Roster Cuts

The first round of roster cuts is due this morning. The Royals currently have 60 guys in camp and they are planning to trim that number down 50 or 45.

Angels Hit Brazelton Hard

Game Date: March 12, 2007
Angels 11, Royals 4 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 6-7

Gil Meche got the start for the Royals in this one. He went four innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits. He had four strikeouts and no walks. The two runs he gave up game on a home run in the fourth inning when he left a slider up in the zone. He’s liking what he sees regarding his new delivery that McClure has him working on.

“I’m slowly working into this new delivery they’re trying to get me into, as far as not landing on my heel,” Meche is quoted as saying on the Royals website. “And I tell you, when I do it, it’s something good to see. The ball jumps out of my hand, throwing strikes, getting ahead of hitters.”

His 2.57 ERA is probably better than anybody expected it to be. Now let’s hope that he can find the same amount of success in the regular season.

I’m guessing that Dewon Brazelton’s shot at the rotation is gone after his outing yesterday. He gave up six earned runs in one inning and his ERA rose to 15.00.

Alex Gordon pinch ran for Sweeney and he got to hit once, going 0-for-1. Esteban German was 2-for-3 and Joey Gathright was 2-for-2. You have to hand it to Gathright. For a guy who doesn’t hit much, he’s at .400 right now.

Soria, Gobble Throw Scorless Innings

Game Date: March 11, 2007
Rockies 5, Royals 4 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 6-6

Joakim Soria was the story for the Royals in this one. He threw four scoreless innings, during which he only allowed one hit and no walks. His ERA this spring is 1.12, which can’t hurt as he tries to nail down the number five spot in the rotation. Jimmy Gobble pitched a couple of scoreless innings and he’s settling into middle relief nicely (he has two holds and a 3.00 ERA)—just like he did last season. Joel Peralta threw a scoreless inning and it was good to see him back in action. The Royals were in good shape in this game until Roberto Giron gave up three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Giron is a non-roster invitee who isn’t helping his case to make the team. After this outing, his ERA ballooned to 19.29.

At the plate, Justin Huber was 2-for-3 with a walk. He’s hitting .389 now. Billy Butler was 1-for-1 with a home run and 2 RBI. Butler is expected to be moved to the minor league roster this morning, even though he’s hitting .556. The Royals never intended for him to break camp with the big league team. If he continues to hit in Omaha, he may be up after the break. But the Royals seem content to let him play in Omaha this season, which wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Gordon Appears to be Okay

By now you’ve probably heard that the Alex Gordon injury scare has passed. His shoulder was feeling better yesterday. He’s planning to do some stretching, get some ice for it, and take anti-inflammatories. The Royals still plan to keep him out of the line up for a couple of days just to make sure everything is okay.

Brian Bannister had a bit of a scare too. He was hit in the knee by a line drive in a “B” game on Sunday. He leg was numb for a while, but he isn’t expected to miss a start.

Shealy Leads Royals to Win

Game Date: March 10, 2007
Royals 6, Cubs 5 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 6-5

Jorge De La Rosa looked a bit shaky (he gave up two hits and walked two guys) at times during his three innings of work against the Cubs yesterday, but he only gave up one earned run. John Bale, the left-handed set up guy the Royals signed during the off season, complained of back or neck problems after the game. Let’s hope he’s not another early casualty of spring.

Ryan Shealy was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI. David DeJesus hit his first home run of the spring. Esteban German was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases. Billy Butler was 0-for-1 and he’s still hitting .529. And Alex Gonzalez (the other Alex) was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI filling in for Gordon at third. The Royals did most of their offensive damage against Mark Prior, who looked awful. He gave up four earned runs, on four hits and three walks.

The Royals play the Rockies today in Tucson. Joakim Soria will get the start.

Gordon Injures Shoulder

If you noticed that Alex Gordon was not in the line up yesterday or today, you weren’t the only one. Sports Illustrated is reporting that he is going to miss a few games because he has a sore shoulder. The injury may have happened when he dove for a ball against the Angels on Friday or he might have just slept on it in an odd fashion. But the Royals don’t appear to be taking any chances. They are saying he’ll probably have an MRI. Losing Gordon for a long period of time would be nightmare for this franchise.

In other injury news, Leo Nunez was also hurt in the game on Friday. He was hit on the right wrist by a line drive and it caused a hairline fracture. He’s currently in a split and is expected to miss a month or more. He was probably a long shot when it came to making a spot on the 25-man roster out of spring training anyway. He has a 6.99 career ERA in 48 appearances and his ERA this spring is 9.00.

Royals Drop Two

Game Date: March 9, 2007
Angels 9, Royals 6 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 5-5

Luke Hudson had another strong start, giving up one earned run in 3.2 innings and in the process he lowered his ERA to 2.70. Ryan Braun pitched another scoreless inning. He has yet to give up an earned run this spring. Several other Royal relievers didn’t fare so well. Ed Yarnall, Leo Nunez, and Daniel Christensen each gave up two runs.

This game had a little of everything—including a balk that led to Mike Scioscia’s ejection. How funny is that? He got tossed in spring training for arguing a balk.

Justin Huber hit his first home run of the spring. Mike Sweeney drove in his first run of the spring. Alex Gordon walked three times. And Emil Brown is finally showing signs of life. He was 2-for-4 and that brought his average up to .200.

The Royals got their hits, but the Royals pitching couldn’t hold the Angels down.

Game Date: March 9, 2007
Brewers 7, Royals 6 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 5-4

With a couple of exceptions, the Royals played their “B” line up in this one and hung in pretty well—even though they didn’t draw a single walk. Zack Greinke got the start and gave up one earned run in three innings. He struck out four. Joey Gathright gave the Royals a lead in the top of the ninth with a two-run single, but Wayne Franklin blew the save—his second blown save of the spring, and he saw his ERA rise to 19.29.

Nelson to Have Shoulder Surgery

Joe Nelson is going to miss the first two to three months of the season. He needs to have surgery on his right shoulder after finding out that he injured his labrum.

This could be a blow the Royals bullpen. Last season, he was one of the very few bright spots out there. He had 9 saves in 48 appearances and he posted a 4.43 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Opponents hit just .226 against him. Nelson wasn’t guaranteed a spot in the pen to open the season due to the many acquisitions the Royals made in the off-season, but I liked his chances. Let’s hope he comes back strong.

Royals Continue to Hit

Game Date: March 8, 2007
Royals 11, Mariners 3 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 5-3

The Royals continued their offensive explosion today with an 11-3 win against the Mariners. Alex Gordon was 2-for-2 with a triple and 4 RBI. Ryan Shealy was 2-for-2. And Jason LaRue hit his third home run of the spring. Angel Berroa hit his first and so did Billy Butler.

Odalis Perez got off to a shaky start. He gave up two runs in the first inning, but then he settled down and only gave up two more hits to the next twelve hitters. Todd Wellemeyer, who is a long shot for the rotation, only allowed one hit in three innings of scoreless work. Octavio Dotel threw another scoreless inning without allowing anybody to reach base. And David Riske pitched a scoreless inning—in spite of giving up two hits.

Tomorrow the Royals will play the Brewers at 2:05 PM, and then play the Angels at 8:05 PM.

Royals Pound Out 15 Hits

Game Date: March 7, 2007
Royals 10, White Sox 5 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 4-3

Dewon Brazelton, who has downright scarey bad numbers at the major league level (8-25, 6.38 ERA, 1.68 WHIP), gave up one run on four hits in his start for the Royals yesterday against the White Sox. Luke Hochevar followed him with two scoreless innings. Tyler Lumsden did the same. Bell and McClure must have been most pleased by the fact that Royals pitchers only gave up one base on balls.

At the plate, the Royals pounded White Sox pitching for 15 hits. Gordon was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Blanco was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI. Huber was 1-for-2 with 2 RBI. And eleven other players had one hit.

Gil Meche started in the “B” game against the Rangers. He threw 64 pitches—giving up one run on four hits. He didn’t walk anybody and he struck out three. He is still struggling with his mechanics though. He’s landing on his heal rather than the ball of his foot. McClure continues to work with him to make the fix.

Scott Elarton threw 51 pitches in a bullpen session yesterday. Plans are to keep him in Arizona for extended spring training because of the cold weather in Omaha and Wichita.

This afternoon, Odalis Perez will start against the Mariners.

Royals Win in 10

Game Date: March 6, 2007
Royals 3, A's 2 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 3-3

Brian Banniser looked good in his three innings of work (43 pitches) against Oakland yesterday afternoon. He gave up two hits, one walk, and no earned runs three innings. But he admitted to getting tired in the third inning. He said it was because he was sick last week and hasn't been able to do his normal cardio work.

Unfortunately, Bannister hit Mike Piazza above his left elbow early in the game, and Piazza had to leave the game. Bannister said that he was just trying to come inside on a guy who likes to get extended. I like Bannister's attitude. How many pitchers have we had in Kansas City over the past few seasons who seemed downright afraid to come inside?

Joakim Soria gave up an earned run in two innings worth of work and the bullpen looked incredible after that. The combination of Ken Ray, Ryan Braun, Jason Standridge, Leo Nunez, and Max Wright gave up no runs in the final five innings on two walks and one hit. Wright hit Lou Merloni late in the game just about the ear flap and it made a horrible noise. Merloni was taken to a hospital afterward. Let's hope he's okay.

The Royals banged out eleven hits, two of which where solo home runs by Jason LaRue, who surely helped his case for winning the starting catching job. Reggie Sanders was 2-for-2. Alex Gonzalez, who got the start at third (and booted a ball), was 1-for-1. And Alex Gordon was 1-for-1.

Gil Meche is scheduled to pitch four innings against the Rangers today in a "B" game. Dewon Brazelton will get the start in the "A" game against the White Sox.

Royals Roundtable II

If you get a chance, go check out Royals Roundtable II over at Royals Ingenuity. Garth has assembled a banner crew of Royals experts to comment about the coming season. In case you missed it, here's a link to the first round of the Royals Roundtable that was posted last December.  

Shealy Hits Second HR of Spring

Royals 9, Padres 4 / Box Score
Royals Spring Training Record: 2-3

Mike Sweeney saw his first game action this spring yesterday against the Padres. He went 1-for-3 before Bell lifted him for a pinch runner. Other hitting notes include:

• Billy Butler was 1-for-1 and is hitting .625.
• Andres Blanco was 1-for-2 and is hitting .556.
• Ross Gload picked up two more hits to improve his batting average to .400.
• Ryan Shealy hit his second home run of the spring and drove in three more runs. He leads the team with 6 RBI.
• Alex Gordon was 1-for-2.
• Mark Teahen was 1-for-3.
• As a team, the Royals drew 7 BB.

Jorge De La Rosa started for the Royals and he was hit hard. He gave up five hits and two earned runs in 2.2 innings. His ERA stands at 6.75. Brandon Duckworth had another good outing, going two innings and not giving up any hits or walks. David Riske gave up one run in an inning. And Jimmy Gobble walked two and gave up one hit in two scoreless innings.

The Royals take on the A's this afternoon at 2:05 PM.

Gordon Gets First Hit of Spring

We got to see something new and something old in the 5-0 loss against the Rangers yesterday. The Royals new third baseman, Alex Gordon, got his first hit of spring training. That's a plus. On the other hand, Angel Berroa got picked off first base. Feels like mid-August in that regard, doesn't it?

Luke Hudson started the game. Even though he struggled with his control early on, he settled down to give up two hits, one base on balls, and one earned run in three innings. Not a bad way to start the spring for Hudson. Zack Greinke followed him and didn't look nearly as good. He gave up three earned runs on four hits in two innings. We got to see Octavio Dotel is his first appearance of the spring. He pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Jorge De La Rosa gets the start this afternoon at 2:00 PM against Jake Peavy of the Padres.

Grudzielanek to have Knee Surgery

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Mark Grudzielanek injured his left knee before the game yesterday. He's scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery tomorrow and the Royals are saying that no timetable exists regarding his return. I'm guessing that Esteban German will fill in for him, and maybe even start the season at second if Grud isn't able to go. That would leave the Royals in a position of needing to find another utility infielder.