The team missed the postseason but developed some key Royals prospects.
The 2024 season didn’t go as well for the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals as it did for some other affiliates. The team finished the first half of the season a game above .500 at 35-34. From there, they finished with a 31-37 second-half record. The result was a season-long 66-71 record for the Naturals as they again missed the postseason. The last time the Naturals won a league title was in 2021.
The season was still a success as far as the Royals are concerned, as the Naturals helped to develop and transition a handful of notable prospects, either from High-A Quad Cities or to Triple-A Omaha.
Standout hitters for the Naturals in 2024
The Naturals finished third in the Texas League with 128 home runs this season. That production was led by infielders Josh Lester (18) and Dillan Shrum (16). A late-season power surge by Gavin Cross also helped as he finished his season with 15 home runs. Other notable prospects like Luca Tresh (14), Peyton Wilson (14), and Carter Jensen (8) also showed off some power throughout the long season.
It was Lester and Cross leading the way for much of the season. Cross, who struggled immensely in 2023 with the Quad Cities River Bandits, bounced back in a big way. His 91 wRC+ was mostly disappointing that season. In 2024 he got back on track, finishing with a 115 wRC+. He slashed .261/.342/.428. In the season’s first half, he was even better. From Opening Day through July 14, Cross slashed .289/.362/.441. Those results came alongside some back spasms, however, that impacted Cross over the back half of the season. A fully healthy season in 2025 could boost Cross’s stock even further as he hopes to debut in Kansas City sooner rather than later.
Gavin Cross had an excellent year for the Naturals. The Royals number 6 ranked prospect had career highs in five stats categories. Take a look back at some of Gavin’s highlights from this past season. pic.twitter.com/rqesTwGuss
— Northwest Arkansas Naturals (@nwanaturals) October 16, 2024
Beyond Cross and the other prospects listed above, second baseman Javier Vaz continued to quietly churn out excellent results most of the season. Vaz led all qualified Naturals with a .375 on-base percentage. In 115 games, Vaz walked 73 times and struck out just 60 times. His microscopic 4.1% swinging strike rate was even better than we saw last season with the Naturals. Vaz had 32 extra-base hits, including eight home runs. However, much of his value stems from elite contact skills and good speed. Vaz stole 16 bags and showed off excellent range defensively at second base.
Pitching was a struggle for the Naturals, but there are some standouts
There were standouts in the lineup, but pitching was a success in some aspects as well. The team led the entire Texas League with 1305 strikeouts on the season. Sadly, they also finished ninth out of ten teams with a 4.60 ERA. Starter ERA was 4.75 and relievers weren’t great either at 4.45. Despite strikeouts, the Naturals simply didn’t pitch well as a team for much of the season. Despite the struggles, there were some standouts, however.
Before the Lucas Erceg trade that sent him to Oakland, Mason Barnett tied for the team lead with Tyson Guerrero with 109 strikeouts on the season. Guerrero was solid on the season and eventually earned a late-season promotion to Omaha, finishing 2024 with a 3.69 ERA for the Naturals with 109 strikeouts and 43 walks over 102.1 innings. Noah Cameron and Eric Cerantola were both sharp as well but also left the Naturals for Omaha midseason. Cameron struck out 87 and walked 25 across 16 starts before moving to Omaha.
Cerantola pitched to a 2.78 ERA in 58.1 IP. Strikeouts were a strength, as he struck out 81 in that span. However, he also struggled with 42 walks.
Top prospects Steven Zobac and Ben Kudrna filled holes in the rotation by midseason as others started to move their way north. For Kudrna, the results weren’t all that great. He represented the Royals at this year’s Futures Game, alongside Gavin Cross. With Northwest Arkansas, Kudrna made nine appearances and finished with a 5.29 FIP in 45.2 innings of work. Kudrna’s K-BB% held steady at 13.7% with Quad Cities compared to 13.1% for the Naturals. The largest difference was contact. Opponents hit .278 against Kudrna at Double-A and he allowed nearly a home run per start (1.58 per nine innings). Limiting that contact will be a focal point of the offseason for Kudrna as he continues working toward Kansas City.
Zobac, on the other hand, became one of the best pitchers in the minor leagues after a midseason promotion. Zobac was solid with High-A Quad Cities, pitching to a 3.16 FIP over 14 appearances. After a midseason promotion, he was even better with a 2.87 FIP for the Naturals over 11 outings. Zobac saw his strikeout rate improve by more than eight percent to 28.6% over 55.1 innings of work. He walked just 14 while generating excellent whiff rates. Zobac sports a great fastball with outstanding command. The former outfielder at Cal has positioned himself as one of the team’s best pitching prospects entering 2025.
Other standouts for the Naturals included Luinder Avila (3.81 ERA) and Anthony Simonelli (2.35 ERA). Avila missed a good chunk of the season with injury but moved up to Triple-A Omaha for the team’s playoff run and has returned to the mound in this year’s Arizona Fall League. Simonelli was also sent to this year’s Fall League and finished the season as one of the Naturals’ best relievers. He posted a 32.7% strikeout rate across 57.1 innings pitched.