Chris Lubanski in high school
Let's Play "You're the Farm Director!"
You are Farm Director of the Kansas City Royals. Looking over your April stat report, you notice that 2003 first-round pick Chris Lubanski is having a terrible time in the California League. The 20-year-old outfielder is hitting .173/.229/.333 in 17 games for High Desert. Most worrisome are his strikeouts: he's already fanned 28 times in those 17 games, over 75 at-bats. He does have 6 doubles and 2 homers, but he has been in a deep slump lately and the contact numbers are very poor.
Reviewing Lubanksi's history: he was the fifth overall pick in 2003, out of high school in Pennsylvania. He hit .275/.336/.414 in the Midwest League last year, not terrific numbers. But he was 19 years old, in full-season ball, playing in a poor park for hitters, and he did hit over .300 in the second half of the season. There's nothing wrong with his work ethic or intelligence.
So, what do you do with him? Do you leave him at High Desert the rest of the year to work out his problems? Do you send him back to Burlington right now to try and boost his confidence? Or do you wait a while before considering a demotion? Remember, he would just be a sophomore in college right now if he hadn't signed in '03, so he still has a lot of development time ahead of him. But he looks overwhelmed right now, and this sort of performance is not what you expected.
You're the farm director. What do you do with him?
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