Royals' No. 1 prospect hurts Hillcats

In his first six at-bats of this series, Mike Moustakas did very little to remind folks why he was the No. 2 pick overall pick in the 2007 MLB first-year player draft and the Kansas City Royals’ top-rated prospect. After driving in a run with a dribbler to right field in his first at-bat Friday, the Wilmington third baseman went hitless in his next five trips to the plate, only once getting the ball out of the infield.

Those struggles aside, Baseball America’s scouting report on Moustakas, who won’t turn 21 until Sept. 11, is glowing.

“Moustakas punishes balls with quick wrists, exceptional bat speed and a vicious stroke,” the publication’s 2009 Prospect Handbook notes.

He showed a flash of that power in his third at-bat Saturday night, stroking a 2-2 slider from Hillcats pitcher Paul Mildren over the fence in right, jumpstarting Wilmington’s rally from four runs down. The Blue Rocks won 6-5 to even the weekend series at a game apiece.

Moustakas hit 22 home runs last season, his first full year of professional baseball, and became the Midwest League’s first teenage home run champ since Steve Gibralter in 1992. Saturday’s shot was his sixth homer in six weeks of Carolina League action, and it showcased some of his savvy at the plate.

“I was just looking for a good pitch to hit, and (Mildren) wasn’t throwing me much,” Moustakas said. “He threw me a first-pitch slider and made me look pretty foolish on it. So I knew he was going to come back to it. He threw it in the same place and I just got the barrel through it.”

Wilmington tied the game in the eighth when Jeff Bianchi, who reached on a lead-off double, scored on a passed ball.

Johnny Giavotelli, who was mired in a 1-for-21 funk before picking up three hits Saturday, drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth with a broken-bat RBI single to right.

Giavotelli, like Moustakas, is one of the Royals’ top 30 prospects. They’re part of a core that includes outfielder David Lough and pitchers Danny Duffy and Juan Abreu, all of whom helped Kansas City’s low-A team in Burlington, Iowa, win the 2008 Midwest League championship.

Kansas City’s system is rich with talent, and the Royals have kept that young group together to see if they can continue to win as they advance through the organization.

“In this game, you can’t have just one great player and win games,” Moustakas said. “You’ve got to have a bunch of guys to do it. You get comfortable with the guys you play with. You know their strengths, their weaknesses. You can build around that.”

Moustakas played much of last season at shortstop before converting to third base late in the year. With the emergence of rookie Mike Aviles at the big-league level last year, shifting the organization’s top draft pick to third made sense. Moustakas noted that the coaching staff at Wilmington is much harder on him defensively than Burlington’s. He may not be done moving. Moustakas has the ability to play in the outfield. Some scouts say he has the makeup to be a successful big-league catcher.

His glove is still a work in progress, as evidenced by a play late Saturday. With two outs in the ninth and Lynchburg’s Maiko Loyola on second, Moustakas fielded a grounder and instead of tossing across to first for the final out, he dove to try to tag Loyola, who slid under the tag safely into third. Wilmington closer Aaron Hartsock bailed Moustakas out, though, striking out Jose De Los Santos to end the threat.

Moustakas was one of two No. 2 overall picks playing this weekend — Lynchburg’s Pedro Alvarez is the other. Both are represented by super agent Scott Boras and both commanded large signing bonuses at the signing deadline the year they were drafted.

Both play third base and both bat third in their respective lineups, and both have power strokes that could make them future franchise cornerstones.

The two have chatted before and after each of the teams’ five meetings this season.

“During BP (batting practice) we’ll talk, and after games, we’ll say a little something to each other,” Moustakas said. “Nothing too extravagant.

“He’s a great ballplayer and a great guy. It’s pretty cool when you get a good dude like that, who was drafted No. 2 overall too.”