Kansas City Royals Winter League Check In

credit: Jen Nevius.

The star of the Arizona Fall League for the Kansas City Royals, when it came to hitting, was Bubba Starling. After his breakout season in 2015, Starling continued to impress in Surprise. Not only did he provide a solid .274/.330/.440 batting line, but Starling also hit four home runs, displaying some of that power potential. He did strike out 25 times in his 84 at bats, which is a concern, but Starling did not look overmatched and finished off the year strong.

Ramon Torres had a decent showing, producing a .262/.304/.400 batting line with four doubles and a home run, but the other Royals position players struggled. Cam Gallagher had two hits in his eleven at bats, but did manage to drive in two runs. Zane Evans had a rough time in Surprise, posting a .139/.225/.139 batting line, striking out eight times in 36 at bats.

On the pitching side of the ledger, most of the Royals had success as well. Matt Alvarez, Brooks Pounders and Andrew Edwards combined to allow only three earned runs in 27.1 innings of work, striking out 23 batters while issuing two walks. Bryan Brickhouse also contributed a scoreless inning, despite allowing three baserunners on a hit and two walks in his only appearance.

For all of the success that Alvarez, Edwards and Pounders had, the opposite was true for Kevin McCarthy. He appeared in ten games, pitching 9.2 innings, but allowed ten runs on eleven hits, two walks and three hit batters. McCarthy was done in by two horrendous outings, as he gave up all ten runs in 1.1 innings over those two games. With those appearances removed, McCarthy had a much better time, allowing only four hits and a walk in those eight other innings of work.

Next: Heading down under