Should Royals fans be concerned about Mike Moustakas?</p><p>The short answer to that question is no. Or maybe heck no.</p><p>I get a lot of e-mail from Royals fans wondering about minor-league prospects. This is heartening, because when fans are following a team with that degree of detail, it speaks well of their emotional investment in the team. But lately, there seems to be a premature rush to label Moustakas a bust.</p><p>My responses to these prospect queries usually point out that like most Kansas Citians who follow the Royals, I don&#8217;t actually get a chance to see the minor-leaguers play. But I do track the progress of KC&#8217;s top prospects using statistics and encourage anyone who is curious to do the same.</p><p>We run minor-league averages at <em>The Star</em> pretty much every week. If you&#8217;re a prospect maven, you may have looked at those averages recently and found Moustakas under the statistical tables of the Burlington Bees next to a .223 batting average. Since Moose was KC&#8217;s top pick last season, you&#8217;re concerned, but you&#8217;re really only glimpsing the tip of the iceberg.</p><p>There is something to always keep in mind when following baseball through statistics: Always consider the numbers within the context in which they were created. This platitude is particularly important when judging the numbers of minor-league players, who play in wildly divergent environments and against variable levels of competition.</p><p>When looking at Moustakas, first consider that Burlington is a pitcher&#8217;s park in a pitcher&#8217;s league, though the Bees&#8217; home isn&#8217;t a bad park for home-run hitters. As a whole, Midwest League batters are hitting .247, and the league ERA is 3.56. All of the towns in the league are in cold-weather regions, which probably suppressed offense during the first month. This would have been particularly difficult for Moustakas, who hails from sunny southern California.</p><p>Age is probably the most important factor when evaluating prospects. Moustakas, 19, is the only position player on the Bees under 20. There are 20 or so batters in the league that young, and 10 of them have posted a better OPS (on-base plus slugging). Not great. Not terrible.</p><p>There are other factors you could consider, but you get the idea. The environment in which Moustakas has been playing has been challenging. He hasn&#8217;t lit the Midwest League on fire, but he does have four home runs and has been making more consistent contact as of late. He&#8217;s still holding down the shortstop position and has been successful in all three of his stolen-base attempts.</p><p>Look, I&#8217;m not trying to convince you that .223 is a good batting average in <em>any </em>environment. It&#8217;s not. But don&#8217;t let yourself get too worked up because of five weeks of a performance that, when judged in context, is nothing to really be alarmed about.</p><p>So if you were on the fence as to whether to invest in one of those moose-taco T-shirts, go right ahead. I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;ll be a collector&#8217;s item someday.