Hello and welcome to the second week of Spring Training. I was going to write a separate article about “perfectly reasonable reactions” like I usually do around this time of spring training, but there’s just too much going on this year, so I’m going to hit you with a few bullet points here, instead:
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Josh Rojas has hit a few players already, and while it seems unlikely he’ll make the roster, if he keeps this up he’s positioning himself to get a first chance somewhere this year.
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Helcris Olivárez appears to be making a case to join the roster as a left-handed reliever. He already appeared three times after signing as a minor league free agent, and the book on him was that he had big stuff, but couldn’t get it anywhere near the strike zone; he’s kept it close to the strike zone so far this spring. He may not make the Opening Day roster, but he figures to be one of the guys rotating between Omaha and KC if he can keep this momentum going.
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Jac Caglianone continues to terrorize the Cactus League. hitting a mammoth home run one day and a 120.2 MPH double yesterday. Once again, he appears to have little to prove except at the big league regular season level and he seems destined to get another chance this year. Hopefully it will go better the second time.
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Carter Jensen holds his place in the Carter and Cags duo with a 1.222 OPS so far, including a two-time bomb yesterday. Yesterday was really fun for fans of the non-existent western mystery series that both seem to come from, as there were two separate innings where they each collected a solid hit and an RBI.
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Finally, Michael Massey entered the spring fighting for a spot on the team, but as good as he looked early, he could now challenge for India’s starting job at second base. We’ve talked a lot about how India could bounce back this year, but it’s worth remembering that Massey isn’t without success in the big leagues either.
Anyway, here is today’s program:
I’m probably wrong, but that’s the first time I remember seeing Bobby take the lead. Maybe Quatraro wasn’t blowing smoke when he suggested the shortstop could be the team’s leader this year. This may just be a trial run to see how Bobby feels about doing it in practice and he may decide that no, he really hates it. But it’s interesting to at least think about it. Beating Isaac Collins fourth probably means nothing, but it’s also very interesting because a lot of talk around the Royals has been about how Maikel Garcia can’t start because Collins and India, the other two candidates primarily considered, can’t hit up the middle, and he can.
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Bailey Falter gets the start today, but here are the other pitchers the Royals have included in their game lineup and could pitch:
Rayo, Pérez and Patteson are probably the guys who only throw if someone can’t get out of their innings before hitting a boundary. Everyone will be keeping a close eye on Estévez’s speed, as it was down in his first appearance in the spring, but this isn’t the first time this has happened at closer, including last year where he ended up doing very well.
Today’s match can be streamed online at royals.com or via the At Bat app. It is also available on the radio at 4:60 p.m. in Kansas City.
