Chris George: The best pitching prospect in
the Royals system, this 21-year-old, 6-foot-2, 190 pound left-hander is
already drawing comparisons to Braves ace Tom Glavine with his
potential.
A supplemental first round pick in the 1998 draft,
George spent 2000 splitting time between Double-A Wichita (8-5, 3.14 ERA,
97 IP, 92 H, 51 BB, 80 SO in 18 GS) and Triple-A Omaha (3-2, 4.84 ERA, 45
IP, 47 H, 20 BB, 27 SO in 8 GS). His season finished as being part of the
gold metal Olympic team.
Like Glavine, George doesn't really over
power batters. He possesses a very good changeup combined with a fastball
that is consistently in the low-90s and can reach a few notches
higher. Needs to continue to work on developing the rest of his pitches, a
curve and slider, at Triple-A in 2001. the walk totals were high, but
those seem to come when he attempts to do too much rather than just
letting his stuff take care of things.
Unless he really is
impressive in spring training, look for George to open 2001 at Triple-A
where he can iron out the few rough edges in his game. If things go well
as I would anticipate, he could be pitching in Kansas City shortly after
the all-star break.