2024 Naturals: Year for the Record Books

SPRINGDALE, Ark. – The 2024 Northwest Arkansas Naturals season came to a close on September 15, the 16^th season and 17^th year of baseball in Springdale, Arkansas. The summer was filled with excitement, prospects, a playoff chase, numerous big league call-ups, a bounty of prospects, and fun-filled nights at Arvest Ballpark.

On the field the team finished with a 66-71 record, going 35-34 in the first half while finishing two games out of first place and 31-37 in the second half, 12.5 games out of the final playoff spot. The pitching staff led the Texas League with 1,305 strikeouts for the season, the second-most in club history behind 2023’s 1,316. The team’s .244 batting average against was the lowest in NWA’s 16 seasons, letting up the second-lowest amount of hits behind 2021’s shortened season (119 games). The pitching staff held opposing teams to 103 homers, the third-lowest total in club history, too. The Naturals joined the 2013 and 2018 teams with nine shutouts in 2024, the third-most in a season since the team’s inaugural season in 2008.

The hitters were one of the best slugging teams in NWA history, too. Their 128 long balls were the fourth-most by a Naturals team and 18 more than the 2023 club. The batters also worked the fourth-most walks of any Naturals team to take the field with 499. They also grounded into the second-fewest double plays with 68.

Speaking of fielding, the 2024 club was the slickest fielding team in Naturals history. Their .983 fielding percentage is the highest for a Naturals squad along with their franchise-low 83 errors this season.

Tommy Shields was back to manage the team, improving on his 64-75 record from 2023 while bringing his record as Naturals manager to 130-146. He’s won the third-most games as skipper in NWA history behind Vance Wilson (2014-17, 254) and Brian Poldberg (2008-13, 495). Larry Carter returned as the team’s pitching coach as did Andy LaRoche as the hitting coach and Kevin Kuntz as the assistant, while Chris Nelson came back to NWA for the first time since 2018 as the Naturals assistant hitting coach. Sam Eades (assistant pitching coach), Brad Groleau (athletic trainer), and Ted Elsner (strength and conditioning coach) all finished out their first season with Northwest Arkansas.

The team had a flair for the dramatics, earning six walk-off wins, all of which came between May 9 and June 27. All of their last-second victories were against divisional opponents and they scored walk-off wins against every opponent in the North this season.

Notable Roster and MLB Debuts

The Naturals were led by top prospects like OF Gavin Cross (#6), who was with the team all year. RHP Ben Kudrna (#3) was the highest-rated Royals prospect the team had on the roster this year along with C Carter Jensen (#5), LHP Noah Cameron (#12), INF Javier Vaz (#13), RHP Chandler Champlain (#16), RHP Steven Zobac (#17), RHP Luinder Avila (#26), LHP Tyson Guerrero (#27), and Eric Cerantola (#29). OF Asbel Gonzalez (#20) joined the team for the season's final series at just 18 years old, for 11 of the Kansas City Royals top-30 prospects who donned the Naturals jersey this season.

Up-and-comers were paired with seasoned veterans throughout the year this season, too. INF Josh Lester, INF Kevin Padlo, LHP Jake Brentz, and RHP Ricky Karcher all arrived in NWA having already made their MLB debuts. The Naturals also played host to nine MLB rehab assignments from KC, with the likes of OF MJ Melendez, INF Michael Massey, and LHP Austin Cox all re-joining the Naturals after making stops in Springdale on their way to the majors. Massey even played second base on opening night while Melendez had the lone hit for a rehabbing hitter, the front end of back-to-back homers with Gavin Cross at Arvest Ballpark. INF Adam Frazier, OF Hunter Renfroe, LHP Kris Bubic, RHP Michael Lorenzen, RHP John Schreiber, and LHP Josh Taylor all joined Northwest Arkansas for the first time in their careers on their way back to Kansas City following injuries.

Big leaguers came to Northwest Arkansas but they also came from NWA. Five former Naturals reached the Majors with INF CJ Alexander (2022), OF Tyler Gentry (2022), RHP Will Klein (2022-23), and LHP Walter Pennington (2022-23) all debuting with the Royals while RHP Gerson Garabito (2019) made his debut with the Texas Rangers. Our broadcaster, Shawn Murnin, made his MLB debut with the Royals this season, too!

New Look and the Big Game

There were a few big things that happened before the season even started this year! In December, Northwest Arkansas unveiled a reimagined look for the franchise. Armed with new logos, jerseys, hats, and a fresh paint job, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals were ready for the 2024 season to begin but it got started a little early.

Arvest Ballpark hosted the Kansas City Royals Exhibition Game on March 25 in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,811 fans. Bobby Witt Jr., Brady Singer, Vinnie Pasquantino, and the Captain, Salvador Perez, returned to Arvest Ballpark to take on a cast of future Naturals and the game didn’t disappoint. Singer threw six scoreless innings while Nelson Velaźquez hit the only home run of the night for the Royals. Witt Jr., Hunter Renfroe, Adam Frazier, and Kyle Isbel all added hits while MJ Melendez had two knocks in the Royals' 7-1 win where there were no real losers. Opening Night came just a week and a half later and the Naturals were off and running in 2024.

Team Highs

The Naturals had some stellar individual efforts this season as well. RHP Steven Zobac was dynamite after a promotion to NWA, winning all six of his starts in August. The righty’s best game of the year went into the Naturals record books as he became the fourth pitcher in club history to strike out 12 or more hitters in a game. He allowed two hits that night against the Amarillo Sod Poodles while needing just 80 pitches to navigate 7.0 innings, the lowest pitch total for any player in NWA history who recorded 11 or more strikeouts in a game.

Naturals pitchers went 7.0 innings in a start four times, the team-high in innings pitched for the year. Zobac was joined by Luinder Avila and Tyson Guerrero, who did it twice before his promotion to AAA Omaha. Naturals pitchers reached double-digit strikeouts five times, too. Zobac’s 12 was the most with Mason Barnett, Eric Cerantola, Chandler Champlain, and Guerrero all getting to 10. Cerantola’s 10 K’s came in a relief appearance in April at Tulsa over just 4.0 innings, the only pitcher to get to 10 strikeouts in less than 5.0 innings since the Naturals inaugural season in 2008.

Eight pitchers had shutout streaks of 10.0 innings or more this season, but no one did it longer than Tyson Guerrero. The lefty didn’t allow a run over three starts totaling 19.0 innings from July 24 through August 4, letting up just four hits with 15 strikeouts and five walks.

On the offensive side, the Naturals showed off their power in multiple games. Seven times an NWA hitter managed two-homer games including Gavin Cross, Dillan Shrum, Luca Tresh, while Josh Lester and Peyton Wilson accomplished the feat twice.

Wilson went off in his two-homer game against Springfield on May 7, plating a team-high six RBI while collecting 10 total bases. Wilson’s RBI total was tied for the second-highest total in club history and his 10 total bases were tied for the eighth-most in team history.

Rodolfo Durán tied a team record on June 14 when he became the third player in the Naturals’ record book to record three doubles in a single game. In August Tyler Tolbert joined him to become the fourth, smacking three two-baggers against Frisco. Josh Lester scored four times on June 7 against Wichita, tying the second-most in NWA team history.

Great as a Group

The 2024 season featured some incredible team performances, too. On June 16, the Naturals has 20 hits against the Springfield Cardinals. That tally is tied for the second-most in a single game in team history and the eighth time the Naturals have put up 20 or more hits in a game since 2008. Since 2021 the team’s had four 20-plus hit games. Two days before that, Northwest Arkansas hit five home runs, tied for the third-most in game while falling two shy of the team record.

One of the most impressive performances in Naturals history happened on April 20 with the Midland RockHounds in town. Tyson Guerrero (8), Eric Cerantola (4), Jacob Wallace (5) and Noah Murdock (2) combined to strike out 19 Midland hitters, tying the club record from 2013. The original record took 20 innings to secure, whereas the Natural’s 19 in 2024 took just nine.

Record Book Reordered

The Naturals players also made some history as individuals. Javier Vaz’s 80 runs were the seventh-most by a player in NWA’s history. His 73 walks were the fourth-most by a Natural and the most since Robbie Glendinning’s 75 in 2022. Tyler Tolbert stole 40 bases, tied for the sixth-most, combined with his 50 from 2023 he’s swiped the third-most for a Naturals career. Tolbert also has 24 career sacrifices, the fourth-most in NWA history. Speaking of career records, Dillan Shrum set the single season record for being hit by pitch in 2023 with 23. He was clocked 12 more times this season and has the career number with 35, 10 more than the previous record set over four seasons by Mario Lisson.

Anderson Paulino fell one-appearance shy of Jacob Wallace’s team record of 49 from last year. While he fell just shy of the appearance record, Paulino finished 34 games to set the team record for a single season. Beck Way appeared in the third-most games for a Naturals pitcher with 47 and his 12 saves are tied for the fourth most for a Naturals reliever for a season. Wallace, who got into 42 games in 2024, has 91 games under his belt as a Natural which is the fourth-most in an NWA career.

With 2024 in the books, the Naturals and the Texas League are already looking toward the 2025 season. NWA begins the year on the road against the Tulsa Drillers at ONEOK Field on April 4 with a three game series before the Naturals return to Arvest Ballpark for the home opener on April 8, hosting the Frisco RoughRiders, the Texas Rangers Double-A Affiliate.

The Naturals are the Double-A Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Arkansas. For more information, including tickets, groups, stats, and more, visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us @NWANaturals (X/Instagram) and Facebook.com/Naturals.

-Naturals-