Daily Clips
March 1, 2017
LOCAL
Duffy accomplishes much in spring debut
Lefty starter able to work on slide step, changeup Tuesday
February 28, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/217438880/royals-danny-duffy-pleased-with-spring-debut/
KC's O'Brien crushes third HR of spring
February 28, 2017 By Adam McCalvy/MLB.com
http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/217404138/royals-peter-obrien-crushes-3rd-hr/
Slimmer Salvy vows to keep weight off
All-Star catcher feels great after losing 25 pounds in offseason
February 28, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/217415444/royals-salvador-perez-sporting-new-physique/
Starling still trying to make good on potential
2011 first-round pick struggled in 2016 after promising '15
February 28, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/217408250/clock-is-ticking-on-royals-bubba-starling/
Danny Duffy makes spring debut as Royals top Brewers 6-3
February 28, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article135605003.html
Royals’ Peter O’Brien leaves teammates in awe with ‘freaky’ power
February 28, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article135576573.html
Mellinger Minutes
February 28, 2017 By Sam Mellinger/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article135437614.html
MINORS
Royals to Open 2017 vs Kernersville
February 27, 2017 Burlington Royals
http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20170227&content_id=217282996&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_t483&sid=t483
NATIONAL
MLB will limit replay reviews to 2 minutes; Rob Manfred to meet with players
February 28, 2017 By Bob Nightengale/USAToday.com
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2017/02/28/limit-replay-reviews-2-minutes-rob-manfred-meet-players/98527888/
Manfred seeks continued talks with MLBPA
Commissioner to meet with union reps soon about potential changes
March 1, 2017 By Jamal Collier/MLB.com
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/217481626/commissioner-manfred-seeking-talks-with-mlbpa/
MLB TRANSACTIONS
March 1, 2017 •.CBSSports.com
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions
LOCAL
Duffy accomplishes much in spring debut
Lefty starter able to work on slide step, changeup Tuesday
February 28, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/217438880/royals-danny-duffy-pleased-with-spring-debut/
Royals left-hander Danny Duffy never likes to come out of a game. Not even a Spring Training game.
That's the competitor in him.
But even Duffy had to laugh when manager Ned Yost came out of the dugout to pull Duffy moments after the pitcher allowed a long home run to Brewers shortstop Yadiel Rivera with two outs in the second inning Tuesday. The Royals came back to beat the Brewers 6-3.
"My rule is," Yost said as he reached for the ball from Duffy, "if you give up a bomb, you're out."
Duffy smiled as he walked back to the dugout. Truth is, Duffy already was at 38 pitches anyway, three more than he had been scheduled to throw.
Duffy went 1 2/3 innings, gave up three hits and two runs, with one walk and one strikeout.
"I felt great," Duffy said. "My mechanics were kind of a tick off. And it might be too early to throw in the side step, but I tried to anyway."
Duffy likely will have one more tune-up outing before he leaves March 9 to play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic.
"I just wanted to get my pitch count up today," Duffy said. "I wanted to build up. My side sessions have been really good so far. Normally they aren't this time of year. But I just want to continue to progress. I thought I threw pretty well today."
Duffy also worked on his changeup.
"I think I threw a lot of them today," Duffy said. "I kind of wish I'd have faced more lefties. I wanted to try the lefty-lefty changeup more."
Duffy gave up a leadoff triple to Keon Broxton, then got a strikeout and a popout before allowing a soft single up the middle to Domingo Santana.
"I was really pleased with that first inning," Duffy said. "I got the punchout and the popup and almost got out of it. Just gave up that single."
Duffy wasn't exactly sweating the home run to Rivera, either.
"I've probably given up 30 homers in Spring Training," Duffy said. "Last year I gave one up one on the first pitch of the spring to a lefty. You'll never ever hear me make one excuse for pitching down here, because we all pitch off the same mound.
"But you can't focus on paper results here. You can't."
KC's O'Brien crushes third HR of spring
February 28, 2017 By Adam McCalvy/MLB.com
http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/217404138/royals-peter-obrien-crushes-3rd-hr/
Danny Duffy surrendered a run in each of his first two spring innings, but the Royals slugged their way back to beat the Brewers, 6-3, on Tuesday at Maryvale Baseball Park.
Royals catcher Brayan Pena doubled home two runs in the fourth inning to tie the game, and Ryan O'Hearn homered in the sixth off Brewers right-hander Hiram Burgos for a 3-2 lead. The Royals extended their lead with three more runs against Burgos in the eighth, when Peter O'Brien's two-run homer cleared the 30-foot batter's eye in center field -- O'Brien's third homer this spring.
"He has been fun to watch," Royals manager Ned Yost said of O'Brien. "You see him in batting practice, in games. His power is incredible."
The Royals have won three of their first four Cactus League games.
Duffy, the Royals' likely Opening Day starter, gave up three hits and two runs over 1 2/3 innings in his spring debut. Brewers right fielder Domingo Santana gave the Brewers an early lead with a single to score Keon Broxton, who had led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple. In the second inning, Duffy surrendered a solo homer to Brewers bench candidate Yadiel Rivera that banged off the batter's eye.
Duffy likely will throw once more before leaving March 9 to the join the United States team in the World Baseball Classic.
Right-hander Zach Davies started for Milwaukee after a 22-minute rain delay and worked one scoreless inning with two strikeouts. He would love to start Opening Day, but Brewers manager Craig Counsell has yet to make any announcements.
"I'm going to prepare like it," Davies said.
Royals up next: The Royals will get their first look at right-hander Nathan Karns against the Cubs at 2:05 p.m. CT Wednesday. Karns, acquired from Seattle in the offseason for Jarrod Dyson, is in a battle with Chris Young and Travis Wood for the No. 5 spot in the rotation. Karns will go two innings or 35 pitches.
Brewers up next: Bob Uecker makes his spring debut Wednesday with a radio broadcast of the Brewers-Reds game at 2:05 p.m. CT from Maryvale Baseball Park. Right-hander Chase Anderson is scheduled to make his spring debut against Cincinnati's Losalverto Bonilla.
Slimmer Salvy vows to keep weight off
All-Star catcher feels great after losing 25 pounds in offseason
February 28, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/217415444/royals-salvador-perez-sporting-new-physique/
Of all the Royals who showed up in camp in top shape, none perhaps is more noticeable than All-Star and Gold Glove catcher Salvador Perez.
Perez bought a home in Miami over the offseason, in part to be close to teammate Eric Hosmer so the two could train together.
And the results for Perez are impressive: He dropped from 240 pounds to 215.
"I lost a lot of weight," Perez said. "Twenty-five pounds. It's a lot. I never would have believed it."
But Perez also feels like he added muscle to his upper body.
"I can tell he feels strong," manager Ned Yost said.
Perez is off to a torrid start. In two spring games, he is 4-for-5 with two homers, two doubles and eight RBIs.
"He's as light as he's been in five or six years," Yost said. "He looks fantastic."
Yost isn't surprised that Perez put in the offseason work.
"He did it on his own," Yost said. "We didn't call him up and say 'Lose weight.' We didn't because he's always been productive. His weight never interfered with his game plan. But the lighter you are, it takes the workload off you a little bit. It's easier working with 25 pounds less than 25 pound more. It's to his benefit.
"And Salvy has always been a guy who wants to work hard to be in a position to be the best he can possibly be."
So far, Yost hasn't noticed a significant change in Perez defensively.
"Nah, he doesn't look that different on the field," Yost said. "He's always, for me, been very athletic for a big guy. But [losing weight] will take pressure off his legs.
"And [coach] Pedro [Grifol] always tells the catchers to stay quick and stay light. Sal was always a guy who lost weight during the season. But his focus this year was to lose the weight first and then maintain it."
Perez is determined not to put the weight back on.
"I hopefully can stay like this the rest of my career," Perez said.
Starling still trying to make good on potential
2011 first-round pick struggled in 2016 after promising '15
February 28, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
http://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/217408250/clock-is-ticking-on-royals-bubba-starling/
No one will say it out loud, not even Bubba Starling himself, but the clock is ticking on the former first-round pick.
Starling, 24, is no longer a kid, no longer a bright-eyed prospect so talented out of high school that the Royals made him the fifth overall pick in the 2011 Draft.
For years, the Royals waited patiently for Starling, a gifted athlete with Major League-ready defensive skills, to emerge offensively.
Starling struggled in the low Minors, but in 2015, the breakthrough appeared to come. Between Class A Wilmington and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Starling hit a combined .269 with a respectable .785 OPS.
Royals officials believed Starling was turning a corner.
Then came 2016. After a quick start, Starling faded at Northwest Arkansas, hitting .185 through 62 games.
The Royals, searching for ways to jump-start Starling, promoted him to Triple-A Omaha, thinking a fresh start statistically might give his confidence a bump. It didn't; he hit .181 there in 47 games.
Starling can't explain what went wrong.
"I think a lot of it is mental for me," Starling said. "I got caught up in different things."
And therefore, improving his mental approach is Starling's new mission.
"Definitely this year my goal is to go out and have more fun," he said, "be a better teammate and just have more confidence."
Talk to Starling long enough and you'll hear him mention the word "fun" repeatedly. Just enjoying the game again could let his tools come to the forefront.
"It's been going good," Starling said, smiling. "It's been fun."
Starling's other mission is to listen to his hitting coaches and especially to the veterans in camp.
"I'll keep working with the hitting coaches," he said. "I want to make sure and try to have some fun, too. But learn from the veteran guys. That's important."
Starling insists there's no pressure on him this camp.
"Not really," he said. "I'm just trying to listen to the hitting coaches and go from there.
"I think it's just another camp. Obviously I want to do well and do the best I can. That's the only thing you can control. There's no reason to worry about it.
"And it's great to be around the older guys and learn from them. That's the biggest thing about being here -- watch what they do and enjoy yourself."
Danny Duffy makes spring debut as Royals top Brewers 6-3
February 28, 2017 By Rustin Dodd/KC Star
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article135605003.html
Danny Duffy remained unfazed and encouraged after an unremarkable spring debut against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday afternoon.
The final line included two earned runs allowed in 1 2/3 innings, and a no-doubt homer by Brewers shortstop Yadiel Rivera. The performance, which came in the Royals’ 6-3 victory over Milwaukee, still represented progress, Duffy said.
“I felt great,” Duffy said. “My mechanics were just kind of a tick off.”
Duffy said he tried to incorporate his slide-step and focused on his change-up. The former threw off his timing and the latter left him using the change-up in some unusual counts. On the whole, though, Duffy said he was not discouraged by the effort. He reached his pitch count. His arm felt good. On to the next one.
“My side sessions have been really, really good,” Duffy said. “And this early they normally aren’t, and you just got to translate that in-between the lines. It felt good, though. I want to continue to progress with this.”
Duffy was making his first appearance since signing a five-year, $65 million contract extension in the offseason. The deal came on the heels of his best season, a campaign that featured a 3.51 ERA and career highs in innings (179 2/3 ) and strikeouts (188).
Duffy is now set to make another appearance for the Royals (3-1 in the Cactus League) before departing to compete in the World Baseball Classic on March 9. On Tuesday, Duffy said he was scheduled to make one appearance for Team USA before returning to the Royals to finish his preparation for the 2017 season.
For Duffy, the final tune-up before the WBC will also offer the opportunity to iron out some rough edges.
“It’s an easy fix, man,” Duffy said. “It’s going to be fine.”
The arms
After Duffy exited, the Royals received a slew of strong relief outings. Left-hander Matt Strahm allowed one hit and struck out two in two scoreless innings. Right-handers Peter Moylan, Kevin McCarthy, Yender Caramo and left-hander Eric Stout also logged scoreless innings.
Moylan, a non-roster invitee who is set to depart camp to play for Australia in the World Baseball Classic, has already logged two scoreless appearances in four games.
The regulars
Alex Gordon made a rare start in right field and continued his fast start, finishing 1 for 2 with a walk. Gordon is batting .429 (3 for 7) in a limited sample size.
With Gordon in right, that opened up left field for outfielder Jorge Soler, who finished 0 for 3 and is still hitless this spring.
Mike Moustakas was 0 for 4 while serving as the designated hitter and is still searching for his first hit.
The young guys
The Royals’ Irish contingent did most of the damage Tuesday. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn, one of the Royals’ top position prospects, gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead with a solo homer in the sixth. Peter O’Brien subbed for O’Hearn at first base and crushed his third homer in four games, a towering shot to center field. O’Brien is hitting .375 (3 for 8) with three homers and six RBIs in four games.
Outfielder Terrance Gore also chipped in with a rare double through the hole at shortstop, sparking a three-run rally in the eighth inning. It came in Gore’s first at-bat of the spring. Hunter Dozier, who relieved Cheslor Cuthbert at third base, scored Gore with an RBI single.