After the big league bullpen trashed another excellent starter appearance – that makes four horrendous outings in the first eight games for the pen – reports on several prospects in the system provided the glimmers of hope that have sustained me as a fan for the past 20-plus years.

Lefty Mike Montgomery, one of a growing list of minor league pitching prospects for the Royals, provided a glimmer of hope last night in what already appears to be another lost season at the major league level. Montgomery turned in the first truly stellar performance of his fledgling professional career, an effort that had Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper raving.

Aaron Crow, the 2009 first round choice starting the season in AA for seasoning, made his second start and pitched a very solid six innings. In addition to the K/BB ratio, he also induced 11 ground ball outs.

Tim Melville, a signability gamble in the 2008 draft the Royals selected in the fourth round and signed for first-round money, bounced back from a poor showing in his first start with a dominating five innings today.

Catcher Wil Myers, another signability gamble in the 2009 draft the Royals selected in the third round and signed for first-round money, is making progress with the tools of ignorance and making adjustments to full-season professional baseball after tearing it up in his rookie league debut.

Further, Gaby Hernandez flashed some of the stuff that once made him a prospect and worth a waiver claim when the Red Sox gave up on him this spring.

Royals GM Dayton Moore is spending a lot of money improving the minor league system, particularly stockpiling young arms. I hope his administration is able to reverse the 25-year slide we Royals fans have endured since the 1985 championship season. Let’s hope Crow, Montgomery, Melville and the others are elements of a new big league staff in the very near future that has the success of Bret Saberhagen, Mark Gubicza, Danny Jackson, et al.