Draft and Minor League Career
Affeldt was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the third round of the 1997 MLB Draft. He spent 1997 pitching for the rookie–league Gulf Coast League Royals. While with them, he went 2–0 with a 4.50 ERA in ten games (nine starts).
Affeldt improved with the GCL Royals the next year, going 4–3 with a 2.89 ERA in twelve games (nine starts). His performance even earned him a promotion to the single-A Lansing Lugnuts. Affeldt did not do well in his time with them, though, as he went 0–3 with a 9.53 ERA in six games (three starts).
In 1999, Affeldt spent the entire season with the Royals' single-A affiliate, which had changed to the Charleston Alley Cats during the offseason. Although he only went 7–7, he had a 3.83 ERA in twenty–seven games (twenty–four starts).
Affeldt pitched with the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the single-A advanced Carolina League in 2000. While with Wilmington, he led the entire Kansas City Royals' organization (and the Carolina League) with fifteen losses (to go with only five wins). He also threw seventeen wild pitches. However, his ERA was 4.09, and the Blue Rocks were only a half–game ahead of the worst team in the league (the Potomac Cannons).
2001 was a better season for Affeldt, as he went 10–6 with a 3.90 ERA in twenty–five starts for the double-A Wichita Wranglers. He was selected to pitch in the Texas League All-Star Game, and he was named to the postseason All–Star team.
Read more about this topic: Jeremy Affeldt
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