Talking Chop

On a pitching staff with heralded Royals lefthanded prospects Mike Montgomery and Danny Duffy, righthanded pitcher Todd Redmond, who has spent the last two seasons playing AAA for the Atlanta Braves, once again established himself as the ace of the USA National team. Redmond and the Royals lefthanders donned the red, white, and blue to compete in the 2010 Pan Am games in Puerto Rico. The team also included Royals hitting prospects Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, as well as Angels prospect Mike Trout and former Braves prospect Tim Collins. The team dominated the international competition early, winning each of their first 9 contests before losing to eventual gold medal winner Dominican Republic in the semifinals. The bronze medal game was rained out, meaning Team USA shares the bronze with Venezuela.

Redmond led the USA team in innings pitched, tossing 12.2 innings over 2 starts, one against Puerto Rico and one against Nicaragua. He won both contests, allowing just 2 earned runs, 10 hits, and 2 walks, and struck out 12. In 2009, he anchored USA's World Cup staff, going 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA in three starts, covering 22 innings, holding batters to a .147 average while striking out 17 and only walking 1. In 2 years of international competition, Redmond has combined to go 5-0 in 5 starts, with a 1.30 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, and 27 strikeouts in 34.2 innings.