Daily Clips
February 26, 2018
LOCAL
Oaks delivers with scoreless debut for Royals
Mondesi continues fast start with pair of singles vs. A's
February 25, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
After dizzying week, Saunders digs in as a Royal
Outfielder initially signed with Pirates Wednesday, nullified deal after Bucs acquired Dickerson
February 25, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals get spring gifts with annual Glove Day
February 25, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals 4, Athletics 4: Yost happy with pitching, Mondesi after 2 spring games
February 25, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
This pitcher is trying to replace Peter Moylan as sidearm relief arm on Royals roster
February 25, 2018By Shawn Moran/KC Star
After tough 2017, new Royals outfielder Michael Saunders trying to re-establish career
February 25, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
NATIONAL
Kansas City Royals 2018 season preview: Building the next championship core
The Royals lost many of their core players to free agency over the winter
February 25, 2018By Mike Axisa/CBSSports.com
Eric Hosmer bids classy farewell to Kansas City fans with newspaper ad
February 25, 2018By Steve Gardner/USA Today Sports
Lefty slugger LoMo, Twins agree to deal
According to source, deal is for one year with vesting option
February 25, 2018By Rhett Bollinger/MLB.com
MLB TRANSACTIONS
February 26, 2018 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Oaks delivers with scoreless debut for Royals
Mondesi continues fast start with pair of singles vs. A's
February 25, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Right-hander Trevor Oaks, acquired from the Dodgers in the off-season and in the hunt for a back-of-the-rotation spot, admits he had some butterflies prior to his first Cactus League start on Sunday.
But Oaks came through just fine, tossing two scoreless innings in the Royals' 4-4 tie with the A's. He gave up one hit while walking one.
"The first one's always kind of nerve-wracking because you haven't pitched in games in a while," Oaks said. "The game speed is a little different, especially with a new team. You know, you obviously want to impress the coaches and stuff.
"But I got some good advice from friends that said, 'Just be who you are. Don't try to do too much. They know exactly what they wanted when they traded for you, so just be who they traded for.'"
Royals manager Ned Yost liked what he saw from Oaks.
"He had really good movement on his pitches," Yost said.
Oaks gave his day a thumbs up as well.
"Fell underneath my slider a little bit so I wasn't too pleased with that, but there's a lot of time to work on it," Oaks said. "But fastball had decent command."
Mondesi starts hot
Like he did last spring, the switch-hitting Adalberto Mondesi is off to a quick start. Mondesi had two line-drive singles to left while hitting left-handed. He now is 3-for-4 after two games.
"That second one the other way was on a breaking ball, too," Yost noted.
First-base competition
Frank Schwindel, the Royals' George Brett Hitter of the Year in 2017, got the start at first base on Sunday and made one fine play when he snared a foul fly down the right-field line over his shoulder.
Tough chance
Left fielder Jorge Soler was hit with a three-base error on Saturday after dropping a fly ball near the wall in left-center at Surprise Stadium. Yost didn't seem overly concerned.
"He kind of just misjudged it a little," Yost said. "Just getting used to finding the track, dealing with the wind. All early camp stuff. I thought he looked good out there. The first ball hit to him he got there quickly, made a good turn, nice play."
Funky delivery
Left-hander Tim Hill and his sidearm delivery continue to impress early in camp as he battles for a bullpen spot. Hill threw a scoreless ninth on Saturday.
"Some funkiness to [that delivery]," Yost said. "Lot of action to that sinker/slider. Good velocity. Interesting guy for sure. That sinker, that ability to keep it down, makes it tough for righties, too."
Up next
The Royals will travel to Scottsdale, Ariz., to take on the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium on Monday at 2:05 p.m. CT. Left-hander Brian Flynn, who is out of options and trying to secure a spot in the bullpen, will get the start. Also expected to pitch are right-handers Sam Gaviglio, Scott Barlow, Brad Keller, Blaine Boyer, Glenn Sparkman.
After dizzying week, Saunders digs in as a Royal
Outfielder initially signed with Pirates Wednesday, nullified deal after Bucs acquired Dickerson
February 25, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Outfielder Michael Saunders had a week he's not likely soon to forget.
After signing with the Pirates on Wednesday, he boarded a flight from his home in Denver on his way to camp in Florida. Saunders had just enough time to get in a Pirates uniform and step on the field Thursday.
By Friday morning, Saunders was on a red-eye flight to Arizona to join the Royals.
"Seemed like I got to the Pirates and a day later I was gone on my way [here]," Saunders said.
Before signing with the Pirates, Saunders, 31, and general manager Neal Huntington had come up with a handshake agreement that would protect Saunders' interests if the Bucs acquired anyone else for competition in the outfield. And the Pirates did just that, acquiring Corey Dickerson on Thursday.
"[The Pirates] were real honest with us," Saunders said. "The Dickerson deal was already in the works. We agreed if a better opportunity came up … and that opportunity came up with the Royals."
Saunders still will have an uphill battle to crack the Royals' roster. He's on a Minor League deal, and the Royals are going through a prominent rebuild.
But the Royals need left-handed bats, and Saunders is anxious to prove his .202 season last year with the Phillies and Blue Jays is not who he is as a player. He was an All-Star with the Blue Jays in 2016, when he hit 24 home runs.
"No excuses about last year," he said. "Tough year. But I feel like you learn more from failure than success. A lot of people want to forget about failure, but I use it to drive me to get better."
Does Saunders feel like he has something to prove?
"It's about opportunity," Saunders said. My goal is to break camp and make the team. I know I have a lot of good baseball left in me. I really like the Royals' organization. I've always admired how they play and go about the game."
Royals get spring gifts with annual Glove Day
February 25, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
It's the day many Royals players look forward to each Spring Training -- the annual Wilson Glove Day, when representatives hand out the new model gloves.
The Royals have several players under contract with Wilson, including Ian Kennedy, Jorge Bonifacio, Jorge Soler, Nathan Karns, Hunter Dozier and Wily Peralta. One by one, they lined up and received their new Wilson gloves outside the clubhouse on Sunday morning.
It was especially significant for Dozier, who is trying to make the conversion from third base-outfield to first base this spring.
Dozier ordered his first first baseman's glove prior to last year's Spring Training.
"It's hardly been used," Dozier said. "You can tell."
Dozier, who also has a third-base glove and an outfield glove from Wilson, ordered a different model first baseman's glove this time around.
"I should be getting that one in pretty soon," he said. "The one I'm using now should last a couple of years at least. But I just wanted to try something else, too, and have a backup obviously. The one I have now has the leather that's called super skin, which makes it a little lighter.
"The new one I ordered is a little softer leather. I'll just get the new one and see which one I like better."
Dozier said it takes about two weeks to break a glove in.
And what will determine whether or not he likes the new glove better?
"If I make any errors with this one, I'll try the new one," Dozier said, smiling.
Royals 4, Athletics 4: Yost happy with pitching, Mondesi after 2 spring games
February 25, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
The Royals remained undefeated in Cactus League competition on Sunday with a 4-4 tie against the Oakland Athletics at Hohokam Stadium.
The game
Between starting pitcher Trevor Oaks and sterling performances from Andres Machado and Foster Griffin, Royals manager Ned Yost found plenty of encouraging signs to jot on a piece of paper he whipped out during a postgame interview.
“There’s so many things that I liked today,” Yost said. “Oaks had really good movement. One thing Cal (Eldred, the Royals' pitching coach) is really focusing on with these young guys is the 1-1 count … We were 4 for 6 with it yesterday and Oaks was 2 for 2. For a young guy it really keeps you in that count, pounding the strike zone.
“I like the pitching. I like the way our offense just keeps battling, just keeps grinding.”
Four Royals drove in runs, including substitutes Samir Duenez, Humberto Arteaga and Nick Dini, each of whom hit sacrifice flies.
The athlete formerly known as …
Adalberto Mondesi continued to excel with the glove, this time at second base. He snared a chopper that almost went over his head and fielded it cleanly for the out at first base in the first inning.
Mondesi also logged his second and third hits of the spring, including an RBI single that scored right fielder Paulo Orlando to give the Royals a 1-0 lead in the third.
“One was (off) a breaking ball. You know that’s always been something he’s struggled with,” Yost said. “He looks good so far.”
Orlando led off the inning with a double but reached third when A’s left fielder Matt Joyce allowed the ball to trickle into the corner.
The starter
In his Royals debut, Oaks tossed two scoreless innings. He gave up a two-out single in the first and issued a walk with two outs in the second, but otherwise kept a clean slate.
After a mound visit from Eldred in his final frame, Oaks induced his fourth groundball of the outing to end the inning.
“I kinda had a rough time in the second inning,” Oaks said. “Just kind of lost my tempo a little bit. It was nice to have that mound visit to just kind of calm down and take a deep breath and re-focus and get everything back going.”
Staumont works out of jams
Right-hander Josh Staumont, the Royals’ 13th-ranked prospect on MLB.com, labored through two late innings. He faced 10 batters, allowed three hits and a walk and recorded one strikeout.
Despite the issues, Yost was encouraged by the results. Staumont only allowed one run, and although it gave the A’s the lead in the eighth inning, the Royals were able to tie the game on Arteaga’s sacrifice fly.
“I thought Staumont was good, too,” Yost said.
By the way …
On his 26th birthday, Jorge Soler batted clean-up as the designated hitter and went 0 for 2 with a strikeout. He chopped a ball to second base for a ground-out, making contact in-game for the first time this spring. He also reached base on a walk after falling behind in the count 1-2.
Non-roster invitee Donnie Dewees, who replaced Orlando in right field, went 1 for 1 with a walk and two runs scored.
The Royals have knocked out 21 hits and recorded a 4.00 ERA through the first two games of the spring.
The Royals (1-0-1) will travel to Scottsdale, Ariz., to face the San Francisco Giants on Monday at 2 p.m. Central time.
This pitcher is trying to replace Peter Moylan as sidearm relief arm on Royals roster
February 25, 2018By Shawn Moran/KC Star
Tim Hill has been pitching submarine-style his entire life. Now 28, the left-hander is participating in his first major-league camp. With his rare throwing motion adding a distinct wrinkle to his game, both Hill and the Royals are hoping he turns a strong spring into a spot on the opening day roster.
Submarine-style pitching is rare to find in the majors, but the Royals have preferred to have a sidearm thrower at their disposal. The last two years, veteran sidearmer Peter Moylan threw 104 innings for Kansas City before signing with Atlanta this offseason. And residing in the team’s Hall of Fame is legendary submarine-style pitcher Dan Quisenberry.
So what is it that makes this style so sought after?
“You’re not used to seeing that type of angle and they always vary in different types of movement, so it’s a different focal point and it takes a few pitches to get adjusted to,” Royals catcher Drew Butera said.
Hill agrees with this assessment.
“I think it’s just something different that they don’t get to see as often, so it might just be harder for them to pick up,” he said.
In addition to the adjustment, outfielder Paulo Orlando believes that size can also factor into the difficulty a batter faces when going up against a submarine-style pitcher such as Hill.
Because submarine pitchers distort their body and release the ball from just above the ground, it's challenging for taller batters to focus on the ball.
“His is pretty tough because he goes down low, so big folks haven’t seen a lot of pitches like that so that makes his different, so it’s pretty tough,” Orlando said.
Hill's style also forces his teammates to adjust to him when he is on the mound.
“I think all it is as far as catching it is picking up his release point,” Butera said. “A lot of guys are used to seeing it come over the top and it’s just a little bit more focus on picking up the release point down below.”
Selected in the 32nd round of 2014, Hill is the only player out of Oklahoma’s Bacone College to be drafted into the majors since 2002. After three years in the minors in which he racked up six wins as a reliever, the soft-spoken lefty is taking his first big-league camp one day at a time.
“I think I’ll find my place after just getting outs and throwing strikes. That’s all I have to worry about for now,” Hill said.
After tough 2017, new Royals outfielder Michael Saunders trying to re-establish career
February 25, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Newly-signed Royals outfielder Michael Saunders won’t make an excuse for the poor 2017 season he put together.
It was just a tough year, he said. He hit .205 with nine doubles, six home runs and 20 RBIs in 61 games with the Phillies and batted .167 (3 for 18) in 12 September games with the Blue Jays, the same team that granted him free agency in November 2016.
Within a year and a half of getting an All-Star nod in 2016, he saw himself on the free-agent market on three separate occasions.
It's time for Saunders, 31, to re-establish his career. The Royals, with their crowded outfield competition, presented him the best opportunity.
“I really feel you learn more from failure than you do from success,” Saunders said Sunday when he met with reporters for the first time at Royals camp. “A lot of people want to forget about those kind of seasons but it's something that, if anything, helped drive me to continue to better myself as a player.”
Saunders, a left-handed hitter, has batted .232 over nine major-league seasons. He was one of the Blue Jays’ five All-Stars in 2016, when he hit .298 with 16 home runs, 25 doubles and 42 RBIs in the first half.
But he’s struggled to stick with a major-league club since then.
It seemed Saunders would get a chance to do that with the Pirates when he signed with the club on Wednesday.
Yet, within a day of agreeing to terms with Saunders, the Pirates acquired Rays outfielder Corey Dickerson. The move weakened Saunders’ chances at breaking camp on a big-league roster. Per an agreement with the club’s general manager, he was allowed to seek greener pastures.
“I’m hoping to be in one spot at this point,” Saunders joked.
The Royals signed Saunders for outfield depth. But with the center-field job remaining open, there is still a strand of hope for Saunders to clutch.
It will be a few days before he gets game action. On Sunday morning, he wasn’t listed as part of Monday’s travel squad, which will face the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Still, the Royals will give Saunders a fair shake alongside fellow non-roster invitees Tyler Collins, Donnie Dewees and Terrance Gore.
“There’s always somebody that’s hungry that wants your job,” Saunders said. “You can’t get complacent. … You can talk to the best players in the game and they still feel like they have things to prove — not just prove, but improve on their game. So that’s what I’m here to do.”