Royals' Heath is perfect at plate in Fall League

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Nick Heath is showing in this year's Arizona Fall League that he has what it takes to serve as a top-of-the-order catalyst.
Heath, an outfielder in the Kansas City Royals organization, was perfect at the plate out of the leadoff spot on Saturday as he went 4-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored to help lead Surprise past Scottsdale, 4-0, at Surprise Stadium.
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"I learned my role this past year, kind of understood myself more as a baseball player. I do my best damage when I get on base, run and let the guys behind me drive me in," said Heath, who's hitting .417 with a circuit-leading 10 stolen bases in the Fall League.
Facing Scottsdale starter Forrest Whitley, the top-ranked pitching prospect (No. 8 overall), Heath quickly set the tone with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and then scored when No. 1 overall prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. laced a line-drive single to the wall in left-center field.
Heath, 24, bested Whitley in his next trip to the plate, too, this time by capping a nine-pitch at-bat with a triple down the right-field line after fouling off three consecutive pitches.
"He'd been working fastballs away, changeups away, but he ended up throwing me a curveball down and in … that's kind of my pitch, I like that down and in curveball," said Heath. "It stayed fair, and I just let the wheels work after that."
Facing Whitley for a final time in the fifth inning, Heath went the other way with an outside fastball, hitting it down the line, past the third baseman and into left field for a single.
"He threw his fastball outside of the plate really well today, and I had a little bit of trouble working with that," Heath reflected. "I just tried to stay with my approach, take the ball the other way or up the middle, and it worked out for me."
Heath picked up his fourth hit, a line-drive single to center field, two innings later. He eventually came around to score on Guerrero's sacrifice fly.
"Vlad can do whatever he wants to with the bat," said Heath. "The kid's unreal … it's really fun watching him hit."
Selected by Kansas City in the 16th round of the 2016 Draft out of Northwestern State, Heath enjoyed a breakout campaign this past season between Class A Advanced Wilmington and Double-A Northwest Arkansas. In 90 games between the two stops, the 6-foot-1 left-handed hitter produced a .274/.376/.358 line with 17 extra-base hits and 39 steals.
According to Heath, having that success while also reaching Double-A for the first time in his career has been key in his hot start in Arizona.
"Getting that call-up and seeing what the next level is like -- how guys approach pitching, how guys pitch to me and the guys around me -- definitely helped me out," he said. "Coming out here, it's being aggressive but being smart at the same time."
Guerrero, Toronto's top prospect, finished 1-for-3 at the plate, lowering his AFL average to .458.
Whitley, making his fourth Fall League start for the Scorpions, permitted two earned runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out four, did not issue a walk and threw 57 of his 84 pitches for strikes in the outing.
The 21-year-old righty attacked hitters with five pitches on Saturday, mixing a 91-95 mph fastball that topped out at 96 mph with a slider, cutter, curveball and changeup. The latter secondary offering was perhaps his most consistent; as he demonstrated an excellent feel for pairing it with his heater against left-handed hitters to generate both whiffs and weak contact. Overall, Whitley generated ten whiffs, including three swinging strikeouts.