Royals In The Arizona Fall League: Zion Rose & Josh Hansell

[Eli Nitz]

In three games in a row, I saw Angeibel Gomez get to the field early. In the game he played, he warmed up immediately. On his days off, he mostly stayed in the dugout. I asked Zion Rose if Gomez was shy or a little reserved. Rose responded no, but he is still learning English. It reminded me that Gomez, while excelling on the field in the AFL at an age five years younger than the average player, is still just 17 years old and in the US for the first time. I had an opportunity to tell him in Spanish I was from Kansas City, here to watch him play, and I think that went a long way. Just a reminder that the players are human beings and have many factors that could affect their demeanor and on-field play.

Zion Rose

1st plate appearance: Single up the middle. On the second pitch, he stole second base easily. Rose tagged up on a fly ball to right-center and was safe with a close play at third. Rose scored on a balk.

2nd plate appearance: He struck out swinging.

3rd plate appearance: He grounded out to third.

4th plate appearance: Rose was using binoculars to see who was warming up in the Scorpions bullpen. He challenged a called strike. The call was overturned on a successful challenge. Rose grounded out to shortstop.

Defensively, Rose had a high fly ball back to the wall go just over his glove off the wall.

5th plate appearance: Rose hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

6th plate appearance: On a 3-0 count, Rose took strike 1. He walked on the 5th pitch. Bases loaded, so no chance to steal.

Josh Hansell

Hansel came on to pitch the 9th inning. He threw four straight balls to walk the leadoff hitter. The second batter struck out looking. The third batter hit into a double play. Game over.

After the game, I spoke with Phillies catcher Kehden Hettiger. When asked about Hansell, he said Hansell has an electric arm. They worked on pregame plans for how to attack the hitters. When I asked if there was anything else I should know, Hettiger reiterated electric arm with a huge smile.

With Halloween just two days away, I asked the players their favorite Halloween candy:

Zion Rose: Snickers

Brooks Bryan: Reeces

Austin Charles: Reeces

Josh Hansell: Reeces

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