Daily Clips
March 8, 2018
LOCAL
Junis content with first Cactus League outing
Zimmer nears spring game debut; Starling out a few more days
March 7, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals sign Nolasco to Minor League deal
March 7, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Escobar wants to improve patience at plate
Royals shortstop walked 15 times last season and had .272 on-base percentage
March 7, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Brewers 10, Royals 6: A good and bad day for the bullpen
March 7, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
Royals add to pitching depth by signing Ricky Nolasco
March 7, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Royals' Ned Yost on why he refuses to exchange lineup cards before a game
March 7, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
A freer-throwing Kyle Zimmer will make his Royals spring debut this week
March 7, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Salvador Perez and life after the splash: "It's going to be hard for us"
March 7, 2018By Sam Mellinger/KC Star
In 2014, Royals honored slain Clinton officer Christopher Morton for military service
March 7, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
The Royals plan to rebuild without tanking, plus spring training notes
March 7, 2018By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic KC
Originally wishing to return to the Royals, Lorenzo Cain is now embracing something new in Milwaukee
March 7, 2018By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic KC
NATIONAL
Top 20 players who will shape AL Central race
March 7, 2018By Will Leitch/MLB.com
The latest on Arrieta, Moose and Holland
Agent Boras discusses latest on notable free agents
March 7, 2018By JP Morosi/MLB.com
MLB TRANSACTIONS
March 8, 2018 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Junis content with first Cactus League outing
Zimmer nears spring game debut; Starling out a few more days
March 7, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Right-hander Jakob Junis was the last of the Royals' probable starters to make his Cactus League debut, and by his account, it went smoothly.
Junis threw two innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three. He threw 29 pitches, 18 for strikes, in the Royals' 10-6 loss to the Brewers.
What was Junis working on?
"Just throwing strikes," Junis said. "I wanted to get out there and get my feet wet for this first one and really attack the zone. First inning, my fastball was good and it was coming out pretty good.
"Got my strikeouts on my slider in the first inning. Didn't use it in the second inning because I wanted to work on some other things."
Junis also was curious how his new-grip curveball, which is more of a spike curve now, would serve him under game conditions.
"I threw a couple of strikes with it and a couple of balls," Junis said. "But it's encouraging."
Zimmer will throw Friday
Right-hander Kyle Zimmer should get his first Cactus League action of the spring on Friday.
"Early in camp, he was not so impressive," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "But here lately, he's been throwing the ball really well, turning the ball loose. The ball has life, looks good."
Injury updates
• Outfielder Bubba Starling will remain out for a few days with oblique tenderness.
• Infielder Adalberto Mondesi is being shut down for 2-to-3 days because of a sore right arm, which is not considered to be serious.
• Right-hander Jesse Hahn is on the 60-day disabled list with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain.
Camp battles
• Ryan Goins, in a battle with Ramon Torres for the utility infielder role, showed some situational hitting in the second inning by lifting a sacrifice fly to right to get Tyler Collins home from third. Goins also drew a walk but was thrown out stealing.
• Right-hander Burch Smith, a Rule 5 Draft pick, gave up five hits and five runs in two innings.
"That happens with young guys," Yost said. "They're really good for awhile, then they slip a little, and then they get back at it and are really good."
• Michael Saunders, a non-roster invitee trying to make the team as a designated hitter/outfielder, had two more hits and an RBI and now is hitting .417 in Cactus League play.
Up next
Left-hander Danny Duffy makes his second start of the spring as the Royals travel to Glendale to play the White Sox at 2:05 p.m. CT. Right-handers Sam Gaviglio, Trevor Oaks, Blaine Boyer, and Miguel Almonte, and left-handers Eric Stout and Richard Lovelady are also expected to pitch. The game can be heard on an exclusive audio webcast on royals.com.
Royals sign Nolasco to Minor League deal
March 7, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
The Royals have signed veteran right-hander Ricky Nolasco to a Minor League contract with an invitation to big league Spring Training.
Nolasco will earn $1.5 million if he makes the Major League roster, with a potential $250,000 more in performances bonuses, a source confirmed to MLB.com.
Nolasco would presumably provide depth for the starting rotation, which is seemingly set with Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, Nathan Karns and Jakob Junis. He will report to Royals camp on Friday.
Nolasco, 35, went 6-15 with a 4.92 ERA in 33 starts for the Angels last season.
Escobar wants to improve patience at plate
Royals shortstop walked 15 times last season and had .272 on-base percentage
March 7, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals fans may want to sit down before reading this: Shortstop Alcides Escobar is vowing to be more selective at the plate and walk more this season.
Yes, Escobar, one of the most chronic free swingers in baseball over the past seven seasons, is spending this Spring Training devoted to changing his offensive approach.
"I don't want to lose my aggressiveness if the pitcher throws strikes," Escobar said. "But I want to work in Spring Training on walking more. ... I don't care if they [strike me out] down here, but I will work on being more selective."
To Royals fans and the club's coaching staff, this sentiment is long overdue.
Escobar walked a career-low 15 times last season in 629 plate appearances while striking out a career-high 102 times. Only a late-season surge (from Aug. 9 until the end of the season, Escobar hit .324 with a .343 on-base percentage and .840 OPS) lifted his average to .250 and his on-base percentage to .272.
"I decided that after last year, I need to [walk more]," Escobar said, "That's what I want to do here."
Escobar certainly has motivation to change his ways. One of numerous Royals free agents to hit the open market in the offseason, Escobar watched his market virtually dry up and finally signed a one-year deal with the Royals on Jan. 29.
Escobar, 31, doesn't want to hit free agency with minimal options again.
"Yeah, of course," Escobar said. "I can play every day. Everyone knows that. But if I get my on-base percentage over .300, more teams will be looking at me."
Getting that on-base percentage over .300 would seem like a modest goal for most. But Escobar has done that only twice in seven years with the Royals -- .317 in 2014 and .331 in 2012.
Royals manager Ned Yost remains a big fan of Escobar's. Yost loves Escobar's durability -- Escobar has played in all 162 games in three of the past four seasons and in at least 155 games in six of the past seven -- and his steady defense.
But even Yost yearns for Escobar to get on base more.
"That should be more part of his game, a bigger part of his game," Yost said. "You look at guys like Alex Gordon or Jorge Soler, and at times when they struggle with the bat, they still find ways to get on base. That adds value to what you do. It's hard if you're just whacking away."
Yost, too, believes the limited free-agent market for Escobar has motivated him to change his thinking at the plate.
"Maybe, you would think," Yost said. "It just increases your value if you can take a walk and get on base. It's that simple."
Brewers 10, Royals 6: A good and bad day for the bullpen
March 7, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
The Brewers scored four times in the eighth inning Wednesday against left-hander Foster Griffin and beat the Royals 10-6 in a sloppy contest at Surprise Stadium.
The game
The Royals scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and tied the game at 6-6, but shortstop Nicky Lopez made an error that allowed the Brewers' leadoff hitter to reach in the eighth. Griffin then allowed a walk, a single, another walk and a double as Milwaukee took the four-run lead.
Two of the four runs were unearned.
The Royals got single runs in the first two innings. First baseman Lucas Duda had an RBI single in the opening frame, and center fielder Tyler Collins tripled and scored on a Ryan Goins fly ball an inning later as the Royals took a 2-1 lead.
Milwaukee scored two runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth against Burch Smith, a right-hander who was acquired in a trade with the Mets after they picked him in the Rule 5 Draft from the Rays. Smith gave up five hits, walked two and struck out a pair.
"The two young guys, Griffin and Smith, a little off today in terms of their command," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Both of them got their pitch counts up. ... But that generally happens with young guys this time, the second and third time around, they tend to fight command just a little bit and they're going through that little period where they're just getting their feet on the ground, getting their feet on the ground and then a little bit of drop down and then, boom, they take off and get ready for the season."
The Royals got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Lopez's single scored Michael Saunders to make it 6-3.
They tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh thanks to an Erick Meija triple, four walks, an error and Michael Saunders' RBI single.
The starter
The famously even-keel Jakob Junis said he was pleased with his first spring outing. He allowed two hits and a run — a solo home run by Jesus Aguilar in the second inning — with three strikeouts.
"I felt good," Junis said. "Feel healthy, feel strong, got some strikeouts, got some hits and worked around it. It was all-around good."
Junis also had a chance to work on a new curveball grip. He's changed to a spike curve, which is sometimes known as a knuckle curve. The grip involves tucking the index finger into the baseball.
"Yeah, that's all I'm throwing now, so I totally went away from that, that old grip," Junis said. "Threw a couple of strikes with it, couple of balls, still trying to feel it out. But I'm glad I got out there and was able to throw it."
The bullpen
Kelvin Herrera had one strikeout, a walk and allowed a hit in the third inning. He reached 98 mph on the gun.
Brandon Maurer had an adventurous fourth inning, allowing three hits. One of the hits came when left fielder Alex Gordon just missed on a diving attempt, but Domingo Santana tried to stretch it into a double and was thrown out. But with two on and one out, Maurer struck out the final two batters he faced.
"Maurer got his pitch count up a little bit, a little erratic," Yost said, "but ended his outing with two punchouts, which was good."
Base-running woes
The Royals had two runners cut down on the base paths in the fourth inning. First baseman Hunter Dozier was thrown out trying to advance to third on a pitch in the dirt and shortstop Ryan Goins was caught stealing.
In the seventh inning, the Royals had the bases loaded with two outs and Lopez was caught about 30 feet off first base. That started a rundown that ended with Frank Schwindel being thrown out at the plate. Schwindel was officially caught stealing.
Up next
The Royals travel to Glendale, Ariz., for a 2:05 p.m. game against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch.
Royals add to pitching depth by signing Ricky Nolasco
March 7, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
The Royals on Wednesday signed free-agent veteran starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco to a minor-league contract with a major-league spring training invite.
Save for some elbow issues and an ankle injury that limited him when he pitched for the Minnesota Twins from 2014-16, Nolasco has proved durable throughout his 12-year career. He has averaged 200 innings per year since his debut with the Florida Marlins in 2006. In the last six years, he’s averaged 161 innings per season.
Nolasco, 35, was the Los Angeles Angels’ opening day starter last year. He went 6-15 with a 4.92 ERA over 181 innings spanning 33 starts. The Angels declined the 2018 option on Nolasco's contract after the season.
The Angels acquired Nolasco from the Twins, who signed him to a four-year, $49 million contract with a club option for the 2018 season in November 2013. Nolasco had just come off a season where he posted a 3.70 ERA over 199 1/3 innings with the Marlins and Dodgers. But he struggled the following season in Minnesota, recording a 5.38 ERA in 27 starts.
Nolasco’s contract with the Royals is worth $1.5 million, plus $250,000 in incentives, if he makes the Royals' major-league roster. The contract has a March 24 out clause.
He is the 10th non-roster pitcher to receive an invite to Royals camp this spring. The Royals have had 32 pitchers in camp to this point.
Royals' Ned Yost on why he refuses to exchange lineup cards before a game
March 7, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
Manager Ned Yost never budged from behind the protect screen Wednesday when the lineup cards were exchanged before the Royals' Cactus League game against the Brewers.
As usual, third-base coach Mike Jirschele did that chore, even though the Brewers had Ned Yost IV bring their lineup card out. That's Yost's son, who is the hitting coach for the Brewers' Class AAA affiliate in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Yost has been a major-league manager for 2,220 games over 14 years, but he has taken the lineup card out just twice. And once was because he got "snookered."
"I've never done it in all the games I've ever managed, and I got snookered into doing it the first time I wasn't going to do," Yost said. "I talked to Felipe Alou, who I've got a lot of respect for.
"We were playing the Giants and we were talking before the game, and he said, 'OK, I'll see you out there,' and I took that to mean the lineup card, and I didn't really want to take it out, but I took it out, and he sat in the dugout and sent somebody else. I said that's it, I'm never doing it again."
Yost relented one other time: when umpire Tim McClelland worked his 4,000th game in 2012.
"They asked me if I would take it out because it was special to him, so I did out of respect to Tim," Yost said.
So why the aversion to such a simple activity?
"I'm not big on the idle chit-chat factor with the umpires and the opposing team, and Jirsch is," Yost said. "So, I let Jirsch do it."
OK, so we've established this is not Yost's favorite activity, but that was his son at home plate on Wednesday.
Well, the thing is, Yost sees his son regularly during spring training.
"He comes over," Yost said, "and freeloads dinner twice a week anyway."
A freer-throwing Kyle Zimmer will make his Royals spring debut this week
March 7, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Royals pitcher Kyle Zimmer will make his Cactus League debut this week.
Zimmer hasn’t appeared in a game since throwing 1/3 of an inning in relief during a mid-August contest at Class AAA Omaha. Ongoing shoulder troubles limited Zimmer to 36 2/3 innings over 21 games last season.
He has been brought along slowly this spring. He’ll finally see action in Friday’s split-squad game against the Dodgers in Glendale, Ariz.
“For me, early in camp, he was not so impressive,” manager Ned Yost said on Wednesday. “But here lately he’s been throwing the ball really well. Turning it loose and looks good and has life.”
The news is encouraging for Zimmer, the Royals’ 2012 first-round draft pick who has never pitched more than 108 1/3 innings in a season.
Since undergoing minor surgery to relieve tightness in his right shoulder years ago, Zimmer couldn’t even put on a T-shirt without worrying about lifting his arm.
The fabric would catch on sutures that were left over from a 2014 procedure if he didn’t angle the shirt just so. He figured if they did no harm to his ability to pitch, learning to live with them wouldn’t be too much of a hassle.