure really did see something in Farnsworths mechanics that he can straighten out.

6.  Alex Gorden hits left handers like he did after the All Star break and improves all his stats.

7.  Coco Crisp is completely free of all his injuries and hits like he did late last year or like he did in Cleveland before being traded to the Red Sox.

8.  David DeJesus is David DeJesus

9.  Guillen feels the love of finally playing for the same team two years in a row and quits throwing gas on the fire.  He also stays healthy all year and can run again.

10.  Mark Teahen shows the second half of 2006 wasn't a fluke.

11. Billy Butler's lost weight gives him more range and speed on the bases and he hits to his ability

12.  The Jacobs/Butler/Shealy/Whoever platoon at 1st base hits over 30 HR

13.  Callaspo is the OBP hitter his minor league stats show he is and is not a liability at 2nd base.

14.  Aviles plays close to what he played like last year.

15.  Bloomquist can back up every position and sell tickets when the walk up lines get too long again.

I may be a cock-eyed optimist, but the Royals aren't in the AL East.  I think with a few things going their way, they could contend.