Pitching To Be Strength For Northwest Arkansas Naturals

STAFF PHOTO ANTHONY REYES Vance Wilson, Northwest Arkansas Naturals manager, speaks Monday during the Media Day conference at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. The event was followed by a practice open to the public.
STAFF PHOTO ANTHONY REYES Vance Wilson, Northwest Arkansas Naturals manager, speaks Monday during the Media Day conference at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. The event was followed by a practice open to the public.

— Northwest Arkansas ranked last in several major pitching categories last season, but first-year Naturals manager Vance Wilson said that shouldn't be the case this season.

Northwest Arkansas opens the season Thursday at Frisco, Texas, and the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals will make its Arvest Ballpark debut April 10, also against Frisco.

2014 Northwest Arkansas Naturals Roster

Name^Position

Jason Adam^Pitcher

Lane Adams^Outfielder

Scott Alexander^Pitcher

Noel Arguelles^Pitcher

Angel Baez^Pitcher

Jorge Bonifacio^Outfielder

Greg Billo^Pitcher

Ethan Chapman^Outfielder

Malcom Culver^Pitcher

Cheslor Cuthbert^Third baseman

Yowill Espinal^Infielder

Cody Fassold^Pitcher

Andy Ferguson^Pitcher

Angel Franco^Infielder

Micah Gibbs^Catcher

Juan Gratero^Catcher/First baseman

Sugar Ray Marimon^Pitcher

Tim Melville^Pitcher

Whit Merrifield^Utility

Parker Morin^Catcher

Hassan Pena^Pitcher

Edinson Rincon^Outfielder

Jared Schlehuber^Infielder

J.C. Sulbaran^Pitcher

Mark Threlkeld^Infielder

Justin Trapp^Second baseman/Outfielder

Andrew Trigg^Pitcher

The team held its first practice of the year Monday in Springdale.

Jason Adam, the No. 9 overall Royals prospect, anchors the starting rotation with former two-time top 10 prospect Tim Melville in the No. 2 spot. The bullpen has several power arms, and the No. 1 prospect, right-handed starting pitcher Kyle Zimmer, is expected to join the team sometime next month.

Andrew Triggs, Malcom Culver and Scott Alexander all were with the Naturals last season and are in the mix for closing roles out of the bullpen.

"Adam and Melville will anchor the top of the rotation," Wilson said at Monday's Media Day. "We have some pretty good back-end guys."

Melville, 24, was drafted out of high school in 2008 and was once ranked as high as the No. 5 prospect in the Royals' farm system. But the 6-foot-5, 210-pound right-hander has missed most of the last two seasons with injuries. Melville is 22-33 with a 4.55 ERA since being drafted.

"I feel like I have some unfinished business," Melville said. "You are always disappointed when an injury first happens. But like with anything, you try and make the best of it. But in the end, you definitely grow from it, and I am excited to be back."

Melville suffered a broken finger a month into the 2012 season with the Naturals, and he then had Tommy John elbow surgery in October of 2012. Since his sixth game with the Naturals in 2012, Melville has seen limited action, including just 3 2/3 innings of work last season. But Wilson said the Wentzville, Mo., native was impressive in spring training.

"Very impressed," Wilson said. "I don't have much of a history with Tim before he got hurt. I saw his first bullpen of the spring, and I got a little bit of a wow factor. You never know what you are going to get from a guy coming back from Tommy John and has been out that long.

"But when you have a guy with that size and with that pitch repertoire, it's pretty exciting."

Wilson said one of the things that made an impression is Melville's willingness to improve.

"In his last outing this spring, he was throwing the ball well but out of the zone," Wilson said. "I grabbed him and told him what this is, what you need to do, and he made the adjustment right away. Mentally he is back into it. I'm glad to have him."

Wilson, who has called Springdale home for the past 20 years, was the manager at Kane County, Ill., in 2011 and the manager at the Royals Class A-Advanced team in Wilmington, Del., the past two seasons.

"Exciting team, and most of them I have had the last couple of years," he said. "You want to have talent before you have good guys. But it is really cool when you have talent and good guys. They are very talented. Between the veterans in Triple-A and this youth, I look for these guys to be part of some world championships in the near future."

Sports on 04/01/2014

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